Arrow: Season 1 Review

I'm pretty late to this party, but I just finished season one of Arrow. Arrow is a television show based off of the Green Arrow, a superhero from DC comics. I found it refreshing to watch a show based off of a lesser known superhero. Lets face it, some of you probably haven't heard of him. He's definitely not on par with Batman and Superman. But that's okay. That's why this show was interesting to me! In fact, I believe it sparked my interest further on the history of this character.

Green Arrow is played by Stephen Amell. As far as I can tell, I've never seen Mr. Amell in anything before, but I thought he did a great job as Oliver Queen, the spoiled billionaire son who becomes a hero. How the series shows the transformation of Oliver Queen was one thing I really enjoyed. Throughout the whole season there are plenty of flashbacks showing the struggles Oliver Queen went through to become who he now is.

The supporting cast is also a strong point in the series. Every actor feels like they belong in the role. Maybe except for Deadshot. I don't know. To me, Deadshot is a scruffy mercenary sort and in this show he looks more like a lanky pretty boy type. The actor did a decent job, he just doesn't have the look I imagine. Other than that, I really enjoyed the look and sound of all other characters in the show. My favorite characters in this show so far have been Tommy, Oliver's best friend since childhood, and police sergeant Quentin Lance. I was afraid that this show might lack in character development, but I was happily mistaken. The above mentioned characters definitely go through their trials, face demons, overcome some of them, and struggle with others. There were some tough and emotional moments which was a nice surprise in a show I believed would have been fairly shallow.

The only other complaint I had with this show is the production value in some areas. Sometimes it felt a bit cheesy. It's probably because of the fact that it was the first season. The shows still finding it's footing and I could tell it was getting better at this as the series went on. It's definitely good enough for me, a comic book fan, but I also believe that people who aren't even fans of the genre can find something to enjoy. Not only is there the action scenes you would expect, but there's plenty of sexual tension, romantic love triangles, struggles with moral values, and humor. The show explores all emotions and has plenty of surprises that kept me clicking on the next episode. The arrow hit the bullseye on this one.

My Review:
4 out of 5 Stars - GREAT!

How My Reviews Work

I tend to enjoy putting my own reviews on different books, movies, tv, games and music that I've experienced. I've reviewed things in different ways in the past but I think I've developed a way to review that works pretty well. I actually came up with the idea through the Goodreads app (great app for you readers out there by the way). Goodreads uses a 5 star review system. You read a book, and you give it a star rating. 5 stars being the best, 1 star being worst. I'm going to use that system here. My own twist however is what exactly each star represents.
0 stars - Horrible
1 star - Bad
2 stars - Okay
3 stars - Good
4 stars - Great
5 stars - Amazing

So as you can see, 2 stars doesn't mean that whatever is being reviewed is horrible. It was just, meh. If I give something two stars it means I thought it was okay and you feel free to check it out for yourself. The only time I wouldn't recommend something was if I gave it 0 or 1 stars. Pretty simple system. None of this, "oh, 9.75 out of 10" crap. Was this post pointless? Maybe. Just feel like typing away and prepping you on the things to come. Until next time!

New Beginnings 2.0

Well hello there everybody. I'm back again. For how long? I can't tell you. As long as I'm in the mood I guess. A ton has happened since I last updated this blog. Interests have changed a little. Not too much, but I guess you'll see things talked about on here that you never did in the past. I'm just excited to be writing again. Basically I will be covering all of my interests as best I can, when I can. Here's a list of my interest and what you can expect to read about:

- The outdoors. Fishing, hiking, shooting, mountain biking, camping; all good stuff.
- Reading. This includes comic books and novels. As far as comics go, I try to read everything. Batman is my main man but I enjoy other books too. I'm currently reading The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'neill. So far so good. When it comes to novels, I tend to go with thrillers/mysteries. Any fictional horror is good. I'm currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Mr. Gaiman also writes comics). Definitely enjoying this book too.
- Movies. Just saw Guardians of the Galaxy. AMAZING!
- Television. I'm watching Arrow as I type, actually. Not a bad show. Hannibal is another good one. Violent as hell, but good.
- Video games are pretty important to me, which you may already know if you read this blog in the past. So you'll see a lot of posts about games. Right now I'm playing Lego Marvel. Hey, don't judge man. The Lego games are actually a ton of fun! Get off my case and check them out for yourself. You're starting to see a trend though right? Comics, Arrow, Lego Marvel...yea, I am a pretty big super hero/comic fan. Do I think it's nerdy? Hell no. Anyone making fun or calling comics and super heroes nerdy or childish should be ashamed. And I know you all went and saw the Dark Knight Trilogy. Guess what? Based off of comics! Don't be a bunch of hypocrites. Also, comics are very far from being children stories. Give them a read sometime. You'll see.
- I LOVE movie scores. Particularly I enjoy music composed by Hans Zimmer (The Dark Night) and Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings).
  - Sports. I'm a huge Los Angeles Kings fan and Liverpool FC fan. I'm also trying to get more into American football. I guess the St. Louis Rams are my team, based off of one of my close friends liking for them. As far as college football goes I am cheering for the Oregon State Beavers (my best friend graduated from there) and USC (where my aunt graduated from).

Okay, that's a pretty good list for now. You'll see writings on my interests that are listed above mainly. I may dabble in a few other topics every once and awhile. Or I may just start ranting about life issues on here occasionally too. Feel free to skip over that crap if it's too much for you. Never have a claimed to be a great, or even a good writer. So please bear with me here. Punctuation and grammar are not my strongest areas. I write regardless though because I enjoy it. You'll see my reviews for different comics, movies, books and tv on here. Remember, my reviews are MY opinions. Take them lightly. I will also be bringing back the Kings Corner. That's where I talk LA Kings news. I may venture into talking about Liverpool FC as I become more acquainted with the new season. The season just started a couple of weeks ago but have been way too busy to watch so far. Anyways, I'm back. And I hope you can enjoy. If not, it's a good thing you have the power to not read this. Take care, and I will be in touch!