Smallville, the infamous series about the adventures of Clark Kent before he became Superman is almost as big as the legend of the Blue Guy himself. Smash hit would be an understatement to describe the popularity of this series and it deserves more than it's fair share of kudos, but are the fans blinded by hype?
The cast of Smallville is top notch it had to be said. All the younger cast members including the main star Tom Welling are really capturing and play out their parts with a lot of flare and passion, even showing some other sides to their acting abilities in some of the shows stranger 'alternate reality' episodes. Special mention must go to the older members of the cast. Annette 'O Toole (The original Lana Lang) still as beautiful as ever and John Schneider make for two of the most loving parents that any superhero could ask for. On the other side of the coin the tremendously magnificent John Glover plays a truly sinister overlord in Lionel Luthor, Lex's father and has a presence rarely seen outside of Hollywood blockbusters and is a joy to watch him manipulate his son and push him to the twisted villain he will become.
The production values on Smallville are second to none. All the stops have been pulled out to create a believable and comfortable world to view young Clark Kent in. The Kent Farm really looks like a place that anyone would be happy living in and other venues really seal the deal location wise and the special effects, bar a few pieces of dodgy CGI are continuously excellent.
All this said you'd expect it to be the best series ever but Smallville has some flaws and they are pretty big ones to boot.
Firstly, Smallville isn't just a superhero series, it's an American teen drama series and with it comes all the bullshit associated with that genre. The puppy love element get's really annoying after it's used a million times, common sense seems to go out of the window during disaster situations and not to mention the endless drone of whiney indie bands that are shamelessly plugged throughout most of the first 5 seasons, most of which will be out of date in 5 years time so shame on the producers for incorporating such a cheap marketing trick.
The series also suffers from a hefty dose of quantity over quality which is sadly typical of many American TV shows. While most British TV shows are typically 6 episodes per series, Smallville's seasons clock in at a massive 22 episodes each and every idea is stretched to the limit. In reality the whole show could have been 5 or 6 seasons of consistently quality material but it is in reality 10 seasons, awash with awful 'monster of the week' fillers which litter the actual story arcs which are really quite captivating.
Even in the quality episodes the ideas clearly run out and the producers and writers resort to cheap tricks in order to squeeze out as many episodes as they can. Kryptonite is grossly overused throughout the entire 10 season run. Part of Superman's appeal is that he is near invincible with only a few knowing his secret and even fewer knowing the location of said kryptonite. In Smallville it seems to be available to everyone at any time and the constant sight of Clark walking into a room in just about every episode to me met with a green glow and him falling over soon grows very tiresome very quickly. A horribly overused plot obstacle.
Another thing about the show is that the writers and producers are not shy about messing around with the DC canon. Just about every major character and villain from the Superman series has been included in Smallville and has interacted and met with Clark Kent before he's even put on a pair of Blue tights. I'm no comic book fan but even I know Lois and Clark meet AFTER he becomes Superman and while I actually really love Erica Durance's portrayal of the feisty Whitesnake loving Lane, not to mention seeing her in rather revealing outfits throughout her time on the show, it's just one step too far with messing with the canon. This is an obvious sign of a lack of ideas to fill the previously mentioned quota of 22 episodes so a few familiar names were put in to draw attention and once again it completely overdosed just for ratings.
This may sound like a very scathing review but the show does have it's good points. Smallville shows some tremendous attention to detail where it considers the Superman universe and it makes for really fun viewing for comic book fans (which I am not, I just like the films) Another of the shows strengths is the inclusion of actors and actresses who have been involved in Superman film or TV projects before. This is a wonderful touch and really evokes some strong memories which bond you to the show even more. The inclusion of other superhero characters from the D.C. universe is actually one of the shows ratings pulling tricks that actually works, and it works really, really well and for the more grown up feel of the later seasons it's amazing to see a team gathering.
So there you have it. Smallville is one of the now legendary Superman themed TV shows and probably the most successful of the lot. If you can put up with the endless filler episodes and kryptonite plot devices then there are many wonders in this series that in my mind are unsurpassed on TV let alone film.
The cast of Smallville is top notch it had to be said. All the younger cast members including the main star Tom Welling are really capturing and play out their parts with a lot of flare and passion, even showing some other sides to their acting abilities in some of the shows stranger 'alternate reality' episodes. Special mention must go to the older members of the cast. Annette 'O Toole (The original Lana Lang) still as beautiful as ever and John Schneider make for two of the most loving parents that any superhero could ask for. On the other side of the coin the tremendously magnificent John Glover plays a truly sinister overlord in Lionel Luthor, Lex's father and has a presence rarely seen outside of Hollywood blockbusters and is a joy to watch him manipulate his son and push him to the twisted villain he will become.
The production values on Smallville are second to none. All the stops have been pulled out to create a believable and comfortable world to view young Clark Kent in. The Kent Farm really looks like a place that anyone would be happy living in and other venues really seal the deal location wise and the special effects, bar a few pieces of dodgy CGI are continuously excellent.
All this said you'd expect it to be the best series ever but Smallville has some flaws and they are pretty big ones to boot.
Firstly, Smallville isn't just a superhero series, it's an American teen drama series and with it comes all the bullshit associated with that genre. The puppy love element get's really annoying after it's used a million times, common sense seems to go out of the window during disaster situations and not to mention the endless drone of whiney indie bands that are shamelessly plugged throughout most of the first 5 seasons, most of which will be out of date in 5 years time so shame on the producers for incorporating such a cheap marketing trick.
The series also suffers from a hefty dose of quantity over quality which is sadly typical of many American TV shows. While most British TV shows are typically 6 episodes per series, Smallville's seasons clock in at a massive 22 episodes each and every idea is stretched to the limit. In reality the whole show could have been 5 or 6 seasons of consistently quality material but it is in reality 10 seasons, awash with awful 'monster of the week' fillers which litter the actual story arcs which are really quite captivating.
Even in the quality episodes the ideas clearly run out and the producers and writers resort to cheap tricks in order to squeeze out as many episodes as they can. Kryptonite is grossly overused throughout the entire 10 season run. Part of Superman's appeal is that he is near invincible with only a few knowing his secret and even fewer knowing the location of said kryptonite. In Smallville it seems to be available to everyone at any time and the constant sight of Clark walking into a room in just about every episode to me met with a green glow and him falling over soon grows very tiresome very quickly. A horribly overused plot obstacle.
Another thing about the show is that the writers and producers are not shy about messing around with the DC canon. Just about every major character and villain from the Superman series has been included in Smallville and has interacted and met with Clark Kent before he's even put on a pair of Blue tights. I'm no comic book fan but even I know Lois and Clark meet AFTER he becomes Superman and while I actually really love Erica Durance's portrayal of the feisty Whitesnake loving Lane, not to mention seeing her in rather revealing outfits throughout her time on the show, it's just one step too far with messing with the canon. This is an obvious sign of a lack of ideas to fill the previously mentioned quota of 22 episodes so a few familiar names were put in to draw attention and once again it completely overdosed just for ratings.
This may sound like a very scathing review but the show does have it's good points. Smallville shows some tremendous attention to detail where it considers the Superman universe and it makes for really fun viewing for comic book fans (which I am not, I just like the films) Another of the shows strengths is the inclusion of actors and actresses who have been involved in Superman film or TV projects before. This is a wonderful touch and really evokes some strong memories which bond you to the show even more. The inclusion of other superhero characters from the D.C. universe is actually one of the shows ratings pulling tricks that actually works, and it works really, really well and for the more grown up feel of the later seasons it's amazing to see a team gathering.
So there you have it. Smallville is one of the now legendary Superman themed TV shows and probably the most successful of the lot. If you can put up with the endless filler episodes and kryptonite plot devices then there are many wonders in this series that in my mind are unsurpassed on TV let alone film.