The CW Superfriends: Arrow

The second installment of our look into the CW stable of superhero television series brings us Arrow.

What lessons did the studio learn from Smallville? Is any location more overused that Vancouver? Will the CW ever climb out of Pretty, Pretty Valley?

All this and more after the jump.



(Full disclosure on Arrow: I haven't watched all that is available. I quit at the Season 3 finale. You'll see why in a bit.)

Costumes/Visuals: 
I was fairly impressed by the costuming for the show.

You had to wonder how they were going to make this guy

look good in a live action retelling. And yet:

The visual aesthetic for the show is much, much darker than Smallville. This is intentional for a multitude of reasons, but the biggest is Warner Brothers is afraid to over-saturate the market with Batman and possibly dilute their one means of generating movie money. So they used Green Arrow as the stand in.

And it worked.

The costumes and color palette fit the tone of the plot well and the actors make superhero costumes look okay. Deathstroke, Deadshot, even Ra's al Ghul look believable. (Okay, Deadshot is the weak link there, but still...)

Regarding sets, you have the tried and true TV formula (establishing shots a handful of detailed sound stage sets) with a bigger budget for on location filming. If it ain't broke...

Speaking of which, The Queen Estate looks strangely familiar. Where have we seen it before? Seriously, check out that list. It has to be one of the most seen locations in cinema that isn't in New York.

Music:
I think Arrow has this over Smallville. Blake Neely has created some very unique and memorable theme music for the show. You hear it and you instantly see the Arrow logo. It's there when it needs to be and fades out when it doesn't.

Action:
This is a definite strong point.

First, the fight coordinators know their stuff and it makes the fighting look brutal and quick. Unlike Into the Badlands, the action is short, sharp, and (for the most part) believable.

Second, the lead actor Stephen Amell spends time working on things like Parkour, so the chase scenes and some of the tumbling stunts are actually him. This lends credibility to the character.

Third, the show runners give us a little bit of everything. Storms, earthquakes, and capsizing ships. We get chase scenes through mountainous jungle, city streets, and over rooftops. We get car chases, explosions, zip lines, and crashing through windows. We see plenty of gunplay by cops and villains. We see hand to hand combat with fists, knives, swords, tonfa, and arrows. People flip, dive, slide, and run.

And of course, the superhuman level of archery complete with insane archery duels.

The only possible complaint you could have is with a tiny, tiny teen girl beating up guys three times her size. Then again, she's basically a ninja, so...

Acting:
The acting on all of the newer Arrowverse shows is solid, with occasionally brilliant performances. Here's a few highlights:

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen: this is the role Amell was born to play. He is completely comfortable as the title character and has cemented himself as the Green Arrow for an entire generation of new fans.

Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak: a relative unknown coming into the show, her character was meant to be a one-off, but Rickard's beauty and quirky charm made Felicity a fan favorite.

John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn: Barrowman is a great character actor and this is role is no exception. Malcolm is easily my favorite villain of the series and a lot of that is Barrowman's charisma and delivery.

Writing:
I have to hand it to the writers, the first few seasons of this show were very well done. Characters have clear personalities and motivations, the backstories make sense within the comic framework, and the plot moves along well.They also manage to bring several threads together and weave a satisfying conclusion to each season, which is no mean feat with all the sub-plots they keep going.

And they both know and like the source material. I lost count of the times my wife paused the show to ask me why I was biting my knuckle and geeking out over some Easter egg. As a fan of the comics, it's very gratifying to have those touches in there just for you.

If there is a weak link, it's in the dialogue which can run a little saccharine or sanctimonious at times. There are definitely echoes of the "Teen Soap Opera with Superheroes" formula from Smallville. It also relies on the Pretty, Pretty Valley to add interest to some of the sub plots.

 I also wanted to take this opportunity to clarify an earlier comment.

Slight Spoilers: I stopped watching the show at the end of Season 3 because it ended so well. Nearly everything important was wrapped up, with the exception of Ray Palmer's circumstances. The series could have ended there and it would be satisfying.

I have since gone on to watch the first two episodes of Season 4. All of a sudden, Arrow is the "Mysticism" show. Despite the fact that we had only very oblique and inconclusive references to it in all the preceding seasons (including the Lazarus Pit) and the more realistic overall feel to the series. It felt extremely forced and I did not enjoy it.

Conclusion
Arrow seems like a certain win for the CW/DC. It's well acted, with solid writing and excellent action. If I felt like the show runners knew where they were headed, I would not hesitate to offer this up as an unqualified success. As it stands, watch the first three seasons and then decide if you want to roll the dice.