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Legends Of Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 1 & 2 'Pilot' Review - SciFiNow

Legends Of Tomorrow Season 1 Episode 1 & 2 ‘Pilot’ Review

DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow finally hits the UK. Here’s what we made of the pilot

The latest series to spin-off from The CW’s Arrow, Legends Of Tomorrow, concluded its opening two parter with what can only be described as a fun time-travel romp. If you can get past the fact that Rory Pond – sorry, Williams – is now currently in a more Doctor role, then it’s not too difficult to have a good time. And even if you can’t, you will still enjoy yourself.

Legends Of Tomorrow doesn’t take itself too seriously, unlike it’s mother show, the two-parter was for the most part light-hearted. Opening with a world crippled by the force of Vandal Savage, Rip Hunter (Darvill) assembles the latest crack team of Avengers- sorry, Legends. For those who haven’t seen every – or any – episode of both Arrow and The Flash, as Rip goes about collecting his team, he gives a brief summary of who everybody is, so within the space of about a minute you are all caught up.

While some of the characters clearly lack the depth of others, weirdly, the two criminals – Leonard ‘Captain Cold’ Snart and Mick ‘Heat Wave’ Rory – have some of the biggest personalities on the show, while others suffer from being decidedly underdeveloped. Most guilty are the newest recruits to the universe, Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Cameos from Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen and Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance to provide the guiding voices seem a little cheesy, but when you remember what you’re watching, you’ll learn to accept that a bunch of this new venture is exactly that. It’s fun, but if you’re looking for Nolan-esque serious superheroes, it probably won’t be for you.

Sarah’s (Caity Lotz) new costume as the White Canary is not the best idea they’ve ever had, but the others are styled to perfection. Although they do look a modicum of ridiculousness, the design of the Hawkpeople’s costumes are beautifully crafted.

A definite highlight is Brandon Routh, finally given the chance to shine in a leading role after his numerous special guest starring roles across television and film. Ray Palmer (Routh) continues to delight as a character and the deliverer a lot of the best moments. Watching him attempt to gain the respect of his previous professor, Dr Martin Stein (Victor Garber), and continue to fall short supports a side of his character that was mostly hidden in Arrow: that his biggest goal is to make a difference and for his life to have meant something. Apparently having Starling City renamed in the wake of his death to Star City with a massive memorial signpost wasn’t enough.

Weirdly, considering an entirely over the top performance from both parties, both Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold and Dominic Purcell as Heatwave deliver the stand-out moments from the premiere. If we’re being honest, we weren’t expecting to enjoy them quite as much as we did. Watching them, along with Sarah, hitting up a Seventies bar and then literally hitting the patrons in a brilliantly choreographed fight sequence. The makers have of all three CW shows have always been on top form in this respect, and we’re glad it continues into Legends

Woefully underused in the two parter, Jefferson ‘One half of Firestorm’ Jackson did provide some brilliant comedic moments, but simply wasn’t used enough.

While the show clearly has its flaws – they haven’t quite figured out how to handle all of their characters fairly and equally, it’s difficult to get too emotionally attached to the Hawk-sob-story, some of the ‘young people speak’ falls short, and the plots may fall into the trap of becoming a little repetitive – there is more than enough to enjoy here, and we look forward to seeing what happens next.