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** SPOILERS ** Supergirl Pilot Discussion
26 May 2015 01:42 #42355
by TwiceOnThursdays
Replied by TwiceOnThursdays on topic SPOILERS Supergirl Pilot Discussion SPOILERS
shadar wrote:
jdrock24 wrote: Thanks for starting this thread Shadar. Here are my thoughts on the pilot:
Warning: Spoiler!
Warning: Spoiler!
Warning: Spoiler!
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26 May 2015 15:08 - 26 May 2015 16:20 #42368
by lfan
Replied by lfan on topic SPOILERS Supergirl Pilot Discussion SPOILERS
I know I said to tag anything with the Spoiler tag, but at this point -- in a dedicated thread -- the amount of spoiler clicks for quoted posts is driving me crazy, so I'm just gonna say....
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
The Good
========
1. Melissa Benoist! I LOVED LvV and deeply regretted she never was Supergirl in the rumored spinoff series they were talking about way back, but after watching MB take up the mantle, I'd have a hard time seeing anyone else in the role -- Melissa Benoist IS Supergirl!! MB brought a youthful exuberance to the role, playing the "OMG-this-is-so-cool" super person one minute (bullet scene at the bank) then the unsure heroine next (getting ass kicked by Vartox) and then resolute "I-can-do-this!" superhero (taking on the truck). It's kinda cliche and hokey, but I like it and equate it to the character. In any case, I think MB does a great job and looks INCREDIBLE in costume. Super adorableness comes to mind as her primary superpower. She also has great expressions like when she was being shot, the "I can do a car chase" look, and even when she sees herself on TV saving the plane.....
2. Speaking of the plane, I think this is one of the best VFX sequences I've ever seen on TV in a superhero show. Reminiscent of the Superman Returns plane scene (though at night), it was really well done. Physics and pilot training aside, I thought it looked pretty realistic. And the action......from Kara finding Alex on the plane to her jumping and then soaring into the scene and all the heavy lifting (the fuselage bending as well)....incredible!
3. Wynn -- saw some people did not like the character, but I thought he was great. The lesbian thing on the roof was a little awkward, but that aside, I thought he was great comedic relief.
4. The prison ship -- while this was not without its plot holes (see below), I thought it was a pretty good setup for her Rogue's Gallery......being a prison, they have an excuse too of not having them all be Kryptonian but gathered from around the galaxy (though one would assume the majority WAS Kryptonian)
5. Comic shoutouts -- while I haven't watched the pilot repeatedly just to find more of them, I did catch a few of the shoutouts to Supergirl canon and her creators. She saved the plane over the Otto Binder (creator of SGirl) Bridge and then the fire over the scanner was at the corner of Gates and Igle (Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle, the creative team on the Supergirl book that this seems to be mostly based on)
6. The General.....nice twist! Make so much sense that the buzz that Laura B. was cast in such a pivitol role (and not just for the pilot and flashbacks) and why she has been cryptic in interviews over her "character". Gender bending Zod and making it a family member I think offers a lot of possibilities too.
7. Costume montage -- loved the "evolution" of her costume and learning about them. The fact that it was set to C. Carlton's "Bad Mama Jama" only made it sweeter as that evoked memories of the old Wonder Woman TV spots I remember watching that were also set to that song!
8. The short red boots! Shoutout to animated supergirl with the short red boots. Loved her walking in them in the bank scene as bullet rained down around them. Of course, they also did nothing but showcase MB's fabulous legs!
The Bad
=======
1. The secret identity -- or lack thereof. OK, let's count.......mom, dad, Alex, Wynn, Jimmy, Hank, a ton of people at DOE, the Commander, the General, and probably more than a few of the prisoners. That's a lot! Granted, as I mentioned before, EVERY cast member on the Flash knows his secret, but some of them were built over the course of 23 episodes, not right outta the gate of the pilot.
2. The prison ship -- been mentioned a bunch before, but if Kara's ship busted thru 12 years ago, why was a group so bent on world domination (at least its upper mgmt) been lying low for so long? Basically you figure there are hundreds of supermen (and women!) in there, why wait 12 years as technology becomes more advanced for the DOE, why not strike now? I have to feel that more of this will be revealed later.
3. Superman -- again, has been mentioned before by others and might be explained later, but he drops her off and has no more contact with her? What an asshole!
4. Danvers -- nice cameos....all 10 seconds of them. Maybe they will be in more flashbacks and maybe they had some scenes cut, but I was surprised they weren't in it more
5. The pace -- they seemed to cram in ALOT in such a short time. Based on some of the scenes being SO SHORT and obviously the product of editing, I love the idea of a 2-hour pilot! Turn a weakness into a strength.
6. Bank robbery scene was way too short and FX light -- I understand the car chase scene being short due to the "cape", but she saved the day in the bank robbery. The bullets bouncing off looked fine, but they all seemed to bounce of her two shoulder blades. Considering the rapid rate of fire, it should have been far more richochets one would think (given the number of slugs bouncing off). I was also hoping for a full length shot of her in the short red boots.
The Ugly
=======
1. As good as the plane crash was VFX wise, I thought the final fight was kinda bad. The truck scene and the heat vision were pretty well done, but the fighting looked awkward and too "wire-y" at times. The kick through the truck was great from a girl power standpoint, but I thought it looked awkward. UPDATE: OK, I just watched the pilot again in 1080 HD....the last fight scene doesn't look as bad as I thought. In fact, looks pretty decent aside from a few scenes (still the kick thru the truck)
2. Vartox -- still wavering whether I liked him or not. He seemed way over the top and literal, but then again he was an alien. Some of his lines were just too corny and over the top for me.
3. Speaking of dialog, it did border on ubercheesy at times as well. I know its light comic book fare, but they seemed to over do it at times. The DOE I thought, got some atrocious lines (Henshaw's "some of them have powers beyond your wildest nightmares" and "make sure you win!" along with Alex's "why? cause she's a girl? That's what we were counting on!") I can handle some characters (like Wynn) having nerdy, cliche lines, but it didn't seem to fit Henshaw's character. Of course, I was thinking of David Estes (Homeland) everytime he opened his mouth.....
Overall, I thought it was quite solid.....better than most superhero pilots I have seen (except maybe Daredevil). I think if they didn't do anything to the pilot, it would be a great pilot and set to air, but I hope they can do a little polish on it, if nothing else than just some of the VFX in the final scene.
I've watched it now 3 times in its entirety and am feeling more and more confident we'll see a great show come November.
ElF
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
The Good
========
1. Melissa Benoist! I LOVED LvV and deeply regretted she never was Supergirl in the rumored spinoff series they were talking about way back, but after watching MB take up the mantle, I'd have a hard time seeing anyone else in the role -- Melissa Benoist IS Supergirl!! MB brought a youthful exuberance to the role, playing the "OMG-this-is-so-cool" super person one minute (bullet scene at the bank) then the unsure heroine next (getting ass kicked by Vartox) and then resolute "I-can-do-this!" superhero (taking on the truck). It's kinda cliche and hokey, but I like it and equate it to the character. In any case, I think MB does a great job and looks INCREDIBLE in costume. Super adorableness comes to mind as her primary superpower. She also has great expressions like when she was being shot, the "I can do a car chase" look, and even when she sees herself on TV saving the plane.....
2. Speaking of the plane, I think this is one of the best VFX sequences I've ever seen on TV in a superhero show. Reminiscent of the Superman Returns plane scene (though at night), it was really well done. Physics and pilot training aside, I thought it looked pretty realistic. And the action......from Kara finding Alex on the plane to her jumping and then soaring into the scene and all the heavy lifting (the fuselage bending as well)....incredible!
3. Wynn -- saw some people did not like the character, but I thought he was great. The lesbian thing on the roof was a little awkward, but that aside, I thought he was great comedic relief.
4. The prison ship -- while this was not without its plot holes (see below), I thought it was a pretty good setup for her Rogue's Gallery......being a prison, they have an excuse too of not having them all be Kryptonian but gathered from around the galaxy (though one would assume the majority WAS Kryptonian)
5. Comic shoutouts -- while I haven't watched the pilot repeatedly just to find more of them, I did catch a few of the shoutouts to Supergirl canon and her creators. She saved the plane over the Otto Binder (creator of SGirl) Bridge and then the fire over the scanner was at the corner of Gates and Igle (Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle, the creative team on the Supergirl book that this seems to be mostly based on)
6. The General.....nice twist! Make so much sense that the buzz that Laura B. was cast in such a pivitol role (and not just for the pilot and flashbacks) and why she has been cryptic in interviews over her "character". Gender bending Zod and making it a family member I think offers a lot of possibilities too.
7. Costume montage -- loved the "evolution" of her costume and learning about them. The fact that it was set to C. Carlton's "Bad Mama Jama" only made it sweeter as that evoked memories of the old Wonder Woman TV spots I remember watching that were also set to that song!
8. The short red boots! Shoutout to animated supergirl with the short red boots. Loved her walking in them in the bank scene as bullet rained down around them. Of course, they also did nothing but showcase MB's fabulous legs!
The Bad
=======
1. The secret identity -- or lack thereof. OK, let's count.......mom, dad, Alex, Wynn, Jimmy, Hank, a ton of people at DOE, the Commander, the General, and probably more than a few of the prisoners. That's a lot! Granted, as I mentioned before, EVERY cast member on the Flash knows his secret, but some of them were built over the course of 23 episodes, not right outta the gate of the pilot.
2. The prison ship -- been mentioned a bunch before, but if Kara's ship busted thru 12 years ago, why was a group so bent on world domination (at least its upper mgmt) been lying low for so long? Basically you figure there are hundreds of supermen (and women!) in there, why wait 12 years as technology becomes more advanced for the DOE, why not strike now? I have to feel that more of this will be revealed later.
3. Superman -- again, has been mentioned before by others and might be explained later, but he drops her off and has no more contact with her? What an asshole!
4. Danvers -- nice cameos....all 10 seconds of them. Maybe they will be in more flashbacks and maybe they had some scenes cut, but I was surprised they weren't in it more
5. The pace -- they seemed to cram in ALOT in such a short time. Based on some of the scenes being SO SHORT and obviously the product of editing, I love the idea of a 2-hour pilot! Turn a weakness into a strength.
6. Bank robbery scene was way too short and FX light -- I understand the car chase scene being short due to the "cape", but she saved the day in the bank robbery. The bullets bouncing off looked fine, but they all seemed to bounce of her two shoulder blades. Considering the rapid rate of fire, it should have been far more richochets one would think (given the number of slugs bouncing off). I was also hoping for a full length shot of her in the short red boots.
The Ugly
=======
1. As good as the plane crash was VFX wise, I thought the final fight was kinda bad. The truck scene and the heat vision were pretty well done, but the fighting looked awkward and too "wire-y" at times. The kick through the truck was great from a girl power standpoint, but I thought it looked awkward. UPDATE: OK, I just watched the pilot again in 1080 HD....the last fight scene doesn't look as bad as I thought. In fact, looks pretty decent aside from a few scenes (still the kick thru the truck)
2. Vartox -- still wavering whether I liked him or not. He seemed way over the top and literal, but then again he was an alien. Some of his lines were just too corny and over the top for me.
3. Speaking of dialog, it did border on ubercheesy at times as well. I know its light comic book fare, but they seemed to over do it at times. The DOE I thought, got some atrocious lines (Henshaw's "some of them have powers beyond your wildest nightmares" and "make sure you win!" along with Alex's "why? cause she's a girl? That's what we were counting on!") I can handle some characters (like Wynn) having nerdy, cliche lines, but it didn't seem to fit Henshaw's character. Of course, I was thinking of David Estes (Homeland) everytime he opened his mouth.....
Overall, I thought it was quite solid.....better than most superhero pilots I have seen (except maybe Daredevil). I think if they didn't do anything to the pilot, it would be a great pilot and set to air, but I hope they can do a little polish on it, if nothing else than just some of the VFX in the final scene.
I've watched it now 3 times in its entirety and am feeling more and more confident we'll see a great show come November.
ElF
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