In a post-Avengers world, every Hollywood studio is working overtime to churn out their own version of an interconnected movie universe.
Universal Studios is trying to build one based on their collection of movie monsters (Dracula, Wolf Man, Frankenstein), first of which is the 2014 movie: Dracula Untold. Fox tried unsuccessfully to connect their popular X-Men movies with the Fantastic Four universe. The critical and commercial failure of the 2015 movie (Fantastic Four) does not bode well for the studio's plans.
Warner Bros. and DC Comics have now responded in two different ways: A movie franchise collectively titled “DC Extended Universe” and “DC's Legends of Tomorrow” on the small screen.
The CW show has an ensemble cast, drawn from both the Arrow and The Flash: Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson (Franz Drameh), Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) and Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel). There are supervillains too: Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell).
Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) is the main baddie here. He is an immortal, who thrives by inciting trouble on a grand scale. Wars are his preferred modus operandi.
Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is a Time Master who has lost his wife and son to Vandal's activities. He tries to get support from the Council of Time Masters to stop Savage. When his requests are denied, Rip takes matter into his own hands and steals the Waverider (a flying contraption fitted with all necessary tech) to assemble a rag-tag group of individuals.
One by one (and sometimes two at a time), he kidnaps our group of characters. Rip entices them to participate in his campaign by lying that they will become legends in the future. In reality, he recruited individuals who have minimal impact on the timeline.
Except for one reluctant individual (Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson), the rest are happy to join the mission. Dr. Martin Stein takes care of this issue by drugging Jax.
Rip and the team time travel back to 1975. The plan is to meet Dr. Aldus Boardman (Peter Francis James). Aldus has done extensive research on Vandal and willingly shares his information. He also happens to be the son of Joe and Edith Boardman, the most recent incarnations of Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.
But trouble is not far behind. Chronos, a temporal bounty hunter has been sent by the Council of Time Masters to stop Rip and retrieve the Waverider. Our heroes work together to stop the villain. They manage to escape and Jax is inspired to become part of the team.
This looks to be the most fun adaptation based on DC Comics. Yes, even more so than Supergirl and The Flash.
The reason is simple: As good as these two shows are, they still suffer from very minor drawbacks. Supergirl has the insufferable Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. The Flash on the other hand often gets a bit melodramatic for a show featuring a superhero who can run really fast.
DC's Legends of Tomorrow (from what we have seen so far) seems determined to be a fun ride for fans. The # 1 reason is the presence of Victor Garber as Dr. Martin Stein. Victor is a blast as the quick-witted and brilliant scientist. He has arguably the best one-liners in the episode and Victor pulls them off with effortless ease.
Victor's presence has been a great value addition to The Flash and the episodes featuring his Dr Stein tend to be my favorites. I had wished often that Dr Martin would be a more regular feature and thankfully, this show seems to have rectified that anomaly.
Click on the link below to buy your copy:
Giving good competition to Victor is Franz Drameh as Jefferson Jackson. The interchange between these two are probably the funniest.
Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are the other pair that manage to hold our attention. The scene at the pub where they get into a fight, along with Sara Lance was executed well.
Falk Hentschel and Ciara Renée are adequate as Hawkman and Hawkgirl respectively. They have the serious characters to play and accordingly do not indulge in much of levity. Caity Lotz is good as Caity Lotz, though she does seem to be packing some attitude as the assassin.
Brandon Routh is a bit bland as Ray Palmer/Atom. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that his turn as the Man of Steel in Superman Returns (2006) did not set the box office on fire (or) capture the public imagination as the studio would have wanted.
However, the one to make the least impact is Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter. Arthur seems to be just going through the motions. His IMDB page informs us that he has played Rory Williams, a companion for Matt Smith's Doctor Who. If this was the basis for casting him, then this is a disastrous one. Arthur seems to be having absolutely zero interest in the role or the show. Hope either the character gets recast (or) Arthur develops some passion for the project. At least, we can wish that there will be more scenes of Rip get slapped around by team members, like we had in this one (thanks to Sara Lance).
There were a couple of Star Wars references: Chronos is referred to as both Darth Vader and Boba Fett at different points in the episode.
Trivia
1. The song “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire can be heard as Kendra, Carter, Rip and Dr Stein are walking in the University campus to see Dr Boardman.
2. The song “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille is played in the fight scene at the pub.
In the recent past, there has been constant criticism about DC being too dark and serious. Well, here is your answer - a lively and colorful comic book adaptation that wholeheartedly embraces the nature of its source material.
Highly Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Comic Book fans.
Universal Studios is trying to build one based on their collection of movie monsters (Dracula, Wolf Man, Frankenstein), first of which is the 2014 movie: Dracula Untold. Fox tried unsuccessfully to connect their popular X-Men movies with the Fantastic Four universe. The critical and commercial failure of the 2015 movie (Fantastic Four) does not bode well for the studio's plans.
Warner Bros. and DC Comics have now responded in two different ways: A movie franchise collectively titled “DC Extended Universe” and “DC's Legends of Tomorrow” on the small screen.
The CW show has an ensemble cast, drawn from both the Arrow and The Flash: Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Dr. Martin Stein (Victor Garber), Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson (Franz Drameh), Hawkgirl (Ciara Renée) and Carter Hall (Falk Hentschel). There are supervillains too: Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) and Heat Wave (Dominic Purcell).
Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) is a Time Master who has lost his wife and son to Vandal's activities. He tries to get support from the Council of Time Masters to stop Savage. When his requests are denied, Rip takes matter into his own hands and steals the Waverider (a flying contraption fitted with all necessary tech) to assemble a rag-tag group of individuals.
One by one (and sometimes two at a time), he kidnaps our group of characters. Rip entices them to participate in his campaign by lying that they will become legends in the future. In reality, he recruited individuals who have minimal impact on the timeline.
Except for one reluctant individual (Jefferson 'Jax' Jackson), the rest are happy to join the mission. Dr. Martin Stein takes care of this issue by drugging Jax.
But trouble is not far behind. Chronos, a temporal bounty hunter has been sent by the Council of Time Masters to stop Rip and retrieve the Waverider. Our heroes work together to stop the villain. They manage to escape and Jax is inspired to become part of the team.
This looks to be the most fun adaptation based on DC Comics. Yes, even more so than Supergirl and The Flash.
The reason is simple: As good as these two shows are, they still suffer from very minor drawbacks. Supergirl has the insufferable Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. The Flash on the other hand often gets a bit melodramatic for a show featuring a superhero who can run really fast.
Victor's presence has been a great value addition to The Flash and the episodes featuring his Dr Stein tend to be my favorites. I had wished often that Dr Martin would be a more regular feature and thankfully, this show seems to have rectified that anomaly.
Click on the link below to buy your copy:
Giving good competition to Victor is Franz Drameh as Jefferson Jackson. The interchange between these two are probably the funniest.
Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are the other pair that manage to hold our attention. The scene at the pub where they get into a fight, along with Sara Lance was executed well.
Brandon Routh is a bit bland as Ray Palmer/Atom. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that his turn as the Man of Steel in Superman Returns (2006) did not set the box office on fire (or) capture the public imagination as the studio would have wanted.
However, the one to make the least impact is Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter. Arthur seems to be just going through the motions. His IMDB page informs us that he has played Rory Williams, a companion for Matt Smith's Doctor Who. If this was the basis for casting him, then this is a disastrous one. Arthur seems to be having absolutely zero interest in the role or the show. Hope either the character gets recast (or) Arthur develops some passion for the project. At least, we can wish that there will be more scenes of Rip get slapped around by team members, like we had in this one (thanks to Sara Lance).
There were a couple of Star Wars references: Chronos is referred to as both Darth Vader and Boba Fett at different points in the episode.
Trivia
1. The song “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire can be heard as Kendra, Carter, Rip and Dr Stein are walking in the University campus to see Dr Boardman.
2. The song “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille is played in the fight scene at the pub.
In the recent past, there has been constant criticism about DC being too dark and serious. Well, here is your answer - a lively and colorful comic book adaptation that wholeheartedly embraces the nature of its source material.
Highly Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Comic Book fans.
Click here to read all my posts related to DC Comics.
Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Bonanza Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, The CW Television Network (The CW)
