Ben McKenzie
Donal Logue
David Mazouz
Sean Pertwee
Robin Lord Taylor
Jada Pinkett Smith

Developed by:
Bruno Heller

2014-
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Fox
TV-14

“Gotham” paints with a broad brush, but it’s the details that will either make it or break it. It looks the part, which means that it expertly fits within the “Batman” aesthetic: You’re plunged into a world with an expectedly dark color palette, but there’s also a crispness to those colors. It matches the comic well.

However, there are problems: the writing and, by extension, the acting. The writing is uninspired. The dialogue seems like it comes from bad film noir. That could work if the actors were able to punch the silly and clichéd lines. But they don’t. Their take, for the most part, needs to be sharper and more colorful. They need to let the audience know that they know what kind of show they’re in. Only Jada Pinkett-Smith as Fish Mooney and Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin) seem to get that. They have a ball with their roles. In essence, they do the best they can with what they’re given. While their characters lend themselves the best to more colorful presentations, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the cast can’t follow their lead. The duller characters could still use a sharp, rhythmic take on the delivery of the dialogue. The air needs to be taken out every scene. Again, if everyone went for it, then those cheesy lines could work and we, the audience, could have some fun.

The only other actors who show promise are Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth and John Doman as Carmine Falcone. Those two don’t have colorful characters to play with, but they do manage to deliver their lines without seeming wooden. And that’s the overriding problem: woodenness. The lines are no help, so the actors have to find the flow all by themselves; they have to find the music here. Ben McKenzie, who was wonderful in “Southland,” misses the mark here as Detective Gordon. He, like many of the other actors, relies on the typical TV-drama acting style for “Gotham,” but that’s not going to work for this show. “Gotham” needs everything to be pumped up. Otherwise, the result will always be clunky. And that clunkiness will always lead to action sequences that seem forced and out-of-place.

Also, what’s with the obvious responses from everyone? For instance, did Fish Mooney have to know who betrayed her immediately? Couldn’t she have taken some time to explore that? Where are the shades?

Here’s my final take: “Gotham” has a successful look and all of the pieces in the right places. That’s it. Will they ever be able to use that to create something that’s interesting and fun to watch? Will they ever be able to find the right rhythm? I doubt it. (By the way, critics know next-to-nothing about acting. Just sayin’.)

Verdict: OK

About: (Source: gotham)

GOTHAM is an origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told.