Gotham: Average, Great and the Best

Alphonso
Nov 13, 2021
4 min read

“If you're going through hell, keep going.”

― Winston Churchill

Me and my mango sister are big fans of Batman. We read comics about Batman, we bought toys of him when we were little, we have all kinds of Lego Batmobiles, we used to wear Batman costumes, we watched all series, movies, and cartoons about Batman. I mean he is like a brother to us. But today I will talk about the "Gotham" TV show. And I will write this review in 3 perspectives: an annoying movie critic perspective, a regular person perspective, and a Batman fan perspective.

Annoying Critic: Average

The series has good scenes and some scenes where Gordon was looking like he is running with a headcam. The cinematography was good, but it wasn't that great. I liked the series directing and cinematography, but it wasn't at the quality critics want. So it was an average series when we look from a grumpy critic's perspective.

Regular Person: Great

Gotham is surely an exciting TV show and it has a story full of adventures. And that's why it had a large audience. It isn't too serious, it isn't too funny. It is a great show to have a good time. Personally, I enjoyed the series without considering the Batman concept, as it was enjoyable to watch. And I believe that most people can watch the series without getting bored. But the main topic I want to talk about is its Batman substance.

Batman Fan: The Best

I have many things I want to say at this point. First of all, I can easily say that David Mazouz is the best Bruce Wayne I have ever seen. He is just awesome. Because all of the other Batmans were either just Batman or just Bruce Wayne. But Bruce Wayne is more than just a billionaire and Batman is more than a superhero with super cool skills. Christian Bale and Micheal Keaton are good Batmans, but neither of them achieved to show the intelligence of the character. Ben Affleck also played some aspects of Batman good, but it wasn't enough. David Mazouz was the Bruce Wayne I imagined while reading the comics. He is intelligent but hides it with his money. He is always depressed but hides it with his fake smile. He looks social but tries to never connect to people, and when he connects to one, he cares about that person more than everything. There may be people who hated David Mazouz's acting, but he is the best Batman/Bruce Wayne for me.

Other than David Mazouz's Bruce Wayne, I also loved Cameron Monaghan's Jerome/Jeremiah characters. They weren't really a true Joker, but I think this is why I liked them. We always seem totally crazy, super funny, and extremely cool Jokers in other movies and series, but we never see how he got those scars. Also, Cameron Monaghan plays the character really well. I think the series can be watched only for seeing his wonderful acting.

Another reason why I love this series so much is that it is braver than many other series. Gotham City has a really complicated story in comics. And when you are making a TV show about the past of this city you need to connect everything to the original Batman Universe at the end. After all, you can't finish the series by killing Bruce Wayne. So actually everything is predictable and determined in the series. However, this series still achieve to surprise its audience with a bold storyline. They don't fear creating a strange love relation between Penguin and Riddler. Or they are not afraid to use 2 different Jokers in the series. They fearlessly write a story where villains and heroes fight together. Who would think Gordon used to be a master seducer before Gotham (He had 4 relationships and he had 2 wives in just 5 seasons). This way the series doesn't become too predictable and it still surprises you.

However, the main reason I love the series is its name: "Gotham". It's not "Batman: The Series". It's not "Dark Knight is Born". It's neither "Batman and the Others" nor "5 Season Which Will Just Focus On Batman and You Will Watch So Producers Can Earn Some Money". It is just "Gotham". Because the show isn't about how little Bruce Wayne was when he became the Batman, how James Gordon became a great commissioner, how Penguin became a crime boss or how Edward Nygma became the crazy Riddler. This show is about Gotham: The place where you have only 2 choices to survive: Becoming a powerful villain or a hero. The TV show focuses on this scary but mighty city. And in this hell-like city, our characters just keep going. Gotham City sometimes means pain and suffering. And sometimes love and friendship. Sometimes sadness and defeat, sometimes happiness and victory. As this city gains many different meanings , the series also travels us through many different themes and topics. As a result, you never get bored.

And lastly, I have one more thing I liked about Gotham: it is too similar to the comics, but it has nothing to do with the comics. Gotham only uses the characters of the Batman comic's universe and it doesn't include the events that happened in the comics. But this is because there isn't a comic book that can show if Gotham TV show is accurate or not. Because there isn't a comic that explains the past of Batman/Bruce Wayne in detail. So nobody can say this series is totally wrong. In fact, Gotham TV show is the only source we can use to get detailed information about the past of Bruce Wayne, so the series is %100 accurate. I also liked how the series gives the same vibe you are getting while reading comics.

Other than being the best Batman production, Gotham is an overall successful series in my opinion and I believe that even if you are not a Batman fan you can still enjoy this series. If you are a Batman fan, just go watch this series. If you are a superhero fan, go watch it. If you are a TV show lover, go with this series. If you are breathing go and watch Gotham. Because IT IS AWESOME.

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