"Arrow" Sure is Green

Most of what I know about the DC superhero Green Arrow I know from the "Justice League" and "Young Justice" animated series, which is to say, not a whole lot. Green Arrow is really a rich industrialist named Oliver Queen who fights injustice with a bow and arrow, dresses in a green Robin Hood themed outfit, and has a kid sidekick named Speedy. He always seemed like a bit of a Batman knockoff, except with a sillier gimmick.

The new WB series immediately provides much more to chew on. This version of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) starts out as a feckless playboy who is shipwrecked on an island in the North China Sea for five years after a terrible accident kills his father (Jamey Sheridan) and the girl Ollie was seeing at the time, Sarah (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood). He returns home to a worried mother, Moira (Susanna Thompson), who has remarried to the shady-looking businessman Walter Steele (Colin Salmon). She immediately saddles Ollie with a new bodyguard, John Diggle (David Ramsey). Warmer welcomes come from the family maid, Raisa (Kathleen Gati), Ollie's teenage sister Thea (Willa Holland), and his best friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell), who is eager to facilitate a return to a life of hedonism. Ollie has other plans. First, he seeks out Sarah's sister Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), a legal aid crusader and another of Ollie's former girlfriends. She sees that he's changed, but isn't ready to reconcile. Maybe she'd change her mind if she knew that five years on the island has given Oliver Queen a new goal in life - to bring down the corrupt ne'er-do-wells who control the city and may have caused his father's death. And boy does he have some interesting ideas about how to go about playing vigilante.

So instead of altruism and comic book capers, we've got a Green Arrow whose primary motivation is revenge. Plus, we have those five years on the island presenting a big series mystery, and some hints of brewing family drama. Established Green Arrow fans should take note that Ollie's little sister is nicknamed Speedy, and Laurel Lance is the alter ego of another DC superhero, Black Canary. I'm glad that she's in the show, but not so thrilled about the way she's been rewritten as an uptight, self-righteous lawyer type. Some of the other changes are more promising, like setting up Ollie's mother as a major Big Bad and the unexplored backstory with his father. "Arrow" has learned from the mistakes of other superhero themed shows and downplays the traditional comic book elements. We get a few quick training and fight scenes, nothing too out of the ordinary for a regular action show aside from the use of archery. The main feature of the crimefighting costume is a green hood instead of a feathered cap, and Ollie uses a few streaks of face paint instead of a mask. It doesn't look great, but at least it doesn't look silly or campy. I don't think anyone even says the name "Green Arrow" anywhere in the pilot.

It's not a bad approach to the material, but I'm not sure the about the execution. The acting is the biggest headache so far. Arnell's dialogue delivery is awfully stiff, and the minute I heard his voice-over supplying a few lines of exposition to set the scene, I knew we were in trouble. He's good looking and charismatic, but I do not buy that this guy is wrestling with any kind of inner demons, or that he's being driven by some kind of great moral cause all of a sudden. The other characters read as easy stereotypes so far. Slightly weaselly best friend. Social justice-minded love interest. Pretty younger sister surrounded by bad influences. Untrustworthy authority figures you just know are up to no good. The one character with any real ambiguity to him was the bodyguard, whose interactions with Ollie were the only source of comic relief in the whole hour. I know this is only the pilot and we're still dealing with introductions, but the core cast so far is exceptionally bland.

At least "Arrow" looks pretty good. The fight scenes are fun. We get several exciting flashbacks to the shipwreck and the picturesque island, with the promise of more to come. The Queen family's opulence is established without coming across like it's trying too hard. I like that they're not relying on too many visual gimmicks or gadgetry too, as the CGI isn't too bad, but not helping either. The premiere is fast-paced and manages to convey a lot of information very quickly, and it did manage to hold my interest. I'm not sure what's going to happen when it slows down, though, if the writing and the performances are going to improve enough to keep the show afloat.

Put this in the wait and see category.
---