Title: Birds Of Prey: Series Premiere
“Pilot”
Stars: Dina Meyer, Rachel Skarsten,
Ashley Scott, Shemar Moore, Mia Sara and Ian Abercrombie
Based On The DC Comic Book
Executive Producers: Mike Tollin, Brian
Robbins, and Joe Davola
Running Time: 50 minutes without
commercials
Media: The WB Network Original
Television Series Premiere (NTSC VHS Screener)
Series Premiere: Wednesday, October 9,
2002, at 9pm (ET)
Network: The WB Network (Check your
local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: TV14 L, V
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
It is no secret that Warner Brothers
Television and Tollin/Robbins Productions, the creative collaborative force that
reinvigorated the “Superman” mythos with the hit television series “Smallville,”
which airs on The WB Network is doing the same thing for the “Batman”
franchise with the upcoming television premiere of “Birds Of Prey” on The WB
Network, which premieres on Wednesday, October 9, 2002, at 9PM (ET) with a
special 70-minute adventure factoring in commercials of course.
Based on the DC Comic, “Birds Of
Prey” opens with a narration by Alfred Pennyworth (Ian Abercrombie) on the
night where one of the biggest crackdowns on crime in the history of New Gotham
City dismantles the Joker’s crime organization. However not before the Joker
has Selena Kyle AKA “Catwoman” murdered in front of her daughter and
personally cripples Barbara Gordon AKA “Batgirl” with a single bullet. Seven
years have now passed and Barbara has reinvented herself into “Oracle,” the
overseeing eye who watches over New Gotham from her Clock Tower Layer, which
looks a lot like the Chrysler Building while the secret daughter of Bruce Wayne
and Selena Kyle, “Huntress,” nightly fights the forces of crime that
destroyed her mother and drove her father out of Gotham.
When a clairvoyant young girl arrives
at New Gotham, circumstance draws her to the crime fighters as the legacy of the
past threatens to destroy the future unless the “Birds Of Prey” can stop it.
The trio is made of genre film veteran Dina Meyer as “Oracle,” “Dark
Angel” alumni Ashley Scott as the busty “Huntress,” and Rachael Skarsten
as “Dinah.” The casting is excellent because collectively the three women
cross the age barriers between the thirtysomethings of “Generation X” who
grew up with syndicated reruns of the Adam West’s “Batman” series as well
as “The Dark Knight Returns” graphic novel that set the tone for Tim
Burton’s visually stunning feature films. Twentysomethings will likely relate
to “Huntress” who is just getting all together personally despite being a
professional crime fighter, and there is no doubt that teenagers will find
interest in Rachael Skarsten’s “Dinah,” who at once reveals great
potential as a budding crime fighter while living the out the ultimate teenage
runaway fantasy.
The look of the show is very cinematic
and yet very much like a live action comic book complete with kick-ass fights
sequences, cartoon like CGI, and enough visual references to keep continuity
with the look of the feature films while still maintaining a style unique on to
itself. The series a slightly self referential with a dialogue nod to Marvel
Comic’s “Spider-Man” not unlike the “Superman” nod heard in the Sam
Raimi feature film of this past summer and there appears to even be a subtle nod
to “Smallville” with mention of “comets” or whatnot having fallen to
Earth lately. (Maybe kryptonite?) The
prologue and flashbacks show Dina Meyer as “Batgirl” and to describe her
look I would say she looks a bit like the 1960’s “Batgirl” from the Adam
West TV series, but she definitely looks much better than Alicia Silverstone so
in short she is the best looking live action “Batgirl” I’ve seen yet. The
costuming for “Huntress” in the pilot became a work in progress with her
official series outfit appearing in the second episode and thereon. If you have
the October 5 through 11, 2002 issue of “TV Guide” you can see the new
costume for “Huntress,” which I think is more streamlined than the outfit
she wears in the pilot. There is also an interesting if not rocky mentor/student
relationship presented here and judging by some dialogue shared between
“Huntress" and “Oracle,” Ashley Scott manages to convey a sense of
dangerousness to her character that is more in keeping with “Catwoman” than
someone like “Robin.” We also get to see the image of “Batman” and
“The Joker” in flashbacks.
The tone of the pilot is less subdued
than the original cut, which I screened earlier this year. Some of the colors
have been tweaked to make some scenes look a little more ominous where
appropriate while there are other scenes where the colors are more vivid and
some of the settings like new brighter alternate character introduction scenes
have been added to establish the characters and their alias non-superhero
environments faster so we get an idea who these people are and get a sense of
direction as to where the characters are heading. Mia Sara is a reserved “Dr.
Harley Quinzel,” a character who is bound to play an important role as the
series progresses.
Overall, the series premiere of
“Birds Of Prey” shows some of the best promise for any of the new fall
television series I have screened that have premiered this fall. Actually The WB
has scored this season with what are perhaps two of the best new shows to
premiere this fall, “Everwood” and “Birds Of Prey.” The screener
presented the pilot in a letterboxed (1.78:1) aspect ratio, but I am not sure if
the show will be broadcast in a letterboxed format or even widescreen for HDTV
broadcast, but it is nice to know that however it is presented, the producers
and network have looked ahead to the future and prepared.
This past spring, Warner Brothers
released the pilot episode of “Smallville” to DVD and if they should follow
the same course next year and bring the pilot episode of “Birds Of Prey” to
DVD, I hope they will consider including some of the alternate scenes or even
the original cut of the pilot so fans can see what came to pass as well as what
might have been. Regardless I think “Birds Of Prey” is great and look
forward to seeing some exciting crime fighting action in episodes to come.
“Birds Of Prey” will debut with a special 70-minute premiere episode on
Wednesday, October 8, 2002, at 9PM only on The WB.
© Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.