Reviews: Arrow and The Tomorrow People
Nov. 30th, 2013 11:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Skipped Black Friday, I prefer to buy my gifts online actually. And today took in laundry to the mat. Still have to schedule hair appointment, which I'm procrastinating because of a)expense, and b) I lost my favorite stylist - who up and disappeared on me. (This is my problem with NYC - people have a way of up and disappearing on you. This also happens on the internet, but it's less traumatic.)
2. Marathoned Arrow and The Tomorrow People. And feel the need to ruthlessly compare both to Marvel Agents of Shield because they feel similar in some respects. All three have special effects and gadgets, they all have ensemble casts, and are action/adventure stories with a sprinkling of romance. Although SHIELD less so on the romance end of the spectrum, which may be one of its many many problems. Not that the others romances are that great - they aren't. Rather grating actually.
Of the three Arrow is by the far the best cast and written. The actors in it are not bad and rather compelling. Plus, it has a lot of nifty plot-twists and barrels along at a fast clip. Unfortunately, the island sub-plot, which parallels the current one, is losing steam and becoming a tad far-fetched not to mention repetitive. Now we have mad scientists doing experiments in submarines on the island. The current or present day story arc which takes place in Starling City is far more interesting, as are the characters. And the addition of The Black Canary - Green Arrow's version of Cat Woman or Electra (DC tended to repeat certain tropes within it's comic books, and Green Arrow in many ways echoes Batman and Daredevil, except his arc is far less dark and angsty), is a rather interesting development. I'd thought she was going to Laurel Lance (because The Black Canary in the comics is the love of Green Arrow's life, he even marries her), but no...she's actually more interesting and makes a heck of a lot more sense. They've also introduced Batman's nemesis, Ras Al Ghul - the head of the League of Assassins. Who is amongst the more interesting villains in the DC bible. Yes, I read both DC and Marvel comics. And personally think DC has done a far better job with the live-action/on-screen (television and movie) versions of their characters than Marvel has ever done. There's more to DC's films, they don't feel nearly as hollow and cream puffy.
The Tomorrow People suffers from a weak but pretty cast. Otherwise it's not a bad tv series. The characters are rather compelling. The Love Triangle of Doom - is uninteresting and bogs the story down. It would be far more interesting if Stephen was linked to John than Cara. John is more interesting than Cara. The female characters in this series aren't developed well. Cara seems to be defined by the men around her. Her defining moment in the past was accidentally killing her would-be rapist, by flinging him away from her. And at the moment is stuck between John, who leads the Tomorrow People, and had once been one of the evil Ultra's experiments, and Stephen who is related to the head of Ultra (Jediah) that experimented on and trained John. Stephen, unfortunately, is the least interesting. He's the lead and his back story is the cliche - boy is abandoned by his father, and raised by a long-suffering mother. He discovers he has powers - and is not insane, like everyone thought, and suddenly is a double agent with Ultra and The Tomorrow People - discovering that both sides are a bit ruthless. And he has a deep connection with a hot woman, who is slightly older than he is, and involved with the leader. (YAWN). Still in highschool, we flip between Stephen's adolescent issues, high school, ultra, and the Tomorrow People. John, who was a kid struggling to help other kids in a foster home, grabbed by Ultra, who trained and experimented on him until he became a killer, eventually escaped and saved Cara, becoming the de factor leader of the Group, along with Cara - is far more interesting and less of a cliche. As is Russell - the crack thief who'd been a concert pianist prior to acquiring powers. Or Piper - the pool hustler. Cara and Stephen, unfortunately, are sort of dull and a tad on the whiny side. Cara gets upset that John didn't tell her that he'd been cruelly experimented on and as a result has the ability to kill. Instead of thinking about how much pain he's in and why he couldn't tell her that and hasn't in fact trusted anyone with it - she sulks, and sleeps with Stephen. Then two weeks later, tells John that she slept with Stephen, that it was mistake, and she's terrified of losing him. John's a tad more forgiving then he should be. She also lies to Stephen and tells him that she doesn't love him. Meanwhile, the long-suffering, and far more interesting, not to mention more attractive, Astrid, who doesn't have super-powers, is trying to help Stephen - and he discovers she's in love with him. But he can't see her - because she's not popular, hot, or super-powered. Stephen is in short a bit of a douche. The quadrangle of doom has unfortunately made Stephen and Cara a bit annoying. I don't know why tv writers feel the need to do this - it doesn't create as much interesting conflict as you'd think.
That said, the characters are interesting in this series. Each one is rather complex and multi-faceted. Also the story is complex - Ultra it turns out is not actually evil, it does have a point regarding the inherent dangers posed by the Tomorrow People, and the Tomorrow People are not necessarily always good.
While far from perfect, the story does improve with each episode and the characters are compelling. In short it is the exact opposite of SHIELD yet dealing with similar themes and issues but in a far more compelling fashion.
Overall ratings?
Arrow? B
The Tomorrow People? C+
Marvel Agents of Shield? D-/F (see previous posts for why)
2. Marathoned Arrow and The Tomorrow People. And feel the need to ruthlessly compare both to Marvel Agents of Shield because they feel similar in some respects. All three have special effects and gadgets, they all have ensemble casts, and are action/adventure stories with a sprinkling of romance. Although SHIELD less so on the romance end of the spectrum, which may be one of its many many problems. Not that the others romances are that great - they aren't. Rather grating actually.
Of the three Arrow is by the far the best cast and written. The actors in it are not bad and rather compelling. Plus, it has a lot of nifty plot-twists and barrels along at a fast clip. Unfortunately, the island sub-plot, which parallels the current one, is losing steam and becoming a tad far-fetched not to mention repetitive. Now we have mad scientists doing experiments in submarines on the island. The current or present day story arc which takes place in Starling City is far more interesting, as are the characters. And the addition of The Black Canary - Green Arrow's version of Cat Woman or Electra (DC tended to repeat certain tropes within it's comic books, and Green Arrow in many ways echoes Batman and Daredevil, except his arc is far less dark and angsty), is a rather interesting development. I'd thought she was going to Laurel Lance (because The Black Canary in the comics is the love of Green Arrow's life, he even marries her), but no...she's actually more interesting and makes a heck of a lot more sense. They've also introduced Batman's nemesis, Ras Al Ghul - the head of the League of Assassins. Who is amongst the more interesting villains in the DC bible. Yes, I read both DC and Marvel comics. And personally think DC has done a far better job with the live-action/on-screen (television and movie) versions of their characters than Marvel has ever done. There's more to DC's films, they don't feel nearly as hollow and cream puffy.
The Tomorrow People suffers from a weak but pretty cast. Otherwise it's not a bad tv series. The characters are rather compelling. The Love Triangle of Doom - is uninteresting and bogs the story down. It would be far more interesting if Stephen was linked to John than Cara. John is more interesting than Cara. The female characters in this series aren't developed well. Cara seems to be defined by the men around her. Her defining moment in the past was accidentally killing her would-be rapist, by flinging him away from her. And at the moment is stuck between John, who leads the Tomorrow People, and had once been one of the evil Ultra's experiments, and Stephen who is related to the head of Ultra (Jediah) that experimented on and trained John. Stephen, unfortunately, is the least interesting. He's the lead and his back story is the cliche - boy is abandoned by his father, and raised by a long-suffering mother. He discovers he has powers - and is not insane, like everyone thought, and suddenly is a double agent with Ultra and The Tomorrow People - discovering that both sides are a bit ruthless. And he has a deep connection with a hot woman, who is slightly older than he is, and involved with the leader. (YAWN). Still in highschool, we flip between Stephen's adolescent issues, high school, ultra, and the Tomorrow People. John, who was a kid struggling to help other kids in a foster home, grabbed by Ultra, who trained and experimented on him until he became a killer, eventually escaped and saved Cara, becoming the de factor leader of the Group, along with Cara - is far more interesting and less of a cliche. As is Russell - the crack thief who'd been a concert pianist prior to acquiring powers. Or Piper - the pool hustler. Cara and Stephen, unfortunately, are sort of dull and a tad on the whiny side. Cara gets upset that John didn't tell her that he'd been cruelly experimented on and as a result has the ability to kill. Instead of thinking about how much pain he's in and why he couldn't tell her that and hasn't in fact trusted anyone with it - she sulks, and sleeps with Stephen. Then two weeks later, tells John that she slept with Stephen, that it was mistake, and she's terrified of losing him. John's a tad more forgiving then he should be. She also lies to Stephen and tells him that she doesn't love him. Meanwhile, the long-suffering, and far more interesting, not to mention more attractive, Astrid, who doesn't have super-powers, is trying to help Stephen - and he discovers she's in love with him. But he can't see her - because she's not popular, hot, or super-powered. Stephen is in short a bit of a douche. The quadrangle of doom has unfortunately made Stephen and Cara a bit annoying. I don't know why tv writers feel the need to do this - it doesn't create as much interesting conflict as you'd think.
That said, the characters are interesting in this series. Each one is rather complex and multi-faceted. Also the story is complex - Ultra it turns out is not actually evil, it does have a point regarding the inherent dangers posed by the Tomorrow People, and the Tomorrow People are not necessarily always good.
While far from perfect, the story does improve with each episode and the characters are compelling. In short it is the exact opposite of SHIELD yet dealing with similar themes and issues but in a far more compelling fashion.
Overall ratings?
Arrow? B
The Tomorrow People? C+
Marvel Agents of Shield? D-/F (see previous posts for why)