{"id":16252,"date":"2015-09-08T16:59:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-08T20:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=16252"},"modified":"2015-09-08T17:02:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-08T21:02:09","slug":"gotham-the-complete-first-season-blu-raydigital-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/08\/gotham-the-complete-first-season-blu-raydigital-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gotham: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray\/Digital]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GothamBluRay\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What do you do when you want a Batman series but can\u2019t actually feature the character? Sometimes the networks get creative and give us \u201cArrow.\u201d Other times, they belly flop disastrously and hand us \u201cGotham.\u201d Essentially \u201cGotham\u201d is a crime drama set in Gotham City that\u2019s basically either an Elseworlds tale, or a prequel. The series never can decide. It\u2019s a lot like \u201cSmallville\u201d in that it features a world before the superhero came to fight for justice. And much like \u201cSmallville,\u201d the series pretty much stinks from the word \u201cgo.\u201d Granted, \u201cGotham\u201d is a good idea for a series. Who wouldn\u2019t want to see what Gotham was like before the Batman came along? The problem is \u201cGotham\u201d is so concerned with lip service to Batman rogues, and paying tribute to the fans that it never actually comes together to form an entertaining series.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rather than an homage to Batman and building its own sub-universe prior to Batman, the series goes ahead and introduces a lot of famous Bat villains, while Bruce Wayne is still in puberty. This vision of Gotham features a very young Selina Kyle who lived in the city, and witnessed the death of Bruce Wayne\u2019s parents. This is also a world where folks like the Penguin and Joker roam the city, which means that by the time Bruce Wayne dons the cape and cowl, he\u2019ll basically be pummeling elderly maniacs. Posing as the avatar for Batman is Jim Gordon, who emerges as a young detective long before he ever became the commissioner. He is Batman in the show sans the costume and cool gadgets and is forced to take on the growing crime rate in a city with a serious collapse of morality and ethics.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile young Bruce Wayne is a grief stricken young boy who spends his time in the series brooding, grieving, and pretty much sewing the seeds to become the Dark Knight. One has to wonder how he acquired all the detective skills, and gadgets, and martial arts abilities that make him somewhat supernatural as a crime fighter when he does nothing but lurk in his mansion and mope, but \u201cGotham\u201d really isn\u2019t for the hardcore comic geeks. Rather than building on the idea that perhaps Batman created villains like Joker and Two Face, \u201cGotham\u201d just brings them up to the surface and never bothers to actually create anything new or fresh. Sure, it\u2019s fun to see Harvey Bullock in live action form, and the cast is pretty damn good all things considered, but \u201cGotham\u201d is one big turkey of a series that can never actually settle on what it\u2019s trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n

This creates a massively muddled and utterly dull series that utilizes a ton of elements that would be amazing in a better series. For example, Robin Lord Taylor\u2019s turn as Oswald Cobblepot is mesmerizing and often times the only redeeming element of \u201cGotham.\u201d In a show that actually knew what it was doing, he\u2019d be award fodder. FOX essentially tailors their own \u201cSmallville\u201d with \u201cGotham,\u201d allowing a comic book themed series that is strictly for general audiences that have limited to no knowledge of Batman and his very complex and horrifying world. Season One is a genuine turkey of a freshman introduction that misses a huge opportunity to build a show around the concept of Batman and focus on the rotten core of the city that conceived him. With barely any redeeming features, it\u2019s a show I definitely will not follow in to its sophomore year.<\/p>\n

The Blu-Ray release from Warner features six deleted scenes from the season. There\u2019s also \u201cGotham Invented,\u201d a thirty minute three part documentary about the creation of the series, and the particular vision of Gotham City for the series. There are interviews with the show\u2019s cast and crew, and even DC Comics\u2019 own Goeff Johns. \u201cGotham: Designing the Fiction\u201d is a twenty minute look at the mood of Gotham and the conceptualizing of the city of Gotham from its gritty streets and dark landscapes. There\u2019s also a look at various sets including the GCPD offices, Fish Mooney\u2019s club, and the Wayne Manor, to name a few. \u201cThe Game of Cobblepot\u201d is a twenty six minute feature about Robin Lord Taylor\u2019s compelling take on Oswald Cobblepot, and how he approaches the character. \u201cGotham: The Legend Reborn\u201d is a twenty one minute look at Gotham\u2019s pilot. \u201cDC Comics Night at Comic-Con 2014\u201d is a special feature of the DC Comics Television panel from 2014 that features looks at Gotham, The Flash, Constantine, and The Arrow. There are two minute character profiles on \u201cGotham\u201d characters like Bruce Wayne, Fish Mooney, Harvey Bullock et al. Finally, there\u2019s a fun five minute gag reel.<\/p>\n