Fox’s ‘Gotham‘ sound like a stretch. Based on the Batman universe… except minus Batman, the series was announced as centering on the future Commissioner James Gordon, as a rookie cop working his way up the food chain. It was simultaneously stated that Gotham’s colorful villains would play a role… but wait?! Without Batman? What happens when Batman finally debuts? Will he be fighting senior citizens? Naturally, the first reaction was hesitation. Bit by bit, casting announcements were made for Harvey Bullock, Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin), Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and original character Fish Mooney, with Ben McKenzie taking the lead role as Gordon.
The trailer wisely showcases quite a bit of young Bruce Wayne, including the infamous deaths of his parents which, at this point, is probably the most famous comic book origin around. But nicely seems to trust that general audiences are familiar enough with the mythos that they don’t go onto a lot of expectation on the characters backstories, including Gordon’s.
Instead, what we do get is a beautifully directed, alternate-but-still-fan-pleasing extended clip, riddled (no pun… okay maybe a little pun intended) with cameos by some of the most famous villains from Batman’s story (neatly labeled just in case) in younger variations and the introduction of Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Fishy Mooney, whose exotic appearance looks the most like a comic book character here.
Aw, just watch it yourself!
Can TV properly deliver the Batman mythology… or at least a satisfying alternate take, without the actual star character? (Well, at least not how we’re used to him.) Honestly, this clip gave me goosebumps a little. It looks quite lush, the directing and cinematography were excellent and despite the fact that The Penguin is skinny, the characters all looked like perfectly believable spins on the famous comic book characters.
McKenzie seems to almost be playing the exact same role he did on his last show ‘Southland’, an honest, earnest young rookie, determined to do the right thing when no one around him is doing the same. Maybe that doesn’t show range, but he played that part well, so there’s no reason to think he won’t do the same here.
The production values look amazing, so as long as the rest of the series looks as good as the pilot, this could be a break-out hit!
Do you agree?
Source: Screen Rant
