Powers

First off a correction to the various misconceptions by earlier reviews on IMDb. This show is based on a comic book that appeared 6 years earlier than Heroes TV show and 13 years before the Reckoners book series. I'd posit that those works were probably influenced by Powers (and other comics of the time (Watchmen anyone?).

I was very disappointed in the pilot episode for the unnecessary massive info dump from of all people Mario Lopez as an on screen celebrity reporter. The pilot seemed like it had been shot cheaply and clearly seems written as network sales pitch episode and it doesn't fit with the more nuanced better 2nd and 3rd episodes I've seen. Third episode redeemed the pilot in all aspects. The direction, script and acting all made me accept the sometimes dramatic differences to the source comic book series.

So I finally decided to watch Powers, since I am a PS Plus subscriber and can do so for free. I love Sharlto Copley, I think he is an amazing actor. He's given great performances in District 9 and the A-Team, so I thought I was in for a real treat. But alas, after just the pilot episode I found it incredibly hard to focus on what was going on, because of the really low quality production values. I forced myself to continue though, just in case it would get better and boy do I regret it. It's 47 x 10 (yes I am too lazy to do the math) minutes there that I will never get back again, and those were some painful hours indeed. The CGI and special effects are amateurish at best. It's like something you can find on Youtube and I don't mean your average trailer from an upcoming Marvel movie. It's really cringeworthy to watch just how bad it is, especially the fighting and the "flying". Whenever they lift themselves slightly above the ground you can clearly see that strings are lifting them. I know that a TV Show's budget is significantly smaller than a movie's, but if CW can make decent CGI and effects on shows like The Flash and Arrow, Sony could too... The choreography of the fighting is awful too. It's like they are drunk or something. But I think the worst thing about this show are the young actors. All five of the main youngsters are horribly awful (man I really wish IMDb allowed you to swear sometimes...), really really amateurish and so so cringeworthy to watch. Deena Pilgrim is supposed to be another one of those hard boiled female bad a**es, but it doesn't suit her at all. Susan Heyward tries way too hard to be tough, so much so that I can't help but facepalm myself at how embarrassingly bad she performs. From the moment she is introduced as a rookie cop, she acts like everything is her business and everyone should answer to her. In other words she's just way too much of a tryhard. Then there's this Zora person, who's also played by a bad actress which just really makes her into an unlikable character to me.

The issue I have with Krispin is not so much that the actor is also an amateur, it's his character that I dislike. He seems so out of place in the story in the first few episodes, whenever he's on screen, he's just like... there... Doesn't contribute to neither plot nor interacts with the other main characters. It's only in the last few episodes he's truly needed for the overall story arc. And no spoilers, but he's a total D-bag towards his own mom and it's only because of her line of work.

But worst of all is Calista and the actress who plays her... I know that "hate" is a strong word, but man I really hate her! I can't stand her, she is 1000 x worse than Deena Pilgrim, Zora and Krispin combined. She is so unlikable, I automatically lost focus whenever she was on screen and just closed my eyes. She's too much of a wannabe, that she's convinced that she has powers, even though she clearly doesn't. She will do anything in order to gain her powers, and if anyone mocks her or tries to talk some sense into her, she get's mad and leaves. She does some crazy s*** throughout the episodes in order to "discover" her powers, even going so far as putting her life and others at risk. It's literally the ONLY thing that's on her mind. She's just way too cocky and delusional for her own good. And I don't get why Johnny Royale is so caring and protective towards her, almost from the first time they met, he treats her like his own daughter and provides food and shelter for her, even though they're complete strangers to each other. But the worst thing about her, is how unbelievably bad the actress who portrays her is. I'm not joking when I say that she's without a doubt the absolute WORST actress I have ever seen in my entire life, and I have seen Paris Hilton act... Everything she says and does, is done so without soul and emotion. She can't cry, she can't express anger, pain, happiness, NOTHING. There's an episode where she's supposed to be ill and look "feverish", but when she laid down on her mattress and "shaked", I instantly burst out in laughter and double- facepalmed myself so hard that it felt like my eyes got rolled around inside my head. "What the hell was that???" was the only thing I could think of. I am lost for words to fully describe just how ridiculous she looked. Olesya Rulin should not act at all and if I ever see her in anything else, I will instantly turn off my TV without second thought.

The only redeeming things about this show, are Sharlto Copley, Noah Taylor and Eddie Izzards characters. They give good, believable performances, and their characters are instantly likable, especially Johnny Royale and Wolfe. Noah and Eddie are great actors, but it's especially Eddie's performance that truly makes me believe in his character and that he's this unstoppable force, if he ever get's out. But they fudged it all up and wasted his potential in the end sadly.

The best episode to me was the penultimate. It was the only episode that actually got me excited for the show, and it was mainly because of Eddie Izzard and how he really got to shine there with an interesting plot twist at the end, which sadly was wasted in the finale...

I will never for the life of me, watch another episode of this awful show ever again, even if it's free and I think it should be cancelled as quickly as possible!

A world where people with powers coexist with normal people, yea sure it's been done before. Though I believe with this one they got things right. Unlike so many other shows these days that try to grab the audiences attention through sex, violence and special effects, powers focused quality actors, good dialogs and interesting musical choices. Sure the theme has been visited before, though none quite like powers. When I first saw the play-station logo appear I very nearly stopped watching all together, but I was glad not to. The plot seems thick the characters are extremely well rounded (not your usual good Vs evil type thing) and the acting is just superb. This show is a true work of quality, not just some mind numbing rehash as others might suggest, original and clever and just reeking of humanity. I would give it 8/10

While not perfect, powers offers the best take on super powered beings thus far. Why? Because it actually focuses on heroes making real choices, not supermodels running around with teen angst, or layers of conspiracies that detract from characters.

The acting is great and the interaction between powers and ordinary people is believable. That is what makes the show special. When a power is confronted, there is real tension. The show plays on that interaction well, and often to great effect. The powers in the show know they are above the law and the non power know there is little they can do about it.

The dialogue is a bit rough and the show only plays with being a procedural, something I think they should focus more on. Solving crimes in a super powered world would be interesting However, not committing to being a cop show or a show strictly about powers is the shows greatest weakness. It is a show stuck between two genres and not developing or committing to either.

With the first episode of Powers I wasn't really sure what to think. It was good, but it seemed fairly obvious that the budget probably wasn't all that big and it has a different direction than the other superhero TV shows, yet I couldn't put my finger on it until about the third episode when it really take offs into being one of the best, if not the best of the superhero shows. First is that it's a real ongoing story, and it's solid, where everything that happens actually matters. People die, characters have both good and evil aspects, and everyone has a real back story that affects the big picture. BUT what probably works better than anything else in Powers is that the characters have complex relationships with each other that seem fairly realistic, or at least genuine in their motivations towards each other with invested interests so that the action carries a lot of weight. Show like Gotham, Arrow, and even Daredevil don't reach this level of effectiveness in their characterization.

One thing I would note is that this probably isn't for kids. There are a lot of F bombs, and though it doesn't really have sex, there are a few discussion about people using sex as a way to get what they want. Just FYI.