DC comics writer Geoff Johns, who successfully brought the Legion of Superheroes to Smallville in season 8, returns with the two part movie "Absolute Justice". This time Johns is bringing the old school Justice Society to the show, including Hawkman, Dr. Fate and Stargirl.
First I'll cover the goods. Geoff Johns knows comics better than anyone, and it shows, as this story not only matches in tone and structure to the comics, but the plot is fantastic. "Absolute Justice" is epic enough to be a big screen adaptation. This is a massive episode. Not only do we have a handful of new DC characters, but John Jones comes back as well. The production values are possibly the best Smallville has had yet. Everyone went all out on this episode, and it shows. The real star though is Geoff Johns script. Even though this is my least favorite episode Johns has written of the three he's done, behind "Legion" in season 8 and "Booster" in season 10, it is the most engaging story he's conceived. As a fan of DC comics I loved that Johns never hides some of the corniness of these superheroes, but there's a downside to that, as I'll cover next.
Now the negatives. Yes, as a fan of DC comics I love that Johns writes this like a comic book story, but having so many characters, and refusing to dumb down their complexities makes this harder to watch if you're not familiar with the comics. What Johns did differently in "Booster" and "Legion" was play up on some comedy. That made it easier to see these characters in live action, whereas here it's very serious, and much more dramatic. That causes the characters to come across as a little cheesy at times. Although in defence of Johns, the fault with that lies with the rest of the crew. Some of the costumes look super cheesy, and not in a way where it's intentional. Hawkman especially looks ridiculous at times. I don't want to fault the costume designers, as I think they did a phenomenal job, but with a TV show budget on the WB, it's next to impossible to make a character like Hawkman look as good as he should. Even though many fans will hate me for this, I also thought guest star Michael Shanks from Stargate:SG1 gave a weak performance. He has some great dramatic scenes, particularly those opposite Dr. Fate, but most of the time it seems like he's doing a bad impression of Rorschach from Watchmen. I don't want to knock him too much considering when he returned in season 10 I thought he did an amazing job as Hawkman. On the topic of Dr. Fate, again as a comics fan I liked how well his character was adapted, but it is extremely sci-fi in a way that doesn't fit the overall tone of Smallville. Again, that's a complaint that will effect non comic book fans more.
This 2 parter is a great achievement for everyone involved, but as can be expected when you go this far out on a limb, there were bound to be some minor flaws.
First I'll cover the goods. Geoff Johns knows comics better than anyone, and it shows, as this story not only matches in tone and structure to the comics, but the plot is fantastic. "Absolute Justice" is epic enough to be a big screen adaptation. This is a massive episode. Not only do we have a handful of new DC characters, but John Jones comes back as well. The production values are possibly the best Smallville has had yet. Everyone went all out on this episode, and it shows. The real star though is Geoff Johns script. Even though this is my least favorite episode Johns has written of the three he's done, behind "Legion" in season 8 and "Booster" in season 10, it is the most engaging story he's conceived. As a fan of DC comics I loved that Johns never hides some of the corniness of these superheroes, but there's a downside to that, as I'll cover next.
Now the negatives. Yes, as a fan of DC comics I love that Johns writes this like a comic book story, but having so many characters, and refusing to dumb down their complexities makes this harder to watch if you're not familiar with the comics. What Johns did differently in "Booster" and "Legion" was play up on some comedy. That made it easier to see these characters in live action, whereas here it's very serious, and much more dramatic. That causes the characters to come across as a little cheesy at times. Although in defence of Johns, the fault with that lies with the rest of the crew. Some of the costumes look super cheesy, and not in a way where it's intentional. Hawkman especially looks ridiculous at times. I don't want to fault the costume designers, as I think they did a phenomenal job, but with a TV show budget on the WB, it's next to impossible to make a character like Hawkman look as good as he should. Even though many fans will hate me for this, I also thought guest star Michael Shanks from Stargate:SG1 gave a weak performance. He has some great dramatic scenes, particularly those opposite Dr. Fate, but most of the time it seems like he's doing a bad impression of Rorschach from Watchmen. I don't want to knock him too much considering when he returned in season 10 I thought he did an amazing job as Hawkman. On the topic of Dr. Fate, again as a comics fan I liked how well his character was adapted, but it is extremely sci-fi in a way that doesn't fit the overall tone of Smallville. Again, that's a complaint that will effect non comic book fans more.
This 2 parter is a great achievement for everyone involved, but as can be expected when you go this far out on a limb, there were bound to be some minor flaws.