Legends Of Tomorrow Pilot Parts 1 and 2 Review
After Part 1 of the pilot, I tweeted, "#LegendsOfTomorrow is a classed-up Suicide Squad led by Dr. Who Lite."
That wasn't a criticism. I think Legends Of Tomorrow has the potential to be a great addition to the DC superhero lineup on CW. It was just a little slow getting off the ground.
Part 1 was a bit bogged down with the need to introduce every character and his or her back story, because you can't really say to viewers, "Just watch The Flash season 1-2 and Arrow seasons 2-4 to get caught up."
Once we identified the coalition of the willing (Ray Palmer/ATOM), the unwilling (Jax Jackson/Firestorm), and the "what's in it for me" (Leonard Snart/Captain Cold), we could get on with Part 2 and the task of vanquishing Vandal Savage, the most boring, un-scary, taking-up-space villain in history.
Since he's immortal, that's saying something. Everything he's doing, Ra's Al-Ghul did better in Arrow season 3.
White Canary (Sara Lance) could take that guy out all by herself. Watch the bar fight scene in Part 1 and tell me I'm wrong.
There's an elaborate fight scene early in Part 2, as the Legends try to get between Savage and a successful munitions sale, more like a low-rent Christie's auction. (Clever directing: playing the end of the fight in slow motion with low sound to parallel Savage's dawning realization that Hawkman/Carter Hall and Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders have infiltrated his buyers.)
White Canary is always in the middle of the action, the camera focused on her. Same in the flash-bang fight scene at Savage's mansion to save Snart, Rory, and Ray's burglary gone wrong. Caity Lotz doesn't need stunt double help. Girl's got skills.
I can already see that those three - White Canary, Captain Cold (played to the hilt by Wentworth Miller), Heatwave (Dominic Purcell) - are going to be the most fun part of the show. Two guys in their man cave discussing how much they hate work and the former assassin who roughs up deserving low-lifes for fun. I can totally see them ditching their teammates on every Legends mission and going out looking for drinks and trouble in dive bars.
If it's a dive bar in the 1970s, all the better.
When a component of ATOM's "super suit" falls off in the chaos - falls off? WTH, Ray? - it's Dr. Martin Stein who gets the bright idea to solve this by retrieving the younger version of his arrogant, insufferable self, who gets hit on by...Sara?!
White Canary in '70s go-go boots and faux fur - props to the Costume Department - and smoking pot: shine on.
Ray Palmer, rightfully offended that Dr. Stein didn't even remember him as a student, let alone that he earned a Ph.D., is going to be the eager beaver of the show. It was sincerely sad to hear him say in Part 1 that his life as Star City tech billionaire CEO was ultimately meaningless, that nobody missed him when he was gone.
I think he'll find out in the fullness of time, whatever that is, that he was dead wrong about that.
ATOM is finally on the right show and we couldn't be happier for Superman...I mean, Brandon Routh. We're not so happy for Hawkgirl. Savage killed Hawkman already.
Dr. Stein and Jax Jackson have had some Firestorm couples counseling since Part 1 - "You're not the boss of me." "Don't make me drug you." Part 2 - "OK, I'm sorry I didn't give you much of a choice last time." "OK, it was pretty cool that your crazy plan for me to absorb a nuclear blast that blew up the Norwegian countryside actually worked."
Ray and Snart need an appointment with the same counselor if they're going to avoid killing each other first over who's leading the mission, like getting into a bidding war over a nuclear warhead with...Damian Darhk?!
Rip Hunter has his work cut out for him, keeping all these "independent thinkers" from messing with the timeline.
Crazy as it sounds, by the end of Part 2, it's Ray and Snart who've become Legend Of Tomorrow's unlikely co-cheerleaders. "Do we want to live out the rest of our lives as insignificant losers..." asks Captain Cold.
ATOM chimes in "...or make another play at becoming Legends and save the world?"
Coming up, episode 3 "Blood Ties"
