Gotham Review: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of "Pilot"

The Good: Holy Effective Introductions, Jim!

As a general rule, pilots are not the greatest episodes. With dialogue generally consisting of name repetition and burdensome exposition, the more aesthetic elements must be intriguing enough to bring viewers back for more polished future installments. For its part, Gotham was in the unenviable position of needing to create a background that would satisfy the deeper expectations of preexisting Batman fans whilst presenting a basic enough setting to not alienate newcomers. As almost a character unto its own in film adaptations over the past 25 years, Gotham City needed to be dark, dingy, and overall unappealing...without depressing audiences into changing the channel. Fortunately, the pilot of Gotham succeeded in this area. While presenting the requisite dripping dankness, the ugliness of the city is offset by a noir interpretation more reminiscent of a detective drama than a horror movie. With constant background movement, a sense of unease permeates. From the seedy diner to the swanky apartment, nowhere feels entirely safe. The actors could have been cardboard cutouts with robot voices, and viewers still would have had something to watch. It was pretty great. And the actors were not cardboard cutouts with robot voices! Ben McKenzie (previously of Southland and The O.C. fame) is a surprisingly natural Jim Gordon as he delivers some of the more stilted lines, and he manages to portray a straight man with a heart of gold without coming across as preachy or sanctimonious. Jada Pinkett Smith embraces the role of Fish Mooney (yes, that is her name) with such over-the-top enthusiasm and liveliness that she stands out among the grimness of her male counterparts, wonderfully personified by John Doman's Carmine Falcone. Sean Pertwee establishes himself as distinctly British as he peppers his sentences with "bloody" and "mate," and Donal Logue is surprisingly nuanced as Gordon's slightly dirty yet mostly pragmatic partner. It's too early to say much of the child actors, although David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne has mastered the Kubrick stare at the age of 13, and Camren Bicondova absolutely embodies the physicality of the as-yet unnamed future Catwoman Selina Kyle. Finally, Robin Lord Taylor has created in Oswald Cobblepot a formidable future villain previously considered one of the more laughable Batman bad guys. (Thanks, Danny DeVito.)