The Hype
Its been a while since Barry Allen Visited Starling City in Season 2 of Arrow, and a certainly have my doubts about his stand-alone series. So many reasons Arrow works as a show stems from its "grounded" approach it never comes off as too comic booky, and that was one of my main concerns with crossing it over with Arrow, a show that has always been near and dear to me. However CW seems to be putting its best foot forward and laying all its cards on the table for the big budget premiere. Honestly I don't know how to feel, it could go either way, the show could crash and burn taking Arrow down with it, or triumph and kick start the shared television universe CW seems to be going for.
The Review
The premiere episode "City of Heroes" is partly a retelling of the origin we saw bits and pieces of in Arrow. Allen works forensics for the local police department, when he is struck by lighting caused by the new particle accelerator he is put into a coma for 9 months, awakening with superhuman speed. The entire 9-month coma and his reawakening seemed entirely too rushed, but it worked none the less and led to some touching moments among our main characters. Grant Gustin fits the role he's playing exceptionally well and is really believable as the lovable nerd. The humor wasn't fantastic but alos didn't take anything away from the overall experience.
The Episode really captures the charm and appeal of Arrow, and I was smiling to myself within the first 10 minutes. The Special effects were OK. There were some standout moments, but there were equally as many bad ones, the obvious CGI cars were obvious and small things just didn't fit into the world, Although I feel it can be overlooked due to the great action sets that follow. There were also some exiting clues for things to come, the biggest of which, a broken cage with the label "Grodd" which anyone with cursery comic knowledge knows this is something to look forward to in the coming episodes.
The reveal of Berry discovering his powers worked exceedingly well, even though it too felt a bit rushed, but it's hard to complain when The Flash accomplished so much in the short time it had for its premiere. The supporting cast had their weak moments and there was stiff dialogue throughout. The Stephen Amell cameo as The Arrow, worked well and was actually relevant to the story rather than just being there to remind people it is in the same universe (although it was a tad cheesy). With the already low expectations I had for the series I was actually blown away by the pilot and am more than exited to see where they go from here.
The Verdict
Some Cheesy moments and stiff dialogue are overshadowed, by the charm, wit, and truly touching moments of this surprisingly superb series premiere.
8.3/10