A contemporary vision of X-Men ? It could be one way to describe Heroes after watching its pilot, Genesis. However as told by Mohinder Suresh during the introduction, the characters with special abilities are not mutants but evolved humans. But the problem is that you can't learn how to fly overnight nor how to teleport. That's why I found his genetic theory didn't really make sense. It's specially true considering the importance of technology in our reality. Otherwise let's not forget it's only fiction and entertainment.
So like in Carnivàle it seems the characters are more than who they appear to be at first sight. Although their profiles are different, I wasn't convinced by most of them. Only Niki Sanders, played by gorgeous Ali Larter, and Isaac Mendez intrigued me. The first strips on the Internet to pay her bills and take good care of her genius son. Apparently she has a split personality but it seems something even weirder is happening to her. It becomes quite obvious at the end. Isaac is a painter and can predict future events. I found the idea of using arts original because it brought something accessible to the audience. Moreover the actor's performance was quite good and you could feel how lost he was and how much he was suffering.
As for the others I thought I was actually watching The WB instead of NBC. Most performers are pretty people and I found their characters, like the regenerating cheerleader Claire Bennet and wannabe flyer Peter Petrelli, lacked authenticity. Otherwise it was balanced with educational elements that brought some depth to them. We're watching their first steps so it could be as entertaining as in Smallville, but without the fascinating Superman mythology surrounding Clark Kent. They all have a different story but we soon learn that they're all connected, like in Lost for example. One thing I liked about Mohinder and Hiro Nakamura, the time bender, is that they brought a universal vibe to Heroes. For once they're not just here to smoke an ensemble cast but to convince the viewers that the evolution phenomena is happening right now all around the world. Moreover it seems Mohinder was used as a centric character around whom the others revolved. But the most interesting and fascinating one was probably Hiro, a Japanese. Indeed beside his funny jokes he said some very deep things about his culture. He wants to be special, different. Like in Antz he's tired of being a nobody.
Therefore Heroes definitely has potential. However the editing ruined the experience. Reversing some events was a good idea but it felt like the episode was just a bunch of random scenes put one after an other. So in the end Genesis appeared to be a show produced for the Web, made up of mini-episodes. Last but not least it seemed some characters were just here to fill the gaps. For example even if I liked Niki she wasn't connected to the other characters and the writers failed in intriguing us enough. In fact it was my second viewing of Genesis and even the first time I felt betrayed because I knew the upcoming episodes would focus on specific characters, one at a time like in the worst episodic formated productions. It wouldn't be an issue if they were as fascinating as in Lost.
So like in Carnivàle it seems the characters are more than who they appear to be at first sight. Although their profiles are different, I wasn't convinced by most of them. Only Niki Sanders, played by gorgeous Ali Larter, and Isaac Mendez intrigued me. The first strips on the Internet to pay her bills and take good care of her genius son. Apparently she has a split personality but it seems something even weirder is happening to her. It becomes quite obvious at the end. Isaac is a painter and can predict future events. I found the idea of using arts original because it brought something accessible to the audience. Moreover the actor's performance was quite good and you could feel how lost he was and how much he was suffering.
As for the others I thought I was actually watching The WB instead of NBC. Most performers are pretty people and I found their characters, like the regenerating cheerleader Claire Bennet and wannabe flyer Peter Petrelli, lacked authenticity. Otherwise it was balanced with educational elements that brought some depth to them. We're watching their first steps so it could be as entertaining as in Smallville, but without the fascinating Superman mythology surrounding Clark Kent. They all have a different story but we soon learn that they're all connected, like in Lost for example. One thing I liked about Mohinder and Hiro Nakamura, the time bender, is that they brought a universal vibe to Heroes. For once they're not just here to smoke an ensemble cast but to convince the viewers that the evolution phenomena is happening right now all around the world. Moreover it seems Mohinder was used as a centric character around whom the others revolved. But the most interesting and fascinating one was probably Hiro, a Japanese. Indeed beside his funny jokes he said some very deep things about his culture. He wants to be special, different. Like in Antz he's tired of being a nobody.
Therefore Heroes definitely has potential. However the editing ruined the experience. Reversing some events was a good idea but it felt like the episode was just a bunch of random scenes put one after an other. So in the end Genesis appeared to be a show produced for the Web, made up of mini-episodes. Last but not least it seemed some characters were just here to fill the gaps. For example even if I liked Niki she wasn't connected to the other characters and the writers failed in intriguing us enough. In fact it was my second viewing of Genesis and even the first time I felt betrayed because I knew the upcoming episodes would focus on specific characters, one at a time like in the worst episodic formated productions. It wouldn't be an issue if they were as fascinating as in Lost.