Arrow: Pilot Review

Insert obligatory Justin Hartley joke here.

Spoilers follow.

So, the CW has decided it needs a superhero show to share a night with Supernatural, and this is their answer is Arrow, which is about the DC Comics hero Green Arrow. Be warned, this is not the lighthearted fun of it's predecessor Smallville, this is a dark, gritty show. And that works to their advantage. The writers left the Green Arrow origin story more or less intact: billionaire Oliver Queen is shipwrecked on a deserted island for five years, during which time he becomes a BAMF. He's rescued, returns to his native Starling City, finds that a lot has changed, and becomes the vigilante Arrow to fight crime and destroy the people left for him in a list by his father.

I'll start with the positives: Stephen Amell is makes a brooding, intense, and downright badass Green Arrow. He's was a good casting choice, because, at the very least, I really bought that he was this crime fighter. As the irresponsible playboy, not so much; he doesn't have the charisma or the swagger to pull it off, but hopefully that'll be a small part of the show. Katie Cassidy plays Laurel Lance (Black Canary?!), and when I first heard that I groaned. Loudly. But she's actually really good in this show. I not only bought that she was a lawyer, but I thought she had one of the episodes better performances. I never thought I would say those words. Oliver's friend Merlyn's cool to, even if he will probably turn evil. Oliver's mom, on the other hand, felt a bit undercooked, but hopefully she'll be explained a bit more. The whole bit with Oliver's sister Thea, who may or may not be Speedy, felt a forced, while I'm on the subject.

The action, which was badass, and the tone, were both great, and served the episode well. But those couldn't save the episodes faults. Where do I start? How about with the pacing and the editing, which felt really rushed and choppy. A two-hour pilot might've been a better idea, seeing how the episode was trying to tell an entire superhero origin story, something that takes a movie about 2-2.5 hours, in under 45 minutes. Oliver's groan inducing voiceover didn't help (this is why I hate voiceovers). Hopefully it, along with the rest of the cheesy, cliched dialogue will get cut. You've also got a weak villain, some disappointingly small sets and weak CGI (then again, this is the CW), and certain sense that they're borrowing a bit much from Batman Begins.

All in all, this was not the best pilot episode I've ever seen. To be fair, if you're supposed to judge an entire series on it's pilot, people probably wouldn't hate Terra Nova so much, and I did have a pretty good time with this episode, good enough to come back next week, at least.

Final Rating: 73%