Review Detail
9.0 13 10
(Updated: September 13, 2012)
Enjoyment
9.0
Review by DwightFry78 — May 30, 2011 @ 5:08 am
Unlike many people around here, I never really followed Smallville loyally, and the first season has a lot to do with it. Frankly, my opinion of it is that it, with its dreadfully lame and repetitive “freak-of-the-week” structure, was so bad overall that it’s a wonder it even got renewed for a second one. Okay, I may be being too harsh, but I got the feeling that every single episode was the same.
However, beneath that surface there happened to be a surprisingly engaging dose of human drama, and it took Last Survivor to reveal it in his firstling by removing all the rubble and putting together a story about people, which is what all great stories are about. It does not turn it into The Godfather, it’s still a whinefest and the dialogue is more akin to what a teenager would write than to what they would say, but the relations between the characters are highly enjoyable and you get to like them all (yes, Whitney too!) It’s true that it could have been trimmed a little further, and it’s true that the limitations of the material sometimes prevent some points to be well-rounded (I’m referring specifically to Clark’s quite out-of-character avoidance of Chloe when their quasi-affair starts developing, caused by the removal of that episode’s freak), but for what LS had to work with, the result is more than solid. Do not expect an action movie, though, there’s precious little of that, this is Smallville as pure drama. The action/adventure excitement, however, does kick in for the last hour of the ride, which might be the best of it.
Technically this is pretty much flawless, with no hard cuts whatsoever, and audio and video quality being consistently fine. I had the chance to see an earlier workprint by LS that showed great promise, which the final version more than fulfilled. This was a very good firstling that has me joining the popular acclaim for similar LS edits of further seasons of the show. 9/10 overall.
Unlike many people around here, I never really followed Smallville loyally, and the first season has a lot to do with it. Frankly, my opinion of it is that it, with its dreadfully lame and repetitive “freak-of-the-week” structure, was so bad overall that it’s a wonder it even got renewed for a second one. Okay, I may be being too harsh, but I got the feeling that every single episode was the same.
However, beneath that surface there happened to be a surprisingly engaging dose of human drama, and it took Last Survivor to reveal it in his firstling by removing all the rubble and putting together a story about people, which is what all great stories are about. It does not turn it into The Godfather, it’s still a whinefest and the dialogue is more akin to what a teenager would write than to what they would say, but the relations between the characters are highly enjoyable and you get to like them all (yes, Whitney too!) It’s true that it could have been trimmed a little further, and it’s true that the limitations of the material sometimes prevent some points to be well-rounded (I’m referring specifically to Clark’s quite out-of-character avoidance of Chloe when their quasi-affair starts developing, caused by the removal of that episode’s freak), but for what LS had to work with, the result is more than solid. Do not expect an action movie, though, there’s precious little of that, this is Smallville as pure drama. The action/adventure excitement, however, does kick in for the last hour of the ride, which might be the best of it.
Technically this is pretty much flawless, with no hard cuts whatsoever, and audio and video quality being consistently fine. I had the chance to see an earlier workprint by LS that showed great promise, which the final version more than fulfilled. This was a very good firstling that has me joining the popular acclaim for similar LS edits of further seasons of the show. 9/10 overall.
D