“My name is Oliver Queen. After spending five years on a desert island, I came back with one goal: to save my city. Now others have joined me, for them I am Oliver Queen, for the rest of the city I am someone else. “I’m something different...” is how each episode of this amazing series begins.
I started watching Arrow back in 2014, but after watching season 5, I abandoned it. I don’t remember the reason, Toli didn’t want to wait for the new season, or maybe she didn’t want to watch it anymore, but that’s not the point. And now I decided to review it, at the same time and watch those seasons that I did not watch.
This is my second DC comic book series, the first was Smallville Mysteries, which is where I learned about the green arrow, but these series have nothing to do with each other.
The plot, the idea of this character is very interesting. Flashbacks from the past touch the present, and it was even a shame that events from the past show so little. A team of arrows that somehow change Oliver, and he changes them too. They are with him until the end, and he is ready for everything.
The actors in this series are perfect in my opinion. Starting with the arrow/Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), honestly, I don’t even imagine another green arrow now, although there is a lot of controversy about the acting of Stephen Amell. But what is it supposed to be? Oliver Queen has gone through something that many have never dreamed of, and I don’t think he has to be a funny character all the time.
It is worth noting and well-chosen opposite characters that we can meet in the comics, and their adaptation in the series is a huge plus.
In my opinion, the best villain of all seasons is Prometheus.
What can this series teach you? It seems to me that you need to value your family, and the main thing is that the family consists not only of your mom, dad brother or sister, but also it can be just your bodyguard, from whom you constantly ran away, who became you like a brother, your computer expert, who you always turned to to find out about criminals when you can not go to the police, and even the one who did not love you before and blamed you for all his problems, may eventually measure your father. I think this is a series about forgiveness. How many times did Oliver forgive his enemies? How many times did Oliver forgive his friends? But most importantly, did Oliver Quinn forgive himself for everything? I think I could.
This series is not only about the green arrow, but also about friendship, love, loyalty to your cause. That a person can go through such trials and still be human.
Thank you Oliver Queen for teaching us to appreciate, love and forgive.
Despite the title, the article will focus on the series Arrow. But what about Superman, you ask? Because it is the success of the series Arrow that such series as Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Superlgerl, Superman and Lois and others owe their release. Therefore, this movie universe was nicknamed the arrowverse in honor of Oliver Queen.
Most review readers do this only to hear the rating of the good or bad series in front of them and whether it is worth watching. So I'll start with this: look. Even if you are not a big fan of DC or superheroes, this series is worth watching.
First the good stuff.
The first seasons are well shot. This is a story about a simple guy who found himself in very strange life circumstances became someone else - an avenger and a fighter against crime. We are introduced to the identity of Oliver Queen and the story of how he became the Arrow. Showing the birth of the Arrow. And there is no special mysticism, miracles and superpowers, because it brings the characters from the series closer to us mere mortals. And a special thanks to Stephen Amele for his incarnation of Arrow. When the actor was chosen perfectly.
But it's not going well. . .
From the third season, magicians, spirits, demons appear in the universe. And the series could have rolled, but the writers manage to balance the line between 'I want to stop this' and 'What's next?' They do this by connecting new series from the universe (for example, Flash, about which I may write a separate review), adding new heroes and villains to the series, and using the charisma of the main character.
But there is something that distinguishes the first seasons from the next. It’s a touch of ‘cartooniness’ that grew a lot after season two. I understand we're watching a comic book series, but the explosions should be explosions, not noisy flashes. Firefights with experienced military personnel should not look like they have deliberately come to surrender to the enemy and shoot at the walls. This is a remark on the whole arrowverse. The speed of Flash in ten Mach does not blow away cars, and the throws of Supergirl villains against the walls, does not turn them into bloody minced meat. Thank you for bringing Superman and Lois back as much realism as possible for the superhero genre. The same realism was observed at the beginning of the series and I think in many ways it ensured the success of the box office and allowed the start of the arrowverse. Why the writers suddenly overplayed everything, I do not understand. And although the series still asked difficult questions in the course of the plot (questions over which you could think, for example, “Is the Avengers good or bad, even if they do not kill anyone?”), its “cartoon” leveled the importance of these questions and greatly discounted its rating.
A spoonful of honey
It's very difficult to talk about Arrow without touching other TV series in the universe. Writers and showrunners have tried and made a large number of crossovers, intersections of characters, common locations for all series and minor characters, making their stories richer, uniting heroes in the party. Created a huge movie world, which made the series more interesting.
Everyone has a common disadvantage - cartoonism. But the characters still look alive... Of course, if you’ve been waiting for a Nolan or Snyder-like universe, it’s not about this series, but as an evening show for relaxation – it will do.
Summary
Sometimes better, sometimes worse, but the series lived and remained interesting. In my opinion, it was closed in time.
Intrigue or spoiler
In one of the arrowverse crossovers, you can meet Flash from the universe of Z. Snyder performed by Ezra Miller. And you can also meet Barry Allen performed by John Wesley Ship from the 1990 series Flash and Superman from the movie Superman Returns as Brandon Ruth.
Crossovers and intersections in the series a huge number. I counted more than 11 movie universes that crossed over all seasons of the Arrow universe.
Have a good time.
This series at one time launched the entire television universe of the CW channel on DC comics. It all began as a rather dynamic and interesting story about billionaire Oliver Quinn, who under the mask of Arrow fights crime. The action is punctuated by Oliver's flashbacks about five years he spent on the mysterious island of Lian Yu in the Pacific Ocean. These memories are intertwined with stories in modern times. And periodically flashbacks, especially at first, are even more interesting than Oliver’s exploits in the Arrow mask.
The main role is played by Stephen Ammel. He shows good fitness and looks at the level in action scenes. They are here, by the way, on a good TV level. At least in the early seasons. Then the creators began to become more and more interested in mediocre graphics. Gradually, Oliver grows up with a whole team. There are no particularly charismatic characters. Better with the villains. There's a Ras Al Ghul. But the best among them were Destroke performed by Manu Bennet and the main villains of season 5 mysterious Prometheus.
Over time, the series began to add more and more mysticism and fiction. From here came the entire DC TV universe from the CW channel, each year stamping large crossovers between the series of the lineup (The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, etc.). And the relationship between the characters began to resemble a soap opera. Heroes in the best traditions die and resurrect. It was logical to end the fifth season, which ends flashbacks off the island and it has an epic ending. But the series continued for three more seasons, already frankly unnecessary. I stopped looking at the sixth.
The main theme of the series, repeated by the voice of the protagonist at the beginning of almost every episode: ' To save my city, I need to become someone else, something else'. Unfortunately, neither the main character nor the series itself could become something clear and logical.
For 8 seasons, the audience watched the story of not the most famous, but still having its own fanbase, the hero of the DC comic line - Oliver Quinn, in the world of superheroes having the pseudonym Green Arrow. The origin of the character did not become a cultural heritage, as, for example, the death of Batman's parents or the radioactive spider of Peter Parker - this allowed the authors to tell their story, bypassing the negative of fans and at the same time freely use and interpret the material of the comic original source.
Prior to this series, Green Arrow had only one television incarnation in the TV series of the same channel CW: Smallville Mysteries. That hero had a poorly written origin, was mostly written off from the comic version and did not pull on the main character, but, falling in love with the viewer, became a permanent character. And so, taking into account the mistakes of the Secret Smallville, focused on a very childish audience, the CW issued a new, oriented (as it seemed at the beginning) to an adult audience, taking as a guide the dark realism of the Dark Knight Christopher Nolan. But the arrow flew by.
The authors found a really interesting form of narration: thanks to a parallel comparison of the origin story and the existence of the main character. But, unfortunately, it was only a hoax - a real, formed main character we will not see, all 8 seasons - is a constant desire to become 'something, something else' led to the fact that we have a hero who does not have a clear core, expressed in the ethical categories characteristic of almost all DC superheroes.
Thus, according to the creators’ logic, they avoided cliche and achieved unpredictability – and this is true: the first two seasons tell the story of the character’s formation, the origin of his personal injuries that make up his future motivation. But then we realize that the character is constantly in the process of finding himself and cannot adequately answer for his actions.
Of course, it’s OK now to be forever ' in search of yourself ' to seek your calling and justify your sometimes strange and illogical actions with the traumas of the past – in this sense, the series gets into the nerve of the modern agenda (not to mention racial, gender and political diversity). However, even if you remember among your friends people ' in search ' you will understand that it is difficult to communicate with them for a long time, always solve their problems and listen to whining about their lives, work and achievements, often exaggerated in their importance.
If the series had ended after two seasons or had chosen a different tone and pace of storytelling, it would have become something. And so we watch 8 seasons as the main character does something ineffectually, becomes someone, moves between worlds (!), changes bodies, dies and much more - and everything is fruitless for the world and for the character. For example, there is a scene in the series that illustrates the extent of the transformation of the main character: in one season Oliver Quinn states that "I am no longer the Arrow, now I am the Green Arrow" & #39; As you understand, nothing but the shade of the superhero costume, this event did not change, although it was served with such a share of pathos that we should expect a complete revision of the concept of the series.
When a bonus to the problem of the main line is added budget constraints, poor graphics, mediocre acting, a pack of uninteresting and one-sided characters - watching becomes almost unbearable.
But the series, in my opinion, has one advantage: the world created by the Arrowverse series does not violate its own laws and follows the strange, but all-written logic of its own narrative. The series, released after the Arrow, where the action takes place in the same universe: The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Vixen (animated series), etc., comply with the rules of the fictional world introduced in the first seasons of the arrow. Of course, there are strong failures (the Batwoman series), when the story of the character assumes a strong motivation, but, following the rules, does not find it and simply doubts everything and even the expressed ' otherness' the main character (lesbianism and fem-theme) does not affect the narrative, adding only a few phrases to the dialogue.
The unity of Arrowverse is most clearly felt in crossover series, when the main characters of one series fall into others. You may not know anything about the other characters, their stories and problems, even the plot - it doesn't matter at all, such ' side ' the series will be no different from the main plot, remaining part of the endless formation of the protagonist.
Summing up, the series Arrow and all the spin-offs taking place in a single television universe constantly want ' to become someone, something': an interesting series, a thought-out superhero, cheap soap, costumed comedy, psychological drama, smart detective - not becoming anything definite, constantly rushing between extremes. But if you accept this fact, the series will never deceive you, being the perfect background for you to be able to engage in the formation of your own personality, without being immersed in the vicissitudes of Oliver Quinn’s life.
“Arrow” is the brainchild of CW, and has all the symptoms of the projects of this channel – “soapiness”, inappropriate pathos, love triangles, sudden resurrections and other grand pianos in the bushes. Not the best preamble, but the same flaws did not prevent “Supernatural” in the first seasons to capture the attention of the audience. In the hope of the best, I decided to watch this series. And, to be honest, the desire to turn off arose already in the fifth minute of the play, but leisure in the mode of self-isolation is not very diverse, so it ended with the fact that I watched the entire first season, swearing and rewinding. I guess I'm a bit of a masochist at heart.
While watching willy-nilly, comparisons came to mind with the Marvel series lineup (especially with the Daredevil I adore), and everything was not in favor of Arrow. But it would be foolish to draw parallels and be upset that one movie does not reach the level of another, so I will try to clearly and as objectively as possible to explain why this review is red, and what is wrong with the series itself.
1. Screenplay, characters.
The main character - an attractive and indecently rich pamper of fate - by the will of an accident turns out to be on a mysterious island, where he spends five years, after which, rescued by fishermen, returns to his native city, already darkened and filled with the idea of administering justice over the powerful of this world, in the name of the memory of the deceased Pope. Having collected a bag of technological gadgets (like a hacker arrow) and a team of assistants, he chops bad guys into cabbage at night, and during the day pretends to be a spoiled boy so as not to cause unnecessary suspicion. Does that remind you of anyone?
Of course, the superhero genre has its own cliches, and the stories of many characters have similar dynamics, but still the similarities with Batman cause a sense of secondaryness.
The creators of the series were obviously inspired by Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, but only minor moments came out, and most importantly – the oppressive atmosphere and deep disclosure of the characters – were left behind. This is sad, since the series has much more chances to fully reveal the characters, weeks in a two-hour movie.
Oliver Queen, who is the protagonist, evokes neither sympathy nor interest. The conflict underlying his character has not been fully disclosed. Oliver makes illogical actions, does not learn from his mistakes and since his first appearance does not change much - and in flashbacks there are no changes that are repeated over and over in the frame.
His assistant John Diggle at first was sympathetic, but it turned out to be rather superficial for verification, and constant verbal references to the time of service in Afghanistan cluttered the air already crowded with Oliver's flashbacks.
Well, it is impossible not to mention Felicity Smoke, who playfully hacks into the websites of government organizations, fixes shot laptops and conducts DNA texts on her knee. Oliver, against the background of such a unique, seems to be a playful child.
The main villain of the first season - Malcolm Merlin - flat, with a vague motivation, but he is saved by the charisma of John Barrowman. Other characters appear mainly in the form of scenery, including Lauren Lens – the main “love interest” and part of two love triangles at once, where without them.
Separately, it is worth mentioning an important part of the show created to present the personality of the main character - flashbacks. This technique, which creates an intimate space between the audience and the main character, does not work here. At all. Moreover, multi-minute and heavy memories do not tell anything new about the character of the hero, but they organize their complicated story - superfluous in the context of the main plot.
The weakest point is dialogue. Pompous, full of platitudes, often simply stupid. What is the phrase that the hero gloomyly throws in the face of all his opponents before their death: "You failed this city." The actors might be able to improve the situation, but...
2. Acting game
There is a difference between “go away” and “go out my eyes.” Most of the screen time actors just walk in the frame, keeping about the same facial expression, usually confused. Stephen Amell predominantly frowns sadly. And undressing. Of course, attractive appearance is a must for an actor at CW, but still I would like to see at least some acting skills. Maybe in future seasons he will show himself, but so far we have eyebrows in the house. And of course the press.
The lack of acting skills is especially pronounced in scenes that require an emotional response from the viewer. For example, when Oliver suffers cardiac arrest after a bullet wound, his assistants do not show clear emotions. Fear, nervous tremors, panic, relief – this is not here, just reading lines like a piece of paper (by the way, in this scene, Felicity fixes the defibrillator in five seconds, wow!). Should we expect compassion from the viewer if this is not in the frame? Okay, the dialogues in most cases are spelled out clumsy, but a competent actor and without words can convey everything that is required, while the caste of Arrow does not even try. Artificial blood is shed, pathetic speeches are pronounced, gloomy-heroic music thunders, Oliver undresses again. And so, for 23 episodes.
The only navigator in this emotionless world is the soundtrack. If a lyrical, soulful melody plays, then love issues are being resolved on the screen now. The dark composition hints at an impending conflict, and so on. Thank you for that too.
3. Action
Controversial point: still some fights are well staged (for example, in the corridor with a reference to Oldboy). But, although the ragged editing and trembling camera give speakers and allow you to hide flaws, often they begin to ripple in the eyes. At normal speed, everything looks less impressive. Sometimes acceleration does not help - so, in the scene of the fight with Malcolm, a double clearly shines several times, and this is a gross miss.
It's funny to watch Oliver's enemies fall unfeeling from one blow, and our hero doesn't care. Yes, the villains learned to shoot clearly from the stormtroopers from Star Wars, but still ignore the hail of bullets is not worth it. After all, Queen doesn't wear armor, but a regular leather and hood. By the way, don't you find that he doesn't really hide the face of our conspirator? However, in the heat of battle, no one will look.
You can call it nitpicking, but in a show about a folk vigilante, all the muzzles should be at least fascinating.
As a result, we have a very mediocre spectacle, suitable for background viewing without trying to analyze what is happening. And all would be fine if “Arrow” did not claim the title of a serious project with an emphasis on the personality of the characters (unlike, for example, the same “Flash”). All this – a great plot, an emotional message, a strong acting ensemble and a beautiful, atmospheric world – we will see later in Daredevil, but this is a completely different story. But here and now are the fogs of Starling City night, and behind them is the void.
The idea is this - ultra-rich-poor-beautiful-playboy, who got to the island - for 5 years is forced to survive, returning, he decides to save his city. His name is the Green Arrow. The truth is, I like DC Comics, but I can’t accept Arrow because it’s a mix of Robin Hood and Batman that doesn’t inspire me at all. It is noteworthy that this series does not want to contribute to this. Each character is morally obsolete with each series.
Everything about "Arrow" is bad. Acting skills, directing, history, dialogue, characters, Katie Cassidy ... Katie Cassidy and her emotionless face and... don’t believe it — Katie Cassidy. I almost forgot to tell you how bad Katie Cassidy is. The fact is that it makes viewing more painful.
The script and dialogue are poorly written, the characters use vague and simplistic words that don’t really clarify anything, only vain attempts to assume that something is happening. The lack of plot or real action is supposedly balanced by drama and moral dilemmas. Well, let me tell you that a bulldozer can run over any of the main characters and I won't blink an eye. I don't care about any of them, they whine all the time! Such stereotypes as: - a former marine, computer scientist, criminally rich, beautiful, sensitive and idealized woman, a tough policeman, spoiled playboy. The big minus of the script: no solid character, the series is a smear. He panics every time he has nothing to say, compensating for the emotional instability of the actors.
All the bad guys are former stormtroopers, I suppose. They always aim badly and shoot last. Shoot at the sky! Shoot the wall! You guys have guns, and this guy only has arrows, please feel sorry for him. I am reminded of the joke Falcon's eye from Era of Ultron. It's soft. It's boring. We love comics. We don’t come here to cry over relationships, we don’t want to watch 40 minutes of pure pseudo-drama. Oliver Queen has always been a happy character and often joked. It was his peculiarity that even if he lost a lot, he could still smile and joke. Instead, we see a person without a personality who falls in love with anyone, anytime. Are the writers stupid enough to contradict themselves whenever they need to introduce someone new to the series? I get very petty if I don't like it.
If I wanted to watch self-centered girls show inner strength in the form of commanding their loved ones and accusing them of something at every opportunity, I would prefer Sex and the City. This is what happens in almost every episode of Arrow, especially after Season 4. And Felicity is the main instigator, she is 5 minutes from becoming a neurasthenic. The authors try to create a strong female character equal to Oliver, but they elevate everything to the absolute, forgetting that this can be annoying. There’s no need to go into how horrible Felicity’s character has been since season 4, believe me. When a new character appears, you can safely argue with anyone that, in most cases, he will sleep with one of the permanent persons. Adding new characters does nothing to improve the plot and actually, in the end, interferes with it. They devalued Slade Wilson, what else can I say?
The authors of Arrow seem to think that their project is the highest representative of Shakespearean drama. Everyone behaves like a drama queen (not the same as a real drama). Characters, at times, fall into behaviors that make me feel awkward, like a class for spoiled kids. It seemed to me that the cause of every conflict in the series is sexual tension. Anyone can become a superhero here. The lover of the protagonist’s neighbor, the former lover, the neighbor’s sister, even the neighbors’ mice become superheroes. Not to mention the fact that the project was positioned as a series in which there will be no superpowers. What do you think? They crossed everything out. They're also making crossovers. Fucking cat! You and one hero will deal with it first.
The CW is the worst TV channel in the world. Each of their projects, after 1-2 seasons, simply merges, turning into an endless thrust. Sometimes, over time, you just don't care. Over time, you begin to hate every minute. Shame and shame... shame and shame on you!
"Greed is Good" is a film by Wall Street.
3 out of 10
Someone has let this city down. But Series, definitely no one will fail.
How great is the love of the audience for various films and series based on comics. The Arrow is no exception. This series has everything we want to see in a superhero movie from the brutal protagonist to the cool intricacies of the plot. But maybe this series is a little deeper than we think.
On the screen, we see a certain hero at first very much reminiscent of Bruce Wayne (Batman). This is evident in his lifestyle, relationships with others, his worldview. However, the more you get to know Oliver Queen, our protogonist, the stronger and more obvious it becomes that the hero is original, his story is interesting, sometimes tragic and incredibly exciting.
The hero of Arrow is a necessary character for his time. Oliver really develops in the course of the series, the viewer begins to sincerely empathize with this character and understand him. The series raises a lot of topics that are very relevant today. And one of the most important is the topic of family and mutual understanding. It seems that the director of this work really tried very hard to bring this leitmotif to the forefront. This is a deeply dramatic picture in which many people will see their mistakes in relationships with their relatives.
This series is one of the first to give rise to a large universe of superheroes, really deserves attention. For me, Arrow is a bit like Nolan’s The Dark Knight, definitely taking superhero movies to an incredibly cool level. The series makes you cry, laugh, sincerely worry and rejoice in the characters. Perhaps some of them will seem a little clichéd, but it will pass. The characters in this series are really good.
The only thing that hurt my eyes was the not-so-pleasant computer graphics in Queen's flashbacks. But she didn't spoil the overall impression. Well, personally, this series inspired me to watch others related to it. Maybe he'll surprise you too.
I should say right away that I love to read comics, but it was the comics about the Green Arrow that I missed, but I read them a lot about all my favorite bat of Gotham City. So I can say with complete confidence that the television image of Arrow desperately copies Batman.
A lone hero fighting evil with a secret lair? Pf, Batman. Well, there are a lot of people who fit this description, but! Star City is a city mired in corruption and lawlessness, where villains and criminals are at every turn? This is an attempt to turn Star City into Gotham. Felicity, deprived of the ability to walk and helping the main character? Barbara Gordon (Oracle). Is Quentin Lance a cop who helps the hero? James Gordon. Deadshot, Ra’s Al Ghul are Batman’s enemies. In general, you can continue indefinitely, you understand my idea. There's no rights to Batman, so let's scrape him from a completely different character.
Now let’s go through the list of disadvantages
Acting. All the actors involved are just awful, especially the lead actor Stephen Amell. The only time his face expresses any emotion is when he smiles. The rest of the time it seemed that he was high and nothing in this life bothered him. Emily Beth Rickards does a good job of acting out comedic moments, but in drama she is absolutely nothing. I think Katie Lotz and Colin Salmon did well.
Action. Well, it's just a failure. In the first season, the fights were not on top, but more less watchable. However, I remember a moment in Season 1 Episode 8 when Helen shot Oliver and he caught an arrow! No, it may be possible, but it looked ridiculous and ridiculous. About fights in the next seasons I generally keep silent, from them only facepalms want to catch.
Cloaking. I know it's a convention of the genre, and when you read the comics, you don't think about why nobody recognizes Bruce Wayne in Batman. Yes, even in the movies you can believe that no one recognized Clark Kent in Superman, but not here! The same Batman uses a seat to distort his voice, and Oliver has nothing but a hood and paint around his eyes, Carl. I will never believe that Laurel Lance, the ex-girlfriend of GG, did not recognize Oliver in him.
Oliver Quinn. This is probably the biggest drawback of the whole series. The main character is sympathetic only at first, but when he begins to administer justice, the question immediately arises: “Is this character adequate?” He keeps saying, “I’m not a killer” (the Batman rule of not killing doesn’t sound like it?), but it’s not! I remember he snuck into a guy on his father's list and said he wouldn't kill him, he wasn't a killer, but he had killed several security guards a second earlier. Doesn't that count?? One gets the impression that he completely failed brains for these 5 years.
Felicity Smoke. The actress is very attractive, especially in glasses, it is nice to see her on the screen. About acting talent (or rather its absence I have already said). I wonder how such a character can be created today. A person who understands IT, chemistry, and biology. She'll break into your FBI base for one or two, and she'll run a DNA test in your secret lair and find a bomb. Very realistic. I also remember a moment from the Earth-X crossover, where Felicity and Iris tried to get their friends out of the cameras in Star Paws, and in one scene three times managed to repeat “Oh my God, my wedding fell through”, “And I told Oliver I didn’t want to marry him”. You know what? I don't care! There, as if the Nazis from Earth-X came, can you even for a second forget about the problems in relations? From here we smoothly move on to the next minus.
Too much melodrama. I read reviews from guys about this series, and the general conclusion goes something like this: "We, pumped brutal males, disgust to look at your female pink housewives snot." Yeah, yeah, yeah, because you're all Dwayne Johnsons and you don't have to tell you about the relationship. However, to be honest, I am not a fan of “pink snot”, and if I suddenly want to watch it, I will include some melodrama (but I do not want to, hah). So, as far as I know, the main target audience of this series is guys, and indeed, most guys are not lovers of romance (but if you shout about it so furiously and say that this is only for 13-year-old girls, I think you just want to ward off suspicions that you too crave this), and the only reason Santa Barbara got into this series, in my opinion, is the stupidity of the writers who need to stretch the plot for 23 episodes, but they can’t do it, so they dilute it with a huge amount of whining and suffering. The problem is that actors make all conflicts look unconvincing, and they come from the ceiling. Don’t look like that, it’s physically painful.
Other characters also do not cause sympathy and with varying degrees infuriate. Why anyone who learns about Oliver's double life must become a superhero is a mystery to me. And why they immediately become mega-cool ninjas I do not know either.
And a little plus.
Flashbacks (1-2 seasons). It was interesting to see what Oliver went through. Moreover, with the help of these flashbacks, an interesting parallel was drawn between past events and current ones. An interesting idea, a good implementation, but from season 3 flashbacks began to resemble the delusions of a drug addict and annoy.
Sarah Lance. This is the first character in the film adaptation of both DC and Marvel comics, which has a non-traditional sexual orientation, for which the creators are revered. Her bisexuality is part of her personality and looks pretty organic.
3 out of 10
In general, I do not understand why Arrow and The Flash, frankly passing series, have a rating on KinoPoisk of 7.5 and 7.6, respectively, and the excellent Luke Cage and a little pumped up Defenders (Marvel, not our burp!) 6.7 and 6.8.
I will immediately unsubscribe, here I write a review about the first seasons, because after watching the series, up to a certain point, I realized that next there will only be a full episode.
Let’s start, perhaps, the series is based on DC comics about the Green Arrow, a superhero similar to Robin Hood and Batman’s best friend and partner, which is casually mentioned in the series.
Suddenly, Oliver returns to the Queen family, who went missing with his father and mistress somewhere in the ocean and was considered dead. There was a grave. But it turns out he was on an island where strange things were happening in Vietnam. He was sheltered by a short-spoken Vietnamese and his daughter, as well as an Australian special forces officer. They teach him martial arts and teach him how to shoot with a bow. This is how the superhero Arrow is born.
At first, the series was devoted to the investigation of Oliver about the dark affairs of his family, he periodically struggled with those who failed this city, that the most interesting story in parallel was about what was on the island and the formation of a villain named Deathstroke, played by a wonderful actor Manu Bennett, who, by the way, will soon come to Russia at the Comic-con in St. Petersburg. Also on the island there is a love triangle, which grows into a square.
What I loved about Stephen Amell's character, Arrow, was that the series evolved from season to season as a person, from a simple avenger to a wise savior. Other characters have also evolved, such as Oliver's sister, Thea, from a teenage drug addict, she turns into the right hand of her brother, nicknamed Speedy, although Speedy is a transitional character, before that he was Thea's boyfriend. Of course, we should mention the two sisters Laurel and Sarah Lance, both of whom were Oliver’s mistresses, Sarah was also on the ill-fated island. Later, these sisters would become the Black Canary (Katie Cassady) and the White Canary (Katie Lotz, oh my God, what eyes she has). Guard Deagle, a very wise and honest man, he was associated with a series about a suicide squad, as in the film of the same name, a brigade of prisoners performed a government task.
But the strongest season, in my opinion, was about the confrontation of Arrow and Ras Al Ghul. John Barrowman revealed the character better than Liam Nisson in Batman Begins. Here he is not just a terrorist and an international criminal, he is the head of a separate religion and a separate philosophy. He is neither good nor bad, he is what he is.
But then I didn’t watch when the heroes began to die, then came back to life. When the same heroes fight the same villains. The series, in my opinion, got into a stupor and began to skate around the ring.
My opinion, watch the first seasons and do not spoil your attitude with what happens in recent seasons.
7 out of 10
Around 2014, I watched this series for the first time and it immediately caught me. The subject of superheroes to me was hateful and boring, and Oliver seemed to me something new and interesting. Of course, the theme of rich-boy-day-a-night-fighter-for-justice well very beaten, the background of the formation of the main character fascinated me.
The first two seasons I liked: they were dynamic, beautifully shot, full of emotional torment and interesting twists and turns. The heroes were unconventional, the actions of the characters were reasoned. The tension grew, the questions of good and evil, good and bad, rose to the edge. Stephen Amell, in my opinion, played quite well a gloomy Oliver with a dark past. There were frankly annoying actors among the cast, but perhaps that was the character specificity.
About what happened to the series after the third season, I do not want to talk. It became frankly boring, strained, in each series another drama pulled by the ears, new characters only continued to pull the plot to the bottom, and the old men became puppets.
I will only rate the first two seasons so as not to make the review red. As a result,
So, to date, I am watching season 6 of the popular series “Arrow”. I will immediately make a reservation that I do not read comics, but I watch with pleasure, most often simultaneously doing any household or work chores. “Arrow” began to watch because of the Flash, actually at that time there was already 4 seasons of the popular show. Oliver Queen had previously seen only in “Secrets of Smallville”, I wanted to know more about the character.
It is interesting to watch the first two seasons. The first season, because it shows the formation of the Arrow's personality, the second season "saves" Deathstroke performed by Manu Benet. The rest is the background, so that it is not boring and unpretentious to spend time. It’s not even that with each season of superheroes and villains becomes more and more, not in the growing number of “snot” on the screen, not even in stupid and ill-conceived dialogue. It's about the little things.
Where to start? The most annoying thing (as has already been noted by other reviewers) is that Arrow cannot be killed with a firearm even at point-blank range. I understand that the main character should live and make a profit in the studio that shoots him, but the shots at close range should be shots at point-blank range. I should have played it differently, not shown so clumsy. After night trips, Oliver Queen should have a sore face, body, he should be covered with bruises at least. At best, small abrasions, flowering face, rarely serious injuries. But the guy runs with a bow (only!!) and arrows against the whole city of villains.
Second, you can learn martial arts in record time. Okay, Oliver studied 5 years on the island, John Deagle at least military. But Laurel Lantz just looked a little boxing (!) and is ready to fight off the Assassin from the League of Assassins. Oliver's sister, Thea, studied for six months and is already fighting like her brother. And so many characters after a few trainings turn into super martial artists.
Third, Felicity Smug, who takes less than a minute to break into the Pentagon, the FBI and other agencies. Couldn't the hacking process have been made more credible? Even in seedy detective series, he showed a real process of tracking calls. Felicity can find anyone, if he has at least a battery working, and can chemically analyze blood or other substances, even without special education.
About the police in general a separate conversation, only detective Lantz works, the rest are on the dancer.
And how mercilessly drain the villains in the "Arrow"! Malcolm Merlin's hand was cut off literally in a matter of seconds, and after all, he is a worthy opponent, from Deadstroke made such a good man, even Deadshot becomes nauseously noble. In general, the list of disadvantages can be completed on this, although they are enough for a few sheets.
The series has pluses: the first two seasons, the villains of the first two seasons (Merlin and Deathstroke) came out even more charismatic than the main characters, interesting flashbacks on the island, the music is standardly pathetic, but not annoying, innovative arrows (I didn’t think they were so modified).
I would like to see a better product on the TV screen, especially since it is popular and there should be enough money for it. As a result, we see careless, sloppy work. Expecting more from DC
Indeed, the local assessment of the series looks quite justified when it comes to the first two seasons.
A millionaire and a rash by the will of fate gets into an unfriendly area, where a difficult one turns him into a serious special forces fighter. Returning our realistic superhero (a la Batman) begins to fight for his hometown against the villains. All this is served on very serious scales, with murders and drama. The vulnerability of our hero and his family adds to the tension. And everything is very good, dark and gloomy. The first two seasons...
And then our champion begins to create such a thing that even all his past merits can not compensate and there is an uncomfortable residue. Like after a chance meeting with a drunken and fat classmate, who is drunk on the stage of a karaoke bar, and once was a slender queen of school and your secret love.
In fact, here is the list of crimes of our Queen:
One. Bloody superheroes - do they come to light? No serious. I'm your sister's boyfriend, I'm first in the neighborhood, I want to be a superhero - don't wait, but hell with you, put on your tights - let's go. I'm your girlfriend, I've been going to yoga for three months - take the mask. I'm a girl's sister - I want one too - no question. I'm your girlfriend's boyfriend, I invented the magic scooter, let's go. I'm your sister... How much can I do?! It turns out that our Quinn has spent all this time on a desert island, when in any local gym you can buy a subscription for a superhero.
Two. Motivation of the main characters is insanity. It's all your fault, you killed my daughter, you bastard. But you're a good guy, okay. No, you bastard, you barked my cat. Even though you saved her well! But the fact that you voted for the Republicans is for nothing. And that's what happens to everyone forever. The series began very well, where there is no black and white, but then everything rolled into a rainbow weather vane festival. Spouses Thompson smoke on the sidelines.
Three. Machine gods. Oh, gods! Royals, gods from pianos, pianos from gods, stamped gods, piano stamps.
And lastly. Fucking magic! Are you afraid of the fate of the characters? Don't worry, we've got a magic powder, we'll rub it here and it's okay. Is your friend dead? Let's get some magic water. How old is your corpse? It's not a deadline. What do you got? Punctured with a sword, but nothing terrible it can happen to anyone, take a ticket, sit in line. Putting an arrow out of his eye? It will hurt a little, this case is serious.
That’s how, as the amount of insanity accumulates, you begin to realize that you have been deceived somewhere. You've been lured by serious people to this show. And it was going well. But when the series gained momentum, the actors threw off the hoodies, and under them were a bunch of powerful rangers, in colorful cheap costumes that mercilessly fake and crooked. And the only wish is for some blind lawyer from a parallel universe to break into these circuses adults with crunch, screaming and eating the script, along the way explaining what combat choreography and gloomy atmosphere are.
3 out of 10
In not so distant 2012, the pilot episode of the series Arrow was released and then no one probably even thought that all this would grow into a huge CW television universe. It’s been 5 seasons and 6 seasons in preparation, there’s 4 seasons of Flash and other series in preparation, but now I want to remember exactly where it all started, with season 1. I will only note that with each season the ratings grew, and the quality and plot, and in general the understanding of what was happening went down, if season 2 was still not bad, then season 3 became something just watchable, and season 4 forced you to quit this show, but thank God that the showrunners came to their senses, and corrected the situation in season 5, we hope that season 6 will return everything to its normal. I will give you my opinion on the first season.
The plot, script and overall plot tells the story of billionaire Oliver Queen, who goes on a trip with his father and a new girlfriend, but the yacht crashes. But the series begins with the fact that he is found on the very island 5 years after the crash and returned to civilization, and the events on the island show in flashbacks regularly every episode, 1-season-1 year on the island, and flashbacks in the first season are made so cool that they are even more interesting than the main plot. On the island, he meets a certain Yao Fei, who teaches a rich bogeyman to survive, and the problems on their asses are brought by mercenaries and their head, a certain person named Fiers, and on this place the most interesting thing begins, you can’t wait to find out what the fuck is going on here! However, Oliver is not that simple. His father managed to hand him a book in which all those who poison his city-Starling City are recorded. And Oliver in a green suit with a hood, with makeup smeared on his face and a bow, and the Arrows give all these rich scoundrels a cruel ultimatum, or they give the money to the poor people who suffered because of them or he will decide more and more harshly. But it soon turns out they're just pawns in a bigger game. The plot is full of intrigue and grand pianos from the bush, sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not. The season consists of 23 episodes and it has quite a lot of unnecessary episodes, Oliver’s campaign of the plot is joined by his bodyguard John Diggle and office IT worker Felicity Smoak, who can hack anything, and together they try to uncover something like an evil conspiracy. For what I liked season 1 so much for the fact that there is a normal plot, and the idea is not bad. Plus the show's piggy bank.
Acting and characters are another plus of the show. The characters are interesting to watch, especially Oliver and how he spent 5 years on the island. Steven Amell is the only actor I can mention in terms of engagement in Season 1, I don’t know why, but I thought so. He perfectly played the way he was prescribed by the script-cool guy, but there is something soulful in his game, but the actor coped with his task, played a brutal and cool superhero. However, as annoying as he came up with stupid excuses first for his bodyguard and then for Felicity, it was all nonsense. Felicity Smoke and John Diggle at the time of season 1 almost nothing is known, that for me minus, yes they are cool, but we do not know anything about them. Oliver's best friend Tommy Merlin was just as annoyingly rich as he was, he almost stayed by the final, although the line when his father froze his accounts was interesting. Oliver's ex-girlfriend is annoying over the course of the plot and for me it lasted until Season 3. Oliver's sister, Thea Quinn, is a rich, selfish, impulsive girl who pisses off until Season 3. Well, the main antagonist of the film, a certain Dark Archer (no, not the Dark Knight) turned out to be interesting and intriguing, his goal was unknown until the end, and his personality was not a discovery, but for me this was a surprise. Well, the following seasons, he was leaked and Oliver could beat him in 15 seconds with his eyes closed. So, he started to piss off by season 3.
The atmosphere is that in the series is also good so it is the atmosphere, it feels 100%. The main character is a billionaire, but it is clear that all his surroundings, well, neither him, and his family business partners are not very good guys, and the city is not very developing under such abstentions.
The last thing I want is action and special effects. In season 1 Arrow computer graphics may be a lot, but no mutants and dragons there. However, I want to note that in each of the 4 CW series in all seasons, if there was a need somewhere serious computer graphics, it was almost always disgusting. If you watch Legends, Flash and Supergirl, you’ll see why. In this regard, Marvel/Netflix invests much more money in the creation of series and their budget than CW.
Well, the action in the Arrow is cool, the villains of course are many in one series, both in the Arrow and in the Flash, but it is interesting to watch the disassemblies of the heroes, and the fights are certainly not the same as in Daredevil (if you at least look at one slice, you will understand what I mean), but still at the level.
As a result, the series was cool and promising, but after season 2 it slipped and only 5 was able to more level the situation. However, season 1,2.5, and especially season 1, I recommend watching, you will not regret.
Season 1 -
For a successful series, three components are important: an energetic plot, moderate drama and charismatic characters. DC has Gotham with a set that allows me to personally forgive liters of pristine stupidity, sometimes done on a screen with a serious face; there is The Flash with charming main characters, each of which is a personality with its own set of pros and cons. But with "Arrow" clearly overlooked.
The first and most important thing is that the series is very seriously presented (the same problem exists with Zack Snyder’s films). You could ignore the clichés churning down behind each other in a machine-gun queue, but when you see nursery showdowns and only two jokes in a series to dilute it all, your eyes do not close even with your hands. Oliver Queen is a rich bad guy, who by the will of fate took the right path. He's a walking problem on the show. He has no charisma or charm, he is presented with a harsh macho with one face for all occasions. And that's a problem, because that's the character you have to watch.
The second problem is no individual characters. Oliver Queen, as mentioned, is a wooden soldier. Either the actor is exceptionally unsuccessfully selected, or his character is simply spelled out. “Be a tough man with a vulnerable soul,” they said to Stephen and never said a word. The sister is a typical sister-bitch with the same vulnerable soul that you need to break through to. I didn’t see the chemistry between them, no matter how much I looked. Oliver's mother is from the same play. The only bright spots I saw were Felicity Smoak and Quentin Lance.
The third problem is dullness. For the first third of the season, I couldn’t figure out who or what. The message is clear: fighting corruption and crime. But criminals are so worthless that there is no desire to remember them or their crimes.
In other words, there is no charm or ease in Arrow that helps other comic books. Psychology is declared, but how to reveal it if the face that the Arrow has on the poster is carried by him to a feast, and to the world, and to good people?
4 out of 10
Probably never in my life have I seen such a pathetic attempt to portray a superhero as a series called Arrow. So I want to ask the showrunners of this “spectacle”: “Who are you shooting this for?” I think I already know the answer to that question. I understand the series has a fan club made up mostly of females who like this soap opera stretching from season to season, year to year. But, believe me, it is simply impossible from the position of an adequate person to look at how the balance of forces of the heroes changes for the sake of a fan base, how the series adapts to her wishes, does not value anything, does not respect anything, especially the canons themselves from the comics, how all this damn American tolerance affects him, how everything is distorted there against the background of action scenes in which you never believe, so ineptly they are staged.
I’ve never been a fan of Arrow, and I didn’t like it most of the time when I turned it on. Everything is wrong with him at the most fundamental level, from costumes to plot. A few days ago, the fifth season came to an end, which I was initially interested in because the creators decided to bring in a famous character from the world of Batman. I decided to give Arrow a chance to justify myself in my eyes. And in some places he did it. But in the end?
Complete failure.
First of all, this series does not have a single season that would look whole. Episodes from different directors come out so different that they even vary in quality. If one episode was still nothing, the second can be completely disgusting, and vice versa.
The main problem of this series is the characters. It was written by some of the worst writers on television. There is not a single hero in this whole show that I would like. Forget that the series is focused on the American viewer, about which the entire fifth season literally shouted the terrible Russian language in flashbacks (which even Russian can not be called). But the fact is that even from the position of the average American, judging by the reviews, it is not that much easier to look.
The main character. The viewer should feel sympathy for him, and if the fifth season of the series has come to an end, so in general - associate yourself with him. But that's not because of what the writers did to him. Throughout the five seasons, there were no races with him. As a result, everything turned into an inadequate image, which no longer knows what he wants, and, having put in a pathetic speech about one, in another episode he can change his mind and do it differently. And these false "sufferings" ... just "I don't believe." It’s not the actor’s problem, it’s just that he’d fall for Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. The trouble is how he is treated by those who write a script on their knees.
Arrow Team. Perhaps the worst thing about this series is in terms of characters (and acting). The logic of the writers: the elaboration of characters, the disclosure of images through actions - who needs it at all? (The actors are trying to match.) The plausibility of this gathering, even within this world, is often questioned. Felicity Smoke, who seems to be already recognized as the most hated heroine in television history (and she is not even a negative character!). And in many ways this is due to the incredibly far-fetched love line with the main character, on which the creators even had the audacity to base a few seasons. How she with this line is only not reviled by all who can, unless criticized. But for screenwriters, this is a kind of “glue”, because they simply do not have worthy ideas to bond episodes with each other. And that is why they continue and continue to suck out of the already dried finger the next “kissers” and “hugs” for the target audience, despite the timid hopes of true fans of the series as superheroes. The rest of the team are constantly changing people throughout the series that you will not even remember. And besides irritation, they also cause nothing.
Villains. The best, the worst. In the last seasons, there was quite a decent Deathstroke and a good Ra's al Ghul, with absolutely unconvincing (to me) Malcolm Merlin. Here are Prometheus, Black Canary and Talia al Ghul. How brilliantly these characters began in the fifth season, how decently they "played" with the Green Arrow in this deadly game ... and how shamefully they were merged by the writers in recent episodes. I don't even want to stop there. I just want to say that logic has no place here. Not only was the story of Talia al Ghul almost entirely stolen from Batman’s latest solo film, The Dark Knight: The Legend Revival, but it was also ineptly stolen. The one who was expected to play one of the main antagonists in the future of the entire series, was defeated in a 30-second duel with her sister, who was weaker than her before both in the series and in the comics. And for the sake of this duel, the showrunners raised a huge hype to heaven... What can we say about the finale with Prometheus, completely predictable, and on which you look as if through the veil of indifference.
The third problem, as I have already written, is “action scenes”, if they can be called such at all. The reason is the technical component: suits and locations. I understand that the series has a very limited budget. But this is not a reason to shoot scenes on such a primitive, amateur level. Most action scenes are like amateur activities, not professional production.
A lot of people say DC has good TV shows. But that's not at all true. Not in vain after the appearance of the so-called DC serial universe, the film company Warner Bros. hastened to announce that this universe does not belong to the DCEU cinema. “Gotham”, “Arrow”, “The Flash”, “Constantine”, “Supergirl” – these series can conquer only, to put it mildly, a very specific audience. In their quality, they are not above average, and some are completely bad. But they're hitting in numbers, just like the Avengers. Do our favorite superheroes deserve this? Pathetic attempts to fight in clown suits? A fictional melodrama between the main characters, which already noticeably nauseates even those who continue to watch them? And I'm not talking about "special music releases."
In fact, there is no need for negative reviews. “Arrow” already loses in its audience from year to year more and more viewers. And there is hope that one day it will be covered. At least I hope so. The lesson is learned: I will never touch the sixth season. No, don't get rid of it.
Only for the infrequent glimpses of hope and missed potential,
2 out of 10
It started out well. That's great. Brutal, dark and very energetic. But then... It’s hard to even talk about it – they had everything: a great script, a good potential of famous actors from other series, Stephen Amell in the foreground, in the end. Stretch everything into the right crevices and start the engine, and let it work for the glory of the TV. But no, the engine wears out and instead of changing parts, they do not pay to them attention or put new ones, not suitable for him according to the instructions ...
This is not about some hadron collider, but about the series, which became the dawn for superheroes on TV. This is the series "Arrow". Amazing thing, it should be watched at least for the sake of everyone to understand how not to do multi-budget television shows.
So I got to know him when I started watching his brother in the Flash studio. After 4 episodes, I realized that I was missing something, because events and characters that were not previously described and shown began to appear. And that’s why I’m grateful for the superhero saga from CW, for the fact that with it I learned such concepts as “crossover”, “spin-off” and other useful things invented by serialists. So, "The Flash" for a couple of seasons was preceded by a certain Oliver Queen, who was eager to train a superfast recruit. So how did the great Arrow come about? What's his background? And what has gone wrong with that?
At the moment, the series consists of 5 seasons and was given the green light for the 6th. I just want to say “Strong statement” in the voice of Sergey Druzhko and understand its rapid development, realizing that the series does not intend to stop and it will be as long as the ratings do not fall. But all TV shows and entertainment shows have the expectation that it will be filmed while it is watched. But since the film crew has the courage to extend the series further and further, then everything is in order with its views, which strains, because the quality of the content offered by the series decreases exponentially.
The series tells the story of a billionaire, playboy, crazy and always cheerful tomboy Oliver Queen, whose life after a shipwreck goes downhill and he has to survive on the island on which he was thrown. After returning 5 years later to his hometown, all family members and Oliver himself realize that he has changed in a rather strange direction: his former wife becomes a serious and withdrawn person, all the time talking about saving the city from the mistakes of his dead father in the name of justice. And so our hero puts on his famous green hood, takes a bow and arrows in his hands and goes to save the city from the evil that has flooded the city during these 5 years.
And you know, the first season was very interesting. Every week there are new villains that need to be stopped, a lone hero in the dark, trying not to give up his secret and understand his past (a special advantage was the timely appearance of flashbacks, which created a new storyline, which was also interesting to watch). It all looked very fresh and original. And the villain in the role of John Barrowman looked very cool and charismatic. There were no obsessive cliches, the viewer was soaked in that atmosphere of gloomy Starling City. For me, the first season is the best of all!
The second season also turned out with its own twist, but I had a strange feeling when the conflicts between the characters did not disappear, they multiplied with the speed of the Flash. But whatever the twist, "Manu Bennett" in the role of "Defstroke" turned out to be "very" cool. Believe him, this is not an ordinary person - he lost everything and everyone, became a killing machine, lost all humanity. Great villain, nothing to say.
The third season shattered the series and brought it to the bottom. I’m not going to break up for a long time, just say the strangest and rather stupid things that appeared in Arrow. I realized that all the heroes became immortal, because there was “fucking magic”, because of which I stopped believing in what was happening (but initially the series positioned itself as realistic); the villain can be merged simply in the final sword fight, given the fact that the villain is not anyone, but Ras’al Ghul himself, the head of the Demon, the leader of the League of Shadows ... Although I did not feel sorry for him, because the actor who played him was some strange smear, whose hero always rubbed his pompous words to us.
But the biggest problem was the fact that in the third and beginning of season 4 in Oliver Queen, all his family and friends recognized Arrow. Now they are all running with him in search of adventure. The thing about Oliver's about to be revealed is completely lost. Now their gang consists of more than 6 people, which looks incredibly stupid.
About the 4th season can not say much, because I watched 2/3 of the season, he safely abandoned. I can only say that the problems have multiplied. Conflicts from the air appear every second (unnecessary and scanty, created to stretch the timekeeping of the series and the whole season) and stretch into several series. Heroes and events happening around them, stopped even trying to seem realistic (hacking servers and everything that moves, in a couple of seconds; units of the Glavgada with weapons always go to hand-to-hand; magic became many times more, because there was a certain Damien Dark (Neil McDonough) , which in my opinion turned out more charismatic than its predecessor). The series rolled, and so I decided to put an end to it, not to be upset.
One thing I want to say about the fights is that it is a little better than Indian cinema. Villain bots fly away from the heroes from the blows that did not even reach them, you can knock them out with a conventional strike and they will not rise again. The joint is serious, because this is a superhero series, where high-quality action should be a priority.
Arrow is a series with a good beginning, but a sad ending. The characters are charismatic, but the scant script, cliches and cliches prevent them from developing. Action is weak. Of the pluses, I just want to highlight a great first and good second season, a quality soundtrack, scenery and costumes. Humor is here, but it is more expressed in sarcasm or a double sense. The rest of the series from CW have similar joints (a great start, but a bad sequel), so I recommend watching only those who are very interested in comics, fans of certain actors, or just those who have nothing to watch and want to try something new. But just keep in mind that the arrow "Arrow" will shoot, but on the way to the target will soften and will not reach it.
4 out of 10
After watching Smallville, I came across this series, which tells the adventures of one of the superheroes of the DC Universe. I must say that Green Arrow in the comics is not (or, more precisely, was not) a particularly popular character, so the CW channel took quite a risk, starting to shoot a series about him. At the moment, there are five incomplete seasons of the series Arrow:
Plot:
In the center of the story is a young playboy-billionaire Olliver Queen, who survived the shipwreck and spent five years literally in hell. Returning to his hometown, he puts on a hood and becomes an avenger hero.
Each season of the series has a main storyline, several sidelines, a few fillers in the middle of the seasons and flashbacks in each series.
The plot in the first and second seasons was simply masterpiece, there was absolutely nothing superfluous. In the third season, the plot is also very good, but flashbacks about Hong Kong were a bit boring. In the fourth plot was not bad, but the picture was completely broken by fillers, which were sometimes simply incredibly boring.
But the fifth season is just gorgeous! Interesting intriguing plot, interesting flashbacks, even fillers turned out very cool. The creators understood their mistakes and intensively correct them, which can not but rejoice.
Villains
That's what Arrow never had a problem with. The villains of each season are unique in their own way: the cunning Malcolm Merlin, the brilliant Deathstroke, the powerful Ras'al Ghul, the charismatic Damien Dark and the mysterious Prometheus.
In addition, there are additional villains in the series, appearing in flashbacks or fillers, which the writers just as easily reveal (Tobias Church, Deadshot, Brick, etc.).
I also want to celebrate the fight of the series, which is simply divine. The combat system of the fifth season of Arrow can wipe the nose of almost any Hollywood movie. Operator work is also at the highest level. I definitely recommend watching this series. At the moment, it is safe to say that this is the best series about superheroes.
Looking ahead, I am delighted with this series, but everything in order.
Let's start with the plot. The plot in this series is not bad at all. Every season we see Oliver Queen go a long and hard way to become the hero Starlingcity deserves.
I like that in parallel with the present of our hero show his past with the help of not long flashbacks. The humour of the series is also not deprived. Unexpected endings make you look forward to each new series.
I am glad that the events here do not stretch for several seasons. Each season shows a new story, a new villain, etc.
Among the actors I would like to mention, Stephen Amela (Oliver Queen) and Emily Beth Rickards (Felicity Smoak). If there's a Green Arrow movie in the future, I'd like it played by Stephen Amell. In my opinion, he is the best suited for this role.
I’m also glad that this series became the starting point for the creation of a whole TV universe DC. After all, in this universe there are now as many as four series (five if you count Constantine).
The special effects here are made at a high level. It's better than I've ever seen in an arrow.
I’ve watched 4 seasons and I’m looking forward to 5. I never regretted spending time watching this series.
The main character of the series is Oliver Queen, a billionaire who headed the family business after the death of his father, and a professional killer who was trained on the island. Returning home, he decides to dedicate himself to the fight against injustice, and most importantly to eliminate people from the list of his father, who gave him in the last minutes of his life. After completing his mission, Arrow believes that he will save the city, but later he faces a much more serious threat.
The whole story resembles the life of Bruce Wayne, but it is catchy in its own way. In the series there are no extra special effects, heroes with superpowers, everything looks like the real world. The atmosphere, the actors and the soundtrack make you not break away from viewing after the first series (saying by myself - the first season in 4 days). Unfortunately, this only applies to the first season. Next, the series turns into frank fiction. Despite the fact that the series is based on a comic book, it was worth shooting something similar to the real world, taking an example from the trilogy of Batman Christopher Nolan.
9 out of 10
As in most cases, I don’t even remember why I chose Arrow. For a long time I had a series on the computer, and did not reach it. I don’t really like superhero movies. But I skipped a couple of episodes. And -- it's already hooked on the winding. Spectacular fights, pretty faces. For a fairy tale for the night after a working day is quite good. Dynamic, fear, strong friendship. It's breathtaking. A company of elite society by day, and superheroes by night, who fight for peace in their city, rooting out all the villains in Starling City. Whether it’s drugs, weapons, hostages or whatever else you can think of.
The series changes a lot throughout the seasons. The first season was more like Gossip Girl. Something youthful, devoid of meaning and generally not far away, turns into a serious series that you can watch. The first season goes well before bed, so that there is something to fall asleep under. After the second season, you can’t separate the series. Where there is one, there are five. I already want to watch series after series, and not just as a fairy tale for the night.
A lot of flaws, of course. Lots of love, but relationships don’t develop. How couples form is a mystery to me. Especially Olicity. I like Laurel better.
A lot of words. Has the hero lost faith in himself? No problem! Now his friend will give an impressive speech and everything will be even better! "I know you're better!" I know you can! You told me yourself ... in the fourth season already rewinded it.
Cast. I like Katie Cassidy and Willa Holland. But the main character... well, something is missing. I didn't believe the actor that his character was a bad boy. I didn't. I didn't. They don't look like Emily Bett at all. I think Oliver Queen could have been more interesting.
And these family values! It's a nightmare. If the main villain of the season turns out to be the father of one of the main characters, he can not be killed! Unlike the others. He's family! So he can have an apocalypse. Family. Whatever. These excessive family values are annoying.
Which of the pluses is:
Great fights. I love martial arts. I love stories where the main characters can kick someone’s ass. Beautiful, spectacular. Especially if that person is a little, skinny girl like Speedy.
A lot of black humor from Speedy and Felicity. Diluting the series. I love those jokes.
Somehow I got more disadvantages than pluses. But despite this impression of the series more positive.
Arrow is another series in the style of CW, not pretending to be compared to House or Lost, which for me is the highest art among the series, but it looks quite pleasant. I even watched a couple of interviews with caste. Nice guys are pretty much everything. Of course, there are favorites, not favorites.
In each season there are many new characters and stories. A little bit of magic.
I'm looking forward to season five. I wonder what will happen next?
And! I hope the Black Canary returns. Favorite character.
I have written a hundred times that I love modern movies / TV series / cartoons based on comics. The DC Universe has always been Batman, Superman, Joker and Lex Luther. It was interesting to watch one tiny movie about them succeed another, and then Nolan’s The Dark Knight was shot in 2008 and DC got a new life in the film industry. The serial life of this office was not known to me, perhaps it really was not, was not interested.
Then in 2012, the series Arrow appeared. The pilot more or less intrigued, at least forced Wikipedia to read about this comic book universe and learn that in addition to the above superheroes / villains, there are others. However, the series did not even try to follow the canon described in the comics. We were shown several dozen people (for all 4 seasons I mean) with different stories, but with absolutely identical, pre-mental disorder, feelings of guilt. How annoying are these phrases like: “I saved my sister, even though it killed 2 million ordinary citizens, but did not tell her the main thing: I missed you.” I also feel guilty for all the deaths in the world. “What should I do now?” or “If I kill a villain, I will become just like him.” And it does not matter that the mercy of the villain costs the citizens of the city thousands of lives! I would understand if it didn’t come up so often, but it happens, absolutely every episode says. If filmmakers are trying to instill in schoolchildren (the main audience) the awareness that lying is bad and mercy is good, then how they think children should react to the deaths around superheroes. I'm pretty sure most people take it this way: "A few thousand died in the explosion of something, but fortunately Arrow, Canary, Speedy survived..." Mi-mi! In my opinion, even in TV series of this genre, a drop of more realism is needed: in a normal society, following military regulations, police instructions, a bandit who threatens thousands of lives is in most cases simply eliminated, rather than imprisoned, from which even a child can escape. I accept that all artwork embellishes what is happening on the screen for the greater enjoyment of the audience. But here this topic is played to amazement annoyingly. By the way, in the comics, cruelty is a little more and therefore more interesting.
However, in this series 2 spoons of tar. And the second one is flashbacks. There are no words to describe it without swearing. Having no, no sense at all, retreats that simply delay the timing and prevent you from following the main storyline. Don’t be in a hurry to say “no” to my review. When you watch season 4, I’m sure that at least 45 percent will agree with me about the “guilt” and pointless flashbacks.
Thus, of all DC comic series, Arrow is on a par with the awkward Legends of Tomorrow.
The cast was excellent. They play their roles pretty well. Moreover, the actors are not responsible for the incompetence of writers and directors. Stephen Amell - opening of the series. The character he got complex and interesting. The actor is great, emotions are in place. I do not want to talk about the rest because of the unpleasant aftertaste of their characters (this is not about the acting).
I also want to say that I liked this series exactly before the appearance of other series, including the wonderful Gotham (since 2014), Daredevil (since 2015), Lucifer (since 2016). I think anyone who knows these masterpieces will be in solidarity with me.
6 out of 10
I finally decided to write a review of the popular series “Arrow”, which I have been following since the first season. I was inspired by the events of the last two seasons, which, to put it mildly, not everyone liked; but I will try to disassemble all four seasons of the beloved series for many.
Arrow is a DC comic book series about a character like Green Arrow. Many immediately saw the similarity of Oliver Queen with Bruce Wayne (AKA Batman), but no plagiarism can be so, as the character is one of the pillars of the DC universe. Okay, not the most basic. Yes, and the connection with the comics of the series with each season is lost, the writers depart from the canons at every step, so it will not be boring and predictable for the viewer. Another plus is the presence of a huge number of comic characters and villains that please the eye of DC fans, here the Flash appeared before leaving for his series, and the Hunter, and Suicide Squad, in general, a full company of interesting characters. Special effects and acting are also at a good level. But still, I would like to go through the script more - here is the catch.
Season 1 If the first season had been bad, the series wouldn’t have gone on for three more. It was exemplary. Not the best (again we find a connection with Batman, more precisely, with the Nolan trilogy, where the second film is considered the most successful). But he explains the story of the Arrow (the Hood, as long as it is called that). Here Oliver is a cruel punisher, if I may say so, he still has a family that has no idea about his adventures, here he still has chemistry with Laurel Lance, here his team includes only two people - former military John Diggle and IT student Felicity Smoak. He fights against the financial mafia of Starling City with radical methods, the police consider him a villain - in general, everything is canonical and correct. Well, the death in the final makes you cry, it is another event that hardens the character of Oliver Queen. As for the debut, great. I'll put a solid 9.
Season 2 The best. In terms of heat, tragedy (no, the characters did not stop killing), and the appearance of the Black Canary also had a great impact on the plot. Here we have the League of Assassins - it will influence the fate of the Arrow for a long time. Arsenal came along, which is also good. By the way, it was worth noting that each season is built on one principle: everything is twisted around the main confrontation, culminating in the season finale, and together with the main problem, Arrow fights with different villains in the rest of the series. Great season! I'll bet 9.5.
Season 3 My migraine started. It looks a bit like a Mexican show. Characters continue to die (sorry, die), along with this we see a number of miraculous resurrections, in connection with which we can not understand who has died completely. That’s a big deal (this season). The Arrow team has expanded, and the series should be better called the Arrow Team. Those who don’t know Oliver’s secret identity are almost gone by the end of the season. The common people are gone – all of a sudden they become superheroes, and communication with the outside world is maintained only through Captain Lens. In general, everything became even more unexpected, and not everyone liked this “fun” from the writers. Too much.
By the way, in season 3 finally unleashed the problem of “Olicity”. Oliver's love affairs occupied everyone until it turned into a notorious Mexican TV series. Not a superhero show.
So I can't put more than 7. Sorry.
Season 4 is not the end yet. After the turmoil of the third season, it became much less likely to watch the fourth series. A little tired. I will say this: nothing has changed, the deaths have not stopped (stop killing the best characters!), and “Olicity” ... yes, everything is still the same. Arguing, making up, parting, converging, oh God, when is this over? Cherry added the case that happened with Felicity, here we again saw the snot and Oliver’s promise to be with his beloved to the end; well, it is difficult to say something intelligible about the main events. The final death of this season, alas, without resurrection. In this regard, most of the fans expressed their “fe”, and I just stopped watching the series. There is nothing sacred in the writers, so simply to break all the canons is inhuman. The season is probably not worse than before, but again, no more than 7. Your hands need to be 6.
Result: The series is worth watching, but only the first two seasons. Yes, and then things go quite interesting, but these snot, oh, these snot... I don’t think they’ll be comic book fans.
This series is very interesting. Exciting story, beautiful actors, cool special effects. It is impossible to break away from it, each series is filled with meaning and unpredictable. I recommend this series to all superhero lovers.
Hmm. I think that’s what the review of Arrow would look like if I had written it when I was thirteen. But it just so happens that I'm not thirteen years old, and movies like this only make me want to turn them off and forget them like a terrible dream. But, unfortunately, this masterpiece, or rather four of its seasons, turned out to be the only entertainment in my midnight work, and I had no choice but to see it.
Okay. It took me exactly one night to watch all four seasons, because I watched every episode on rewind, because it was impossible to watch it any other way. Why? Let me explain.
Empty dialogue is not the worst thing in the movie. Maybe someone really likes all the pink snot about and without, stretched on the floor of each episode. At least they can be missed (which I did).
The hardest thing is fighting. Or rather, their production. I'm going to take a little distraction and tell you how a ball came in my face a long time ago during a football match. I will never forget this indescribable feeling. The pain didn’t give me to get up and continue the match, it didn’t give me a breath. I was lying on that field wondering if I could ever get up. In addition, my nose was bleeding and pouring my ears and neck. Therefore, while watching the film, I could not calmly watch how, albeit an adult strong guy, flies an iron pipe in the face, and he calmly rises (the same handsome and confident) and still manages to hang noble lulls to the offender. Man, are you serious? If you were a three-time superhero, no one could resist the iron scrap.
In addition to fighting, I was fascinated by one thing - this pathological inability to hit the target with a firearm. Whoever held a gun (or something else shooting), no one could hit the target. Maybe it's the weapons themselves, or maybe it's the heroes with the wrong hands. This is probably the biggest secret of the movie.
Number of superheroes per square meter. Of course, I understand that the film was made in comic books and without heroes anywhere. But not in the same abundance to stamp them! As soon as a new character appeared in the series, all I did was repeat “please be a simple person, please, please...” but my requests did not come true. Judge for yourself: Oliver is the Arrow, Oliver's sister is the Red Arrow, Oliver's sister's boyfriend is the Red Arrow (so original), Oliver's ex is a mega super ninja, Oliver's ex's sister is just a super ninja (and for that she just needed to sign up for the gym), Oliver's friend's father is a ninja villain, and so I can list endlessly. It was quite exhausting, but thank Gods, sometimes some of them were killed or sent to search for the meaning of life, so that (I am sure!) at the opportunity to return.
This series is kind of fantastic. But you know what's fantastic about it? No, not the flying macho man, not the superpowers of heroes, not the number of criminals in one small city. The most unreal in it is an ordinary girl, an employee of the office, hacking into the Pentagon, the UN, riot police and other terribly serious organizations. Did you see how she can track the phone with one touch, even if it's turned off, broken, shattered, etc. on the list? How easy it is to find bombs, because thanks to the writers, each of them has a GPS beacon built in by default. Cooler than her in this film is only a man policeman who investigates all cases in a row, from thefts to explosions of the city hall.
This movie tired me. There is too much in it, and at the same time there is nothing in it. Whether it was in the comics, I don't know. But if there was, then making a film on them was the dumbest idea. I'm done.
4 out of 10
Making a comic book movie is one thing, but here's a series, quite another. The difference is that when you shoot a series, you have to think through everything, do every detail. What this series didn't do. If we talk about it as a series for children, it is very good. In the 90s, there were a lot of these series about heroes and then everyone admired them, but when you think about them today, you realize how ridiculous they are. So 'Arrow' just such a case.
It seems to have effects on the spot, but everything looks very funny, all fights and chases.
In general, I am a fan of DC and I really love their films, but here are the series, everything is very bad with the series, Marvel has the opposite situation, the films are children's, but the series are very good (except of course SHIELD).
When you make a series on comics, you need to strictly adhere to the canons, or act as in the 90s to invent a character but based on a real hero, then it works, and so, just disgraced the good heroes of the comics.
Thank you for your attention, only good movies and TV series.
In 2012, the review would have had a clear green light and would have continued until 2013. The first two seasons are the best in the series.
If the first season attracts its realism, good fighting scenes and secrets around the main character - a young attractive billionaire Oliver Quinn, then the subsequent seasons turn into the same type of fiction from the magic medicine Miracuru, to spirits and magic.
First of all, I want to talk about the disadvantages. So...
Oliver Quinn - a kind of Batman - Robin Hood, whose face froze after the second season.
Laura Lance is the most disgusting appearance as a character, the Black Canary. If you take her sister Sarah, you can explain her professional weapons and martial arts, but Laura? She's throwing big guys? Mighty Hive soldiers? Criminals with experience? Well, you get it. All this is just to continue the story.
Thea Quinn in the third and subsequent seasons. I understand she was taught by one of the strongest representatives of the League of Shadows, but again, she is a fragile girl. It's embarrassing to look at her in a red ex-boyfriend suit.
In addition to the characters, the plot, dialogue, and motives of the characters are lame. The characters repeat the same dialogue, from which with each new series you want to roll your eyes. It begins and irritates the moments when the heroes just wave their fists, and the enemies fly aside.
Plus can only be called the first season and crossovers between Arrow and The Flash. I just wish the series could somehow regain its popularity.
I watched the first season of Arrow a long time ago. I watched the whole series with a volley, as I delayed from the first minute, I could not come off.
The first season was everything that should be in a series of such intent. This is, first of all, the main character, a kind of “hero” with his own, very interesting, story. It is also very important that there is a plot that keeps each episode in suspense, that you want to continue watching each episode with pleasure. There are secondary characters that do not bother at all and everyone manages to develop so that you do not get tired of them and you have enough to admire them. In general, a complete idyll of everything, all proportions are observed, nothing superfluous. Even the love line, with a triangle and other drooling is interesting, since it is not poked in the face and lead somewhere next to the storyline. The girl who plays the one that the main character loves, but naturally keeps silent about it, plays quite a good actress, and also a beauty, so there are also no claims. Well, the main scumbag, the Duck is gorgeous. Then, I wrapped up and forgot about the Arrow and then two years later I watched the sequel and did not learn anything from the beloved series.
As soon as the first season ended, we can say that the series ended.
The reasons, to be honest, are not clear, to turn so sharply from the popular concept of the series, to introduce a bunch of secondary characters who are given too much screen time, to devote a lot of time to the love line and thereby kill the entire series. Having completely lost the whole message of the first season, the writers, referring to the love of fans to the passion of the main character, continue to pull the series into the abyss.
In general, for those who start watching this series, watch only the first season, then you will just waste your time. Although, we are all different, maybe you will find something for which it is worth watching, personally I do not see the point for myself, I watch in a quick rewind, only because of the connection with Flash and Legends, since these series are related.
In general, all I learned from seasons 2 and 3 is that the plot in Arrow became too much like a Brazilian series with a cross between Indian action. Well, season 4 has just begun, I don't know what to expect from him, and I don't expect anything from this rotten. Although, hope dies last.
P.S. I would make the review positive for the sake of the first season, but I will make it negative only because of Olicity.
2 out of 10
It was this series that forced me to start writing reviews six years after the last one I left.
Now, why did it happen?
When I first watched this series, I was very happy. Finally, there is a series about a superhero, which is not seasoned with a generous bunch of idiotic moralism on the topic that bandits can not be killed, even if the surviving bandit exposes a couple of dozen or even a couple of million people. Indeed, everyone has the right to life. All but civilians.
It was pretty much the whole first season. An interesting plot in which you can observe the development of the personality of a character who turned from a golden boy into a harsh warrior, the disclosure of information about what was happening on this very island and so on.
However, by the end of the first season and in the following, the same moral insanity that was mentioned above begins. The protagonist, whose self-appointed task is to protect the city, denies this city a peaceful future, sparing at the earliest opportunity all who pose a danger to others.
There is a love line, or rather a zigzag. It is still not clear why it is even needed in films of this kind, originally designed for a young male audience, but once added, it is necessary to consider. Actually, if at first she succumbed to some logic (the main character tried to return the favor of the woman with whom he was in a relationship before his disappearance), then problems began with this.
Not without manipulation of the pianos in the bushes. Once captured by a scoundrel, you can hope for a super-speed Flash who will run, punish all the scoundrels, save all the good ones, and then, they say, figure it out yourself, I have no time, I need a bunch of your seasons to fight with the same villain.
The protagonist of a war veteran who is not afraid to get his hands dirty turns into a sentimental pacifist who is afraid of decisive action and who is told what he should do.
As a result, from a normal male serial action series, the series turned into the Vampire Diaries, in which in each series severe crime fighters shed crocodile tears, indulge in disorderly fornication, deceive and silence their comrades, violate the law, but at the same time believe that a dangerous scoundrel, villain and murderer can not be killed.
All this is seasoned with inappropriate "hero" music to pathos dialogue.
Maybe I'm an idiot and I don't understand. Maybe the main audience of this series is not male boys aged 14-30, but high school girls. But, after all, it’s originally a dark-colored series about the dark DC multiverse, and I’m sorry it went bad.
I am watching the first episodes of the fourth season and will continue to get acquainted with the series further in the hope of correcting the situation and in order to be in the subject of the plot, which is adjacent to the same, but even more disgusting Flash.
But so far, three words characterize the series:
From the very beginning, the series makes a very good impression. Each series is unique in that it shows both the main story of the Green Arrow and the formation of Oliver Queen from the moment he was on the island of Lian Y. The actor, who plays the main role - Stephen Amell - fits into the image damn well, his set of emotions is more than enough. He plays both the brutal and uncompromising vigilante and the emotions of Ollie, the billionaire playboy, equally well. Other actors also cope with the material with dignity, giving a triptych of emotions. As for the writers, they often flirt with the emotions of the characters, overflowing each series with a change in the relationship of the characters to each other, which negatively affects the reputation of the characters. It’s no wonder that even some fans get bored.
The highlight of each season is the main storyline, undoubtedly including a certain antagonist, a dangerous opponent of Arrow. Each villain is unique in its own way: both in its intentions, moral qualities, and in the means used. But if you analyze the seasons in more detail, you can notice a disappointing trend: the quality of the series is declining. The first season was really tightly knocked down and logical, did not allow to break away from the screen and amazed with the elaboration of the character of the main character - Oliver Queen really was a unity of strength and endurance, sophisticated mind and composure, in general, power directly emanated from him. It felt like he was capable of instilling fear. The second season, in general, did not lag behind the first, but it was in it that new superheroes began to be added, gradually displacing the Arrow from its advantageous position.
As a result, in the third season, the impression was created that the main character had receded into the background, and the series lost a lot from this. Still, the line with Ras Al Ghul, who ruled the ball in the second half of the season, helped save the day. The fourth season was very noticeable. There is no longer a vigilante who inspires terror, but there is a bunch of clowns jumping out of a van and unconvincingly cutting out an army of opponents. It’s only half the season, who knows, maybe it’ll get better. Still, the series begins to slowly come to a logical conclusion: Oliver Queen, finally became the Green Arrow, will soon take the place of mayor of Star City and restore order in his hometown, both day and night. After all, no matter what I say, “Arrow” is a good example of a superhero series, and its season 1 is a benchmark.
8 out of 10
The essence of heroism is to die while letting others survive.
My name is Oliver Queen. After spending five years on a desert island, I came back with one goal: to save my city. Now others have joined me, for them I am Oliver Queen, for the rest of the city I am someone else. I'm something else.
I remember when Arrow just appeared on the screen. One of the first modern series about superheroes, and also about one of the most beloved. I was expecting more than just “a lot.” No, I thought this series was going to be something that really touched me. But what a disappointment it was when it turned out to be completely wrong.
The main character of what is happening is Oliver Queen, the son of a famous billionaire, who burns his life in a way that others can only dream of. During another boat trip, he and his father are shipwrecked, and are presumed dead for five years. At the end of this period, he is found on a forgotten island in the Pacific Ocean, and he returns home a completely different person: more restrained, collected and closed. His family doesn’t recognize him as he becomes a green-hooded urban avenger, repeating a single phrase: “You failed this city.” Oliver chose his victims with the help of a list left to him by his father before his death, but after certain events, his views on life radically change once again. The plot of the first season is clear and interesting, the second, in turn, became even better, but by the middle of the third I realized that there was something wrong... namely, the storyline began to go down. The fourth season turned into a bad piece of fanfiction, so I couldn’t even watch a quarter of the first episode, realizing that it was a waste of my time that I could have spent on something better. For example, "Daredevil."
I think that the main mistake of the series was the characters, namely Felicity and Diggle, who were not in the comic canon. For the first two seasons, being “furniture”, they delighted me, but after they began to devote too much screen time, forgetting about Arsenal and the Black Canary, I thought about it. As a result, the whole situation turned out to be that the formation of the Black Canary was compressed, so it became incomprehensible and undisclosed, with Arsenal saying phrases four throughout the third season. Moreover, I was not surprised that in the end Colton Haynes (Roy Harper) left the series, because he was promised the central role of the best friend of the Green Arrow, and in the end he just nodded his head and watched as his “friend” fraternizes with an obscure black guy. And then I had this question: Why make Olicity (Oliver/Felicity) canon, forgetting about poor Laurel, who was already deprived? All I did for the third season was try to stop banging my head against the wall like Miss Smoak did.
The special effects in Arrow are not the most successful, it seems that they were made in haste, but what else could be expected from the series, which should release a series once a week, right? The costumes could also be worked on in more detail because what Oliver wears in season four makes me question the suitability of the costumers. Short sleeves? Are you serious? But the fight scenes were pleasantly surprised, because against the background of how everything else looks in the series, they are really good. Oh, how good.
The cast is a separate story. Most of all, I was outraged by Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen), whom they thought of taking on the main role of a sarcastic and cheerful hero, and he made him not only stoneface, so even the simplest emotions were not able to express. I can also say about the overrated Emily Bette Rickards (Felicity Smoak), in whose acting I never saw anything, as in the character. Why are they all praised? What kind of service? Against their background, even Colton Haynes (Roy Harper) looks like a talent of an incredible level. About Wille Holland (Thea Queen) I am completely silent. The only ones who are really worthy of praise are Katie Cassady (Laurel Lance), because her play shows that the character was spoiled not by her, but by the writers, and the magnificent John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlin), who managed to create a charismatic villain in this, who actually caused much more sympathy than the main character.
The overall impression of the series is simply disgusting. The writers tried to pull it, and they even got it for the first two seasons, but since some of them went to The Flash, the series dramatically lost weight, even having a good start. Nothing will save him, only the long-awaited closing, which will surely be stubbornly postponed and take another three seasons, pulling everything out of the finger, thanks to good ratings. What people will not do to make money.
I don't recommend it. Forbid your children to watch this and bypass Arrow yourself, as you will only be disappointed, even if you are not familiar with the comic canon, as I am. As a result, the following assessment was made: