Gotham: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Gotham: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Desperately Seeking Batman...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 8, 2015

The jury's still out on Gotham. After its rocky, at-times frustrating first season, the series' showrunners have promised big changes are in store for Season Two, many of which are a direct response to fan criticism. Should we consider that an admission of guilt? Or an innocent desire to right wrongs and improve? Based on the opening 22 episodes of Bruno Heller's inconsistent, desperate-to-please foray into the Batman mythos, I suspect it's the former. With hits, misses, more hits, and certainly more misses, Gotham is all over the place. When it works, it really works. When it doesn't, it really doesn't. It continually engages the imagination, taking the City the Waynes Built and the budding rogues gallery of criminals at its core in intriguing new directions. It even makes it increasingly difficult to jump ship. (I wanted to walk away, but I had to know what Heller and company would do next.) It also fumbles several fundamentals, delivers too many mediocre scripts, struggles with tone, mismanages too many characters, and leaves far too much to chance. Can the series recover? Absolutely. The first season isn't without its charms or memorable moments. Will it recover? Season Two is almost here. Only time will tell.

Before there was Batman, there was Gotham City. Everyone knows the name of Commissioner Jim Gordon, but what of his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the layers of corruption in Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains? Gotham tells the story of the world's most iconic DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes from the very beginning, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. The series follows GCPD Detective James Gordon's rise through a dangerously corrupt city, while also chronicling the genesis of one of the most popular DC Comics superheroes of our time. Although the crime drama follows Gordon's turbulent and singular career, it also focuses on his unlikely friendship with the young Bruce Wayne – with his mentorship a crucial element in developing the mythology of Gotham City. The series stars Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon, Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock, David Mazouz as a young Bruce Wayne, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Robin Lord Taylor as The Penguin, Jada Pinkett Smith as ruthless gangster Fish Mooney, Camren Bicondova as Selina "Cat" Kyle, Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma, Morena Baccarin as Dr. Leslie Thompkins, John Doman as Carmine Falcone, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen.

Gotham's cast is enviable but its performances are erratic. First, the good. McKenzie anchors the series to reality with authority and steadiness, though his Gordon may be a bit too hot-headed and impulsive for every DC fan. (I found him to be somewhat impetuous and self-righteous at times, albeit by no fault of McKenzie. That blame lies with the writers.) Mazouz is surprisingly effective, if a touch young, gracefully and convincingly sidestepping the Phantom Menace prequel-pitfalls poor Jake Lloyd fell into throughout Star Wars: Episode I. Cory Michael Smith is a eerily watchable Riddler, and I particularly dig the spin on the villain's origins. Baccarin, Doman, Bicondova, and a number of guest stars are wonderful additions too. And Robin Lord Taylor? Who knew Gotham -- or any Batman television production for that matter -- could so bravely hinge on The Penguin. Taylor is terrific, and, along with McKenzie, helps the series retain credibility and watchability in its weakest moments. He not only steals nearly every scene in which he appears, he tends to hijack entire episodes.

But then there's the... ahem, over-enthusiastic portion of the ensemble. Logue chews dialogue and steps all over his co-stars' performances. Where's the big, stubborn block o' Bullock from Batman: The Animated Series? Pertwee is perhaps the most aggressive and temperamental Alfred committed to screen, even if it does make for an interesting Bruce/Alfred dynamic. Richards is utterly obnoxious (and horribly miscast) as Barbara Kean, who by season's end can't possibly be that Barbara Kean... can she? If so, the writers' room is taking the would-be Mrs. Gordon on quite the character detour. And then there's Jada Pinkett Smith. Overacting doesn't even begin to describe Smith's delivery in Gotham. Whenever the show threatened to lose me, it was always Smith who was standing on screen, leering, sneering and snarling like a first-year film student. There isn't an ounce of subtlety to her upstart gangster, nor much of anything to redeem a brutish femme fatale that almost, almost brings the season crashing down. Robin Lord Taylor kills it. Jada Pinkett Smith just makes you wish he would kill Fish Mooney.

Even so, it's the first season's writing, not necessarily its cast, that comes close to burning Heller's Gotham to the ground. Wince-inducing deliveries are one thing, but some of the dialogue uttered in the series would be laughable in the pages of a poorly penned comicbook. With several stories and subplots already attacking suspension of disbelief, is it any wonder so many character beats were met with skepticism and scorn? Gotham sometimes hews more closely to the original '60s television Batman than Nolan, Burton or even Schumacher's adaptations of the Caped Crusader, with exaggerated, hyperextended dialogue that would be better suited to "biff", "smack" and "bam" than the more serious, crime-ridden city at the heart of Gotham. There's still enough here to warrant a second chance, or a second season as it were. But there's also enough cause for concern to temper excitement and adjust expectations accordingly. I'll be watching the series when it returns to FOX later this month, but I also won't be surprised in the least if it's more of the same, immediately or eventually. Here's to hoping beyond hope that such cynicism will prove to be unnecessary.

Gotham: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Gotham: The Complete First Season looks fantastic; bleakly but beautifully saturated, precisely detailed, and proficiently encoded via a near-perfect 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video presentation. The series' palette is often muted and overcast, but bold strokes of color still pierce through the darkness. Primaries can be quite striking, skintones are lovely and lifelike (despite being quite pale at times), and contrast and black levels are deep and satisfying. The image is crisp and clean too. Edges are refined and free of ringing, fine textures are well-resolved, and delineation is as revealing as it's intended to be. Shadows become very heavy on occasion and some crush creeps in, but it's all in keeping with the show's chosen aesthetic. It only helps that significant artifacting, banding, aliasing and other issues are nowhere to be found.

Gotham: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Gotham: The Complete First Season also features an excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Dialogue is carefully prioritized, intelligible and believably grounded in the soundscape at all times, with a few small ADR-born exceptions. LFE output is nice and strong, particularly when guns are drawn or the action punches up, and rear speaker activity is assertive and engaging. The series' soundfield is notably immersive too, with involving directionality and smooth pans that bring the busy city streets, dangerous alleys and abandoned warehouses of Gotham to life. No complaints here.

Gotham: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Gotham Invented (HD, 32 minutes): This three-part behind-the-scenes production documentary delves into the development of the series, from its take on Batman's hometown to his origins, the rise of some of his most iconic villains, the balance of crime and power in Gotham City, and the show's themes. Segments include "Building Our Gotham," "Paving the Way for the Caped Crusader" and "Fractured Villains."
• Designing the Fiction (HD, 20 minutes): Next up is a fairly lengthy look at the series' production design and visuals, from its cinematography to shooting locations, sets, props, costumes and more.
• The Game of Cobblepot (HD, 26 minutes): Meet Gotham's version of Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin, learn about the nuances and evolution of Robin Lord Taylor's performance, and unpack the villain's role in the series.
• The Legend Reborn (HD, 22 minutes): Developing and shooting Gotham's pilot.
• DC Comics Night: Comic-Con 2014 (HD, 30 minutes): Gotham, Arrow and The Flash.
• Character Profiles (HD, 14 minutes): Intros and overviews are available for Jim Gordon, Oswald Cobblepot, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, Fish Mooney, Dr. Leslie Thompkins and a catch-all dubbed "Killer Characters."
• Unaired Scenes (HD, 7 minutes): Discs 2-4 offer a small, less than remarkable selection of deleted scenes. Among them "Penguin's Umbrella," "Rogues Gallery," "Lovecraft," "What the Little Bird Told Him," "Welcome Back Jim Gordon" and "Birds of Prey."
• Gag Reel (HD, 5 minutes): Laugh it up with the cast of Gotham.

Gotham: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If nothing else, Gotham skips past what you'd expect and *gasp* has fun in the Batman universe, particularly with the Caped Crusader's rogues gallery. Origins are tweaked, familiar characters are spun, and surprises await around every corner. Not always good surprises, mind you. The performances are as hit or miss as the show's writing and dialogue, leading to a number of bumpy episodes that could have been much smoother. Hopefully the series' second season will be an improvement. Thankfully, there's little to improve on when it comes to Warner's Blu-ray release of The Complete First Season. The 4-disc set is a bit light on special features (no commentaries!?), but the AV presentation helps make up for it.