For those well-initiated into the Batman mythos, the story should be very familiar: young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) has an acquaintance with death at a young age, as he bears witness to the murder of his mother, Martha, and his father, Thomas, by a run-of-the-mill mugger looking for a quick score. The city of Gotham is rocked to its foundations as one of the wealthiest and influential families in the city is gone, leaving the heir of Wayne Enterprises alone, except for his butler/parental figure, Alfred Pennyworth. That moment sets off a chain of events that sets the young Wayne on a path that will change him and the city forever, as he will eventually leave and then return home to become Gotham’s Dark Knight. The show Gotham, however, isn’t focused squarely on young master Wayne; rather, it focuses on one of the city’s most important figures on Batman’s war on crime, and one of his allies in that fight: a young, idealistic detective named James “Jim” Gordon.
I’ll admit I defiantly had my doubts about Gotham leading up to the Series premier on Monday night, partly due to the casting of Ben McKenzie as Gordon (aka Ryan Atwood from The O.C.), but mostly out of fear that this show would be a retread of what Christopher Nolan had covered in his Dark Knight trilogy. Both fears were dispatched with quickly, just like Bruce’s parents were in the opening few minutes of the show. I don’t mean that as an attempt at black humor, only to explain that the show, while it takes themes from various versions and re-imaginings of the Batman storyline, the show doesn’t act as a doppelganger to them. My friend and colleague Craig Kennedy once complained that Nolan’s version of the Batman films (in particular, The Dark Knight) were constantly compromised at every turn to obtain the all-important PG-13 rating. When Bruce’s parents are shot, there are no quick cuts to keep viewers from seeing the blood. Its show in its context and the impact of seeing a stranger murder two innocent people in cold blood is given its proper weight, especially what it does, and will continue to do to the future Caped Crusader. The violence on Gotham isn’t cartoonish-ly violent, it’s stark and brutal; it acts as a perfect metaphor to a city that’s gone straight to hell, morally, ethically, and philosophically; and given how much blood is seen and spilt (including the beatings and stabbings), it surprises me the show was able to keep its TV-14 rating.
Gordon quickly learns that his city is in worse shape than previously thought: a few days with his partner, the less-than-enthusiastic Detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Louge) a hard-boiled cop who is a stark contrast to his unwavering idealism about right and wrong and his partner’s acceptance of crime boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett-Smith) as if they were nearly chummy and friendly, has him seeing cracks within the GPCD. His faith is further shaken when it turns out the prep they believed was responsible for the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, turned out to be a fall guy planted so the city could sleep better believing that justice had been done, and he’s given a choice about what to do with, Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) the snitch in Mooney’s outfit: kill him and throw his body into the Gotham river, or be offed himself. Again, if you’re familiar with Batman, you know Gordon won’t pull the trigger.
The show’s visual style and acting are its strongest benchmarks. The look and feel of the city (which was shot primarily in New York City) echoes the style motifs of films like Michael Mann’s Collateral, David Fincher’s Se7en and Nolan’s Batman Begins where the city itself becomes a character. The muted color palette, intercut with scenes of brutal violence (both by criminals and cops alike) and vibrant neon-lights that feel like a calling card for the sinners to come out and play add to the shows dark undertones that crime and upholding the law in Gotham have almost become one in the same. It actually reminds me of Jack Nickelson’s monologue in The Departed, where his character Frank Costello tells a young Collin Sullivan that “When you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?”
The ensemble groups of actors, from child actors in their first primetime series to seasoned veterans of the big and small screen, all bring their A-game. McKenzie strikes the right balance as a young Jim Gordon: he’s an idealist, but he’s quickly realizing his limitations and begins to understand that he can’t fully trust everyone and anyone within the Gotham Police Department. Louge is wonderful as Harvey Bullock, the hard drinking, seasoned detective who’s years on the force has made him morally ambiguous about his title to serve and protect the city. And then there’s Jada Pinkett-Smith, completely having a ball as mobstress Fish Mooney, a woman waiting in the wings to take over Gotham’s crime family from current Mafioso Carmine Falcone (John Doman). She plays her character as a stunning vixen one moment, then tough-as-nails mob boss dispensing beatings and ordering hits on cops the next. She feels like she’s a character left out on the cutting room floor of a Tim Burton Batman movie, but more importantly: we get to see her played against type as an antagonist, and it’s a role she relishes in. My only gripe is that characters like Edward Nygma (aka – the Riddler, played by Cory Michael Smith), Selena Kyle (aka – Catwoman, played by Camren Bicondova) and Mazouz’s Bruce Wayne aren’t given much to do in the opening episode, but there’s 15 episodes left in the season one order, so I’m sure they’ll be featured more as we go along.
For a series opener, Gotham takes inspiration from various segments of the Batman mythos, from the over-the-top campiness of the villains (a la Burton), to the edgier, grittier take on the Dark Knight (a la Nolan), yet neither fully kowtowing to either vision, but rather mapping out a new take on beloved material for decades. The acting is solid and its visual style hints that this will be heading toward darker avenues. If so, Gotham is looking at darker nights, which will make for truly entertaining and engrossing viewing for the next several months.
