User Review

The pilot episode sets forth the promising tale of a motley crew destined for greatness on a romp through time and space. And, for the most part, it succeeds at continuing a trend of mostly-good DC Superhero TV on the CW. Helped along by several characters that have earned us caring about them from their development on Arrow and The Flash, Victor Garber's Martin Stein, Caity Lotz's Sarah Lance, and Brandon Routh's Ray Palmer ground the show with enough heart to kick-start it into action. Meanwhile, Snart and Rory continue to play the well characterized pair of funny anti-heroes that we have seen again and again on the other CW shows. In particular, Captain Cold's absurdly dry sense of humor and knack for puns cuts through moments of necessary pilot exposition. The real standout, though, is Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter, whose sharp comedic timing and deeper acting chops should help keep the show grounded in a strong protagonist moving forward. The more Legends of Tomorrow leans on Darvill and Garber for dramatic story lines, the better. Unfortunately, not all of the characters on the team are well-developed or well-acted. Hawkman and Hawkgirl continue to be as trite and uninteresting as they were during their stint on The Flash. And despite the potential in Vandal Savage as a character, his writing thus far has not been nuanced or compelling enough to set him on par with CW's other seasonal "Big Bads". Moving forward, the show should succeed if it focuses on its characters and actors that elevate it above mere comic book cheese, and if it executes its promise of time-travel shenanigans in inventive, fun ways. Legends of Tomorrow doesn't look poised to knock The Flash from its "best in DC" throne just yet. The Flash benefits from not having boring main characters (I'm looking at you Hawkman/Hawkgirl, and Arrow's terrible Laurel Lance). Consistency will be Legends of Tomorrow's biggest challenge if it wants to one-up The Flash and legitimize future expansion of CW's DC Universe. 5/10