GOTHAM - Series Premiere Review

 Title: Gotham
Premiere: 22nd September 2014
Episode Length: ca. 50 min
Creator: Bruno Heller
Starring: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Jada Pinkett Smith, Robin Taylor, David Mazouz, Camren Bicondova, Cory Michael Smith, John Doman

Review:

Joel Schumacher killed the Batman franchise in 1997 with lame one-liners, goofy sets and the infamous bat-nipples. Eight years later, Christopher Nolan managed to revive the caped crusader, going back to the darker, more serious tone that made this superhero without superpowers so special. The Dark Knight might be more popular than ever before and we already know that Ben Affleck will be the next actor to put on the mask.
In the meantime, "The Mentalist" creator Bruno Heller brings us a brand new TV Series set in this masked manhunter's comic book universe, but.... without the Batman himself?!
Yes, "Gotham" might evolve around the world's greatest detective, but in this particular case that would be Jim Gordon. It is his origin story, and it starts with his biggest case yet: The murder of the Wayne Family! As we follow his path, we explore this sinister city with all its inhabitants, including but not limited to low life criminals, gang leaders, mobster, dirty cops and a few good ones as well.
The series started off very strong on Monday night. Its characters and their relationship with each other were cleverly constructed, and quite interesting and fun to watch. Among other things this is probably due to the show's perfect casting, and especially Robin Taylor shines in his role as Oswald Cobblepot. Also, when it comes to scale, this show really has the ambition to be able to compete with the movies.
This is where it has some minor problems though: the great strength of television is that it has the possibility to take its time with character development, and with a setting like Gotham I would have wished to see it go more of a neo-noir route, putting an even bigger focus on Gordon and exploring his personality even through the quiet moments when he is alone. Even more filming at night would have strengthend the atmosphere as well. This premiere felt just a little bit overcrowded and story wise they could have easily ended with a cliff-hanger about half way through. Also, the introduction of well-known Batman characters like the Riddler, or the Penguin was a little on the nose and i wish they would have trusted the audience enough to figure out who these people are by themselves.
But now I am nit-picking, because firstly, a perfect pilot is rare, and secondly, this one was already great. "Gotham" has a cool concept, seems extremely promising and shouldn't be missed by comic-book fans. If it calms down just a little bit with its story-telling, it might become a truely excellent TV experience!

For Fans Of:
Arrow (2012 - TV series)
Batman Begins (2005)
Batman: Year One (2011)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 - TV series)

Click Here To Watch Trailer!