When I first heard about 'Smallville', I was very excited and had high hopes for it, expecting something a bit like the Nineties cartoon version of 'The X-Men' where the characters remained true to the essence of the comic book and the stories were involving. 'Smallville' had the potential to be a great show in depicting the updated version of Clark Kent's boyhood years before the boy became the Superman.
It was a bit off-putting seeing a grown man in his twenties trying to pass himself off as a fourteen-year-old boy (whoever cast Tom Welling must have been blind! He looks young but not that young). However, to begin with, 'Smallville' was quite enjoyable if rather predictable with the perpetual 'mutant-of-the-week' plot-lines of the first two seasons. But it didn't take me long to realise that this show was just another teen drama like 'The OC' and 'Beverley Hills 90210' except there was a sci-fi slant with the extra-strong teen and the school weirdos actually being very weird in that they had powers. Instead of dealing with Clark's growing realisation he is very different from his childhood friends and his fledging attempts to master his alien powers, we are made to continually deal with his moping around after Lana and their dull 'will they, won't they?' relationship that leaves most people over sixteen wishing one of the characters would just die and put an end to this irritating, over-done plot device once-and-for-all.
Character development is also very poor. Unlike 'Buffy' where we could see the characters growing from typical moody/egocentric teens to strong, capable adults, the teenage characters of 'Smallville' are stuck in brat mode despite the fact they are meant to be eighteen now and have been through so much to grasp the fact their world is not perfect. Clark remains vacillating between being bland to being an annoying whinge while Lana Lang is portrayed as this perfect, wonderful person who has no flaws and who every boy fancies. Ironically, it's both the new and lesser known characters who are the most interesting. Lex and Lionel Luthor are very fascinating insights into the dark side of humanity with Lionel being the insidious mould for the evil path his son will one day take. You know there's something wrong with a Superman show when you would rather see Lex win out over Clark! Chloe, Clark's childhood best friend who is much like Lois Lane of the future, is great with her tenacity with the truth warring with the morality just how far she will go to get her story. And Jonathan and Martha Kent was perfectly depicted as supportive parents who know there are some things they can never teach their special son.
Personally, I feel that this show was a wasted opportunity and is aimed mainly at the ten- to sixteen-year-old crowd instead of people past their mid--teens or fans of the comic book and/or films. For those who would rather have seen Clark's struggle with his growing powers instead of seeing yet another Hollywood version of kids in high school then wait for the new film coming out in summer 2006, which will hopefully far surpass this.
It was a bit off-putting seeing a grown man in his twenties trying to pass himself off as a fourteen-year-old boy (whoever cast Tom Welling must have been blind! He looks young but not that young). However, to begin with, 'Smallville' was quite enjoyable if rather predictable with the perpetual 'mutant-of-the-week' plot-lines of the first two seasons. But it didn't take me long to realise that this show was just another teen drama like 'The OC' and 'Beverley Hills 90210' except there was a sci-fi slant with the extra-strong teen and the school weirdos actually being very weird in that they had powers. Instead of dealing with Clark's growing realisation he is very different from his childhood friends and his fledging attempts to master his alien powers, we are made to continually deal with his moping around after Lana and their dull 'will they, won't they?' relationship that leaves most people over sixteen wishing one of the characters would just die and put an end to this irritating, over-done plot device once-and-for-all.
Character development is also very poor. Unlike 'Buffy' where we could see the characters growing from typical moody/egocentric teens to strong, capable adults, the teenage characters of 'Smallville' are stuck in brat mode despite the fact they are meant to be eighteen now and have been through so much to grasp the fact their world is not perfect. Clark remains vacillating between being bland to being an annoying whinge while Lana Lang is portrayed as this perfect, wonderful person who has no flaws and who every boy fancies. Ironically, it's both the new and lesser known characters who are the most interesting. Lex and Lionel Luthor are very fascinating insights into the dark side of humanity with Lionel being the insidious mould for the evil path his son will one day take. You know there's something wrong with a Superman show when you would rather see Lex win out over Clark! Chloe, Clark's childhood best friend who is much like Lois Lane of the future, is great with her tenacity with the truth warring with the morality just how far she will go to get her story. And Jonathan and Martha Kent was perfectly depicted as supportive parents who know there are some things they can never teach their special son.
Personally, I feel that this show was a wasted opportunity and is aimed mainly at the ten- to sixteen-year-old crowd instead of people past their mid--teens or fans of the comic book and/or films. For those who would rather have seen Clark's struggle with his growing powers instead of seeing yet another Hollywood version of kids in high school then wait for the new film coming out in summer 2006, which will hopefully far surpass this.