by Snow Drift
Gotham
is a new DC
Comics television series created by Bruno Heller and starring Ben McKenzie
(Detective James Gordon), Donal Logue (Detective Harvey Bullock), David Mazouz
(Bruce Wayne), and Jada Pinkett Smith (Fish Mooney), among many others. The
series, which aired its pilot episode September 22nd, will broadcast
through Fox.
Gotham’s scenery was a mix between
modern and gothic architecture with some early 20th Century aspects,
which gives the viewers a relative feel of a city that is both of our time and
unique in its existence. There is a sense of grim darkness to it without it
being too overwhelming. Portraying Gotham and its population as mostly corrupt
helps to quickly establish the kind of world James Gordon will have to deal
with on a daily basis: one that has the power to break him if he even flinches.
By additionally showing characters that believe in justice, such as Renee
Montoya (Victoria Cartagena), and villains that are more than just cardboard
cutouts, like Carmine Falcone (John Doman), the episode demonstrates that the
series will neither be monotonous in its characterization nor dull in its plot.
However, even though the general atmosphere of the episode is dark and gritty,
there is a sort of over-the-topness, like when the butcher came to kill Gordon
and Bullock, which may seem jarring to some viewers but enjoyable to others,
depending on each person’s tastes.
In terms of characterization, the
episode presented each character with a sense of distinguished identity and the
possibility to broaden their stories. Gotham does not go with a
superhero twist from the start, but it portrays characters as having a certain quality
to them that might develop into a more identifying one in the future. Since
this series is based on the early years of the Gotham-centric characters, it is
understandable that none of them will necessarily jump right into tights
costumes out of nowhere; although it feels strange when certain characters act
differently from their usual selves. A few perfect example are Alfred
Pennyworth’s (Sean Pertwee) more disciplined, annoyed and serious manner, and Oswald
Cobblepot’s (Robin Lord Taylor) more outwardly cowardice portrayal. These
characters still need to be developed into the ones that comic book readers
know and love. In terms of acting, I’m still not entirely sold on McKenzie and
Logue’s performance, yet but I did love Pinkett Smith and Mazouz. The rest, although
well done, still need development.
Unfortunately, there are some
aspects I did not particularly like. The dialogue at times felt a bit too
poetic when the moment didn’t necessarily call for it. For an episode that
established itself as down-to-Earth, to an extent, those instances came on felt
out of place. This also goes for the cinematography, which was relatively well
done except in a scene that zoomed in on Gordon’s face, which broke the flow of
the scene. Meanwhile, although I do love to see comic book characters making an
appearance in television series, there must be a reasonable introduction to
them. This was something Gotham lacked. It was nice to see Edward Nygma
(Corey Michael Smith), Ivy Pepper (Clare Foley), and Selina Kyle (Camren
Bicondova), and but it was a bit too much for a first episode. Their individual
introductions should have been more dispersed and less cluttered. It would have
helped the shows progression flow instead of shove characters in the viewers’
face.
