Ya, I thought the last ep was stong. The shows definitely violet and making a point to be edgy, but even that is growing on me.
Ya, I thought the last ep was stong. The shows definitely violet and making a point to be edgy, but even that is growing on me.
The violence in this show is completely gratuitous. It doesn't set a tone, or serve a purpose. The blood is simply there to shock and make it seem more "mature" or edgy. It's like what happens when you let a 14 year old write anything they want. A parody of adult entertainment, which just comes across as campy, silly, and completely juvenile in practice to any audience that isn't made up of the same attitude. It's a child wearing adult clothes and asking to be treated like one, even though it's behavior prevents you from doing so.
Which is a shame, because otherwise this show is turning out to be not half bad. It gets a little mired in it's own earnestness, and at least some of the darkness feels tacked on to further up the "edge." But Grayson is becoming a more fully realized character, and Hawk and Dove actually added something to the mix instead of just being costume fanservice. But you could tell the exact same story without the blood, and not only would you not lose anything, you'd probably save me from laughing AT your show, as opposed to with it, at last twice an episode.
I feel like there's the start of something worth watching here. But the people creating this show need to understand that simply mimicking the Marvel Netflix formula without understanding WHY it was successful is pointless. Daredevil wasn't violent and moody just because it was on Netflix and could get away with it, it was violent and moody because the tone and story of the show called for it. We can debate whether the Titans are characters that should fit into a similar mold, but it's the show we're getting. And there are moments here where they absolutely get it, and it works really well. But then they go off into edgelord territory and I find myself enjoying the show ironically, not because it's good but because it's a parody of what somebody thinks good should be.
It also doesn't help that I watched most of the spectacular Daredevil S3 today, before I watched Titans. The former understands theme, and tone. It uses it's violence, it's darkness, to evoke an emotional response from the audience beyond just "Ooh, that was so COOL!" It recognizes that looking at the darkest parts of ourselves can illuminate the best parts. Titans, so far, hasn't quite found that groove.
But again, all that said, I'm still watching. Lots of shows have bumpy starts while they figure out just what they are, and just what works for them. The basic building blocks are solid, there could be something truly great made from them by the time it's all said and done. It's uneven so far, but far from the train wreck the trailers made it look like.
The violence just feels off, the violence in this show is a mix of comic book one to few hit KOs mixed with brutal stabs, etc. It's a weird melding, plus the cgi blood splatters after getting hit in the face looks dumb and bothers me. I enjoyed this episode way more than the first but after that ending it kinda killed the momentum for me.
I really hope that Dove isn't dead but she totally is because this show is fo serious yo. Honestly the first few minutes of just Hawk & Dove was very captivating and I want to know more and see more of them. I understand and appreciate what they are trying to do with Dick and Raven's relationship but Dick feels like dick to her at times. I know this version of Dick is supposed to grow more into the one we all know but him not being able to be good with kids doesn't work for me.
"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does? - Gaff Blade Runner
"In a short time, this will be a long time ago." - Werner Slow West
"One of the biggest problems in the industry is apathy right now." - Dan Didio Co-Publisher of I Wonder Why That Is Comics
By the fact that with the exception of Daredevil S1 and maybe Jessica Jones S1, none of them have been able to deliver a consistently good season from start to finish.
Luke Cage S1: Takes a dip in quality in second half and drags.
Daredevil S2: See above.
Iron Fist S1: Just plain bad.
Defenders S1: Epitome of mediocrity. It's the shortest season with the most amount of characters and it still felt slow.
Punisher S1: Apart from the last couple of episodes, most of the season is an utter bore.
Jessica Jones S2: Boring and full of unlikeable characters. Personally speaking, it was Iron Fist levels of bad, could be argued that it was even worse.
Luke Cage S2 and Iron Fist S2: Did not watch because JJs2 burned me badly. But I haven't really heard glowing reviews about them.
Daredevil S3: I'm just 1 1/2 episodes in, and I'm finding it boring with needlessly long conversations that don't add anything to the characters or the plot.
All of the seasons could've been cut down to 1 or 2 episodes at least(even DDs1). None of them have been able to justify their length. There is so much talking that barely adds anything in all of these. All of these have pretty much the same tone that for at least one character doesn't suit at all. They may tackle different subject matter, but all of them go at it pretty much the same way. Not every season needs to have just one single story, Punisher and Jessica Jones suffer the most from this formula.
The only issue I have with the violence is the CG blood. It looks awful and hokey.
I never said anything about it being too violent. I said what violence there was actually hurt the episode rather than helping it. Different topic altogether.
Slasher movies are too violent. Torture porn is too violent. This doesn't actually have that much violence at all. But what violence it has is treated immaturely, rather than serving the tone or themes of the work. Compare with something like John Wick, which has much more violence. But where that violence serves a purpose to drive the themes and characters of the show. When a moment from those films feels gratuitous, you feel like even that was intended by the creators, a kind of wink-nod to the audience or an exclamation point on a sequence. It doesn't feel like it was added just to make something feel dark or edgy.
We could debate the point, but I think I agree with the spirit of what you're saying here, if not necessarily agreeing with your premise.
The character is scheduled in later episodes, including one that is all about Hawk and Dove’s past. Those may be flashbacks, but I suspect Dove will survive. As for Dick, “good with kids” is a notoriously subjective and slippery concept. Witness Bruce, said in this episode to be “no good with kids,” yet who manages somehow to be the mostly successful patriarch of the biggest family in the DCU (even having two “children” in the first season of TITANS).
I have always felt that DC’s TV shows and movies are oriented toward a different audience than the comics. Thus, disagreement and criticism from comics readers is expected. I would not speculate that DC actually welcomes such controversy, but I think they likely take it in stride and keep their eye on other metrics of success.