The
Deal: Though several of the key elements from the initial Witchblade
arc are retained -- the shoot-out at the Rialto, Kenneth Irons' weird collection
of Witchblade memorabilia, the characters' relationships with each other
-- there are also some marked differences. For one thing, Sara doesn't
immediately don an insanely tight designer dress to go "undercover." Rather,
the opening sets her up as a badass tough girl who wears men's underwear
and rides a motorcycle.
The
basic story concerns itself with how Sara attains the Witchblade and learns
to use it while solving the murder of a dear friend. In a slight detour
from the comic, it attaches itself to her in a museum, rather than the
Rialto, and initially, just makes her have lots of weird visions. But as
we all know, there's more to come. From the initial buzz on this, one might
assume that it's a lot like all of that USA Network guilty pleasure fare
-- La Femme Nikita and friends. However, all of the nutty camerawork seems
to owe a bit more to Homicide -- I think they're attempting to go for something
a bit more serious. Sometimes it works (Sara's black-and-white flashbacks
are kinda nifty), sometimes it doesn't (the opening drones on a bit too
long with oodles of gray tinged establishing shots of city streets and
various NYC landmarks).
Also,
considering its source material, there's surprisingly little T&A. In
fact, the scene with the most skin is probably the one wherein Baywatch
alum David Chokachi takes his shirt off.
The
Characters: No doubt about it, sports fans -- one of this show's biggest
coups is lovely Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini. Yancy has such a great quality
-- she's gorgeous, but she doesn't look at all fussed over. She's no overly-made-up
glamour gal playing tough -- she's the real deal. She perfectly conveys
a steely will and an air of melancholy -- and she's got this terrific,
throaty voice that runs the gamut from wounded to sultry to menacing.
Most
of the other folks are fine -- Chokachi, who plays surfer-dude-turned-cop
Jake, is pretty much just there to look pretty, Anthony Cistaro is appropriately
slimy and distasteful as villainous Kenneth Irons, and Kenneth Walsh is
fine and fatherly as Sara's mentor Joe Siri. The only false note, actually,
is Eric Etebari as mysterious assassin Ian Nottingham. At first, I couldn't
even figure out who he was. In the comic, he's all sexy and hunky, but
here he's wearing this stupid skullcap and looks kind of like a badly dressed
Backstreet Boy (the "hoodlum" one). OK, so the comic book Nottingham is
probably a bit too over-the-top for TV, but still. This Nottingham is just
lame and boring.
The
Special Effects: It's probably due to budgetary concerns, but so far,
the special effects are kinda disappointing. Basically, Sara just uses
the Witchblade to smack people around and stuff. It never projects any
crazy laser action, and it really only covers her hand and forearm, all
Doctor Claw-like. Yawn.
The
action sequences try to make up for this -- I don't know how many times
I was tempted to scream, "Matrix shot, Matrix shot!" but they need to focus
less on fancy shots and cutting between scenes, and more on good ol' kicking
ass. Take a few lessons from Buffy, huh?
Overall...:
Witchblade has lots of promise as a show: it teeters nicely between guilty
pleasure and more serious fare, and Yancy Butler is perfection. It could,
however, use a bit more humor and some nicer fireworks. And more shirtless
shots of David Chokachi (kidding).
