"Black Lightning is Back," but that's where it comes from. In recent years, series about superheroes are breeding like rabbits, which were left unattended in an enclosed room, and frankly, the fruits of this activity are mostly characterized by the phrase “Wow” and the characteristic cry of “Eee Sidab” (the well-known channel CW). But not everything is so bad, against the background of a lot of secondary content, there are worthy as “Gotham” or “Legion”, which not only say, here I am a superhero, now I will beat the bad guys, but bring some uniqueness to the genre, whether it is a great and original visual range or just evoke a great atmosphere of authenticity of the setting. The market for such creations is crowded and if you want to succeed on it, you should have at least some competitive advantages. In general, it seems that the superhero generation of TV series simply replaced the generation of detectives as Castle, Mentalist or Bones, and Hollywood just after sleeves decided to adjust to the trends of fashion, and in the field of films things are not better, although someone, and Logan managed to beat this series of conveyor cliché films. And now let’s see what type of this creation can be attributed to (whom I am cheating on the poster is already clear).
The series tells us about the headmaster of a school in the “black” neighborhood Ryan Pierce, who was once a superhero named “Black Lightning” and fought with everyone who dared to break the law, from mafia gangs to malicious defaulters of fines for improper parking. In order to save the family, he decides to retire for a while, but not here it was, audacious teenage gangsters take 2 of his daughters hostage and there comes a moment when you have to turn to your “Alfred”, wear a “tactical” black lightning suit with flickering lights, which is visible for several blocks, pull up transparent glasses in which only a patient with Alzheimer’s in the last stage does not recognize him and inflict a crushing blow on the gangs. No backstory, except for 30 seconds of flashbacks, just as the chorus of the soundtrack “Black lightning is back”, that’s just where it came from.
Well, in the atmosphere as a whole, this is just a classic film about a black district, white characters appear only for a fraction of a second and their only task is to insult the noble black people, and the arguments of the girls are characterized by intense overplay and waving their index finger in the face of a rival. Special effects at the level of the classic "SIDABA", from the blows heard sounds from the 80s, some scenes are simply absurd, like standing "Black Lightning" on the roof of the hotel literally a meter from the cop and as you think, zero reaction, probably shining lights do their job. Well, lastly about the main antagonist, who at his first appearance created a rather threatening look, up to the moment he decided to open his mouth, well, after his voice and gestures, I just want to scold. And the soundtrack deserves a separate mention, nowhere else did the pop turnip look so out of place, as here when changing locations. The series isn't that bad, it's just clearly not my format, like any CW series it will find its consumer, although the final word, as always, remains with ratings.
As a result, the series can go only to the most ardent fans of Arrow, Flash, Legend of Tomorrow and the like, which will soon be joined by the series Krypton. Everyone else is advised to be patient before the release of “Alienist” and “Altered Carbon”, so as not to waste your time.
4 out of 10