kevin_s_scrivner

As a lifelong Scooby Doo fan I appreciate the pilot episode's callbacks to the franchise's characters, lore, and many incarnations. The casting and acting are acceptable, and the special effects are decent. The dark tone is what causes my concern for potential younger viewers. This series gives the Mystery, Inc., gang the full "Riverdale" or "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" treatment -- transforming an innocent, light-hearted show for children into a grim occult quest filled with adult themes such as serial murder, demonology, and drug use. That might be OK for grown-up patrons but a problem for parents unaware of what they're letting their kids in for. Watch with care.

The sad thing is that "Batwoman" has all the ingredients for an entertaining luchador romp -- an alluring protagonist, a series of murders to solve, an exotic location, decent underwater scenes -- but wastes them with glacial pacing and a lack of exciting fight action. The supposedly athletic and clever heroine spends more time socializing than clue-hunting, then becomes all girly and helpless at the climax when she should be kicking butt. The film could be improved immensely by chopping it down to 45 minutes. That would at least progress the plot at a reasonable speed. Unfortunately it is decades too late to bring in one of the heroines from "Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy" to whomp up on some villainous goons. Yvonne Craig's status as Batgirl is safe.