It's new, it's set in the present time of now, and it features blatantly sexy characters. Good-oh !! (Smallville)

Name: Todd L

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Product:	Smallville
Date:	08/01/02 (178 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well... it's Superman, Guy !, The eye-candy, for all sexes, is appealling (deliberately so, and proud of it)

Disadvantages: It all smells a bit musty.

Smallville has been hotly anticipated here in England (or at least, in this bit of England they call Sussex anyway) for a long time now, so it was with considerable interest I tuned in recently.

It's more teen drama than Sci Fi, and as Dooyoo correctly report looks at Superman's early years, as he's coming to terms with his superpowers. These include the ability to fly, drive posts into the ground with his bare hands, as well as more profound talents, such as knowing how to successfully programme a VideoPlus VCR to record the right programs, and being able to eat Dime bars without breaking his teeth. As for the old 'x-ray vision/young man growing-up gags', forget it: I'm not going to even "touch" on that "territory" (err, no pun intended, naturally), although the show already has. Oh dear.

First thing's first. They have set it all in the present time, that being aroud now, which works so long as viewers are prepared to forget the Christopher Reeve movies (which is difficult, these are seen to be the definitive evolution of Superman in most people's eyes, and therefore also the most widely recognised: a lot of people have seen at least one of them, and so have formed expectations based therein).

Elsewhere, you'll be wanting to know if it's any good. Is it ? Well, sort of.

The real problem is that Superman the comic and the movie are both huge, and so each have a considerable following. Yet, they take very different approaches, and have their own style. Because of this, it's difficult to make a "timeless incarnation of the show, because there are two different schools of franchise fans out there, and it's hard for Smallville to work for all the die-hards, and new viewers who aren't interested in the comic or movies, without pursuing its own creative direction - in doing so, they risk alienating everybody, and creating an entirely new product that may or ma
y not work. And the only reason for buying up a big license is the assurance that it WILL work, no matter what, because lots of people already like it.

This is an extremely difficult situation, and a tough call. The solution of the new television show is to pillage parts from the film, the comic, and mix it with Dawson's Creek, clearly a big influence in everything from characterisations, appearances (notice how all the cast are impeccably groomed and good-looking) to what film and lens they used to shoot it (look out for that slightly colour saturated, permanent summer-evening look next time you watch: it's very Dawson).

It looks like a great formula on paper, but I think the elements sit awkwardly in the take. The characters are all a bit shallow, and have none of the subtle traits taken from the mvie or comics. Clarke probably isn't geeky enough, some obvious-Brad simile (Whitney, or whatever he's called: I really don't care) has replaced the genuine article when it would've been so easy to just use Brad (why didn't they ?), himself's parents are way too young. The plots I've seen have been thin as hurricane-eroded wafer, including an absurd (I don't know if it's running) story about some evil spider-like superbadguy. Selectivisation of plot details from the movie and comics is erratic and at times plainly illogical (having Lex Luthor as a Porsche-driving, bald-headed former superstrong person who is "sort-of Superman's friend" is just absurd), and I find the pacing to be supremely tedious: typically 2 minutes of action seemingly preceded by 35 minutes of dialog. This would be OK if the scripting was class, but it ain't that. Does the job without showing itself up, but it's not special enough to warrant indulgent half-hour excursions, most of which lead nowhere.

I was pleasantly surprised by the special effects on the instalments I've seen: they seem to to range fro
m 'good - class' to me. No shortages there, certainly in terms of a made-for-TV production.

All in all, they're reasonable attempts, and I think a pretty good go at "doing a Dawson", which is fair enough. Personally speaking, Dawson's Creek bores the pants off me and this show is no better. In fact, it's worse, because it's not as original as Dawson was, even though it's backed by more money and a ripe license.

It's all fine, but it's also all a bit cliche and hackneyed for my taste: I'm not interested in this sort of "yoof show" anymore, there aren't enough hours in my day to waste watching stories I've seen before. A decent 3 hour manga animation has so much more depth and scope than character these study dramas that're the rage with the 13 - 35 age set at the moment; I'm more interested in hearing fantasy tales told by minds that've got fresh ideas and the desire to tell a good story well in mind, and not people who're only out to make money and success for themselves. Sure, Smallville is OK, but I can't bring myself to feel any more for it than that. I think they could've taken a chance on upsetting some of the audience in order to make a bolder statement, rather than simply producing an amalgam of 'all things to all people'. At the expense of a couple of million viewers or so maybe, at least that approach would've shown more creative flair. What we've got is OK, but a bit mouldy.

I've no doubt most people will love it.

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