Each Tuesday, I review a movie that can be found on Netflix streaming. This week though, I break protocol in order to deliver you a review of the pilot episode of the CW drama Arrow.
DC has had a rough time breaking into non-Batman related success in the world of cinema, but it must be said, their TV offerings are actually quite impressive. The two new shows coming out this Fall based on the companies characters, The Flash and Gotham, are among the most anticipated new programs of the Fall TV Season. The show that helped pave the way for those two 2014 offerings though is 2012 offering Arrow, based on the comic books character (surprise surprise) Green Arrow.
I'd heard some pretty good things about the show recently, and decided to give it a watch before The Flash (which is set in the same universe as Arrow) debuts in October. I only watched the Pilot episode for this review, but I must say, it was enough to get me interested in watching the rest of the show, including the second season which should be up on Netflix sometime this month. This premiere episode is pretty much a set-up for the show, but it thankfully is more than just a bunch of exposition.
Our lead here is Oliver Queen, a dude who was thought to be dead and returns to his home of Starling City in hopes that his brand of vigilante justice can help save the city from its corruption. That's pretty much a traditional structure for an origin tale and cribs more than a little bit from Batman Begins in terms of plot (though sadly, Michael Caine isn't one of the things from that movie that gets utilized here).
However, it's done in an entertaining fashion, and Stephen Amell manages to use the main characters mysterious origin (the episode makes multiple references to Queen spending extremely formative time spent on an abandoned island) not as a crutch to prevent him from showing depth, but as a way to keep Queen interesting and layered. Oh, and he can throw a punch in a fistfight too. That's one thing that really impressive about this episode, the action. There's no shaky-cam (thank God), but some nicely staged hand-to-hand combat sequences that Amell does a great job in.
As the end of the episode gets closer, it feels like the writers forgot they were working within an hour long time slot and suddenly started rushing everything. The worst culprit of these is a moment where he tells the character Lauren Lace to not get involved with him that could have been a perfect sign of his new selfless attitude, but instead comes across as a majorly jackass move. Still, this pilot episode of Arrow sets the stage for some potentially interesting adventures and characters, while also being a fun piece of television in its own right. Hopefully the writing is more consistent in quality from here on out, because it's one of the few downsides of Arrows surprisingly effective first outing.
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