The CW's Crisis on Earth X is a fine example of a superhero team-up. However, Crisis on Earth X (all the CW show's crossing over) did showcase how useless people with no powers really are in a physical confrontation with people who can fly, move, faster than sound, freeze objects at a distance, turn to steel, and the list goes on and on. It was hilarious when Flash and Supergirl arrived and then had to wait for Oliver Queen (Arrow) to show up on his motorcycle. As he got off he said, "A reminder: Superspeed...I don't have it."
I've come to this conclusion: live action realization of non-powered heroes next to powered ones strains suspension of disbelief to uncomfortable levels. Oliver (Arrow) is no more help at holding up a building than the Batman is trying to fight non-human foes. Black Canary had to forget she had a superpowered cry so a Nazi Arrow could beat Team Arrow. Additionally, there should never be a situation in which Sara Lance (White Canary) could ever be in a fist fight with Supergirl for this reason: Supergirl punches her dead and moves on.
Marvel does it so much better when it comes to this kind of thing except when it comes to Black Widow and Hawkeye. Tony Stark has incredible technology (as does Falcon) which kind of gives them an edge. But Black Widow and Hawkeye should just be dead.
Don't get me wrong. I love these characters. I'm just really aware that I need to "suspend disbelief" when the non-powered superheroes are on screen. They need "plot armor" really bad, and I need to enjoy fiction for what it is.
I also loved Crisis on Earth X. Here are highlights:
1) Iris and Felicity kicked some Nazi asses.
2) The wedding fight was amazing.
3) Seeing Kara sing at the wedding was incredible. She has such a wonderful voice.
4) The story definitely passed the Bechdel test.
5) The death of Stein. This was devastating not just to the Legends and his family, but to all of Team Flash because they've been building toward this end for years with shared history and crossovers. His death was a perfect example of why Crisis on Earth X worked so well.
Yeah even in Justice League and BvS Batman is pretty useless compared to Superman or Wonder Woman.
ReplyDeleteEvery show needs to balance their ideas.
ReplyDeleteI was not a fan. I had so many issues with this. #4? Really? When? Because I kept looking, but every interaction between female leads had some allusion to a relationship in it. Now, I could have missed it...
ReplyDeleteBut there were so many eye-rolling moments for me. Alex and Sara hooked up? I mean, really? How obvious could that be? You get the two lesbian leads in the same room, and that's all you can do with them?
And alterna-Felicity? In that reality, she should not exist. Her grandparents would have died way before having her parent.
And what were the Nazis motivation, really, anyway? I get the whole heart thing, but they had a full on invasion going. It didn't seem like they had any real goals other than the heart thing. The whole Conquer the World thing was weak as motivation, at least to me.
I just finished watching this last night, so I'm still processing, but all in all, I wasn't impressed. Too many characters. It was hard to keep track of who was doing what and why. At least it had four hours.
It's unlikely I'm ever going to watch this at this point. The DC shows have mostly just fallen apart and because a big mass of... well, gross things. I'm vaguely keeping up with Arrow, but Gotham is the only one of the DC shows that's any good.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with movies that have too many super heroes. Like you say, it makes people without special powers seem impotent.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it. It was over the top and clunky at times but it worked because they had an interesting villain. I really hadn't thought too much about the powers vs non-power issue but it was funny to see everyone pair up like powers to avoid an overmatch. I think the CW does it well because everything is a one off (except Stein) and it really does make me want to watch shows other than my current two (Supergirl/Flash).
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I don't watch these shows or get into superheroes, but I like that Nazis were the bad guys. You think maybe the idiot neo-Nazis who marched in Charlott will ever figure out that they're symbols of ultimate evil? Probably not.
ReplyDelete