SummarySmallville tells the tale of a teenage Clark Kent in the days before he was Superman. It is the town where he came from where very strange things started happening with his arrival in a spaceship in the midst of a meteor storm of green rocks. Clark must deal with a variety of individuals given powers by the green rocks, keep his powers a...
SummarySmallville tells the tale of a teenage Clark Kent in the days before he was Superman. It is the town where he came from where very strange things started happening with his arrival in a spaceship in the midst of a meteor storm of green rocks. Clark must deal with a variety of individuals given powers by the green rocks, keep his powers a...
Purists might balk, but for the rest of us, the latest retelling of the Superman tale is a brilliant blend of tradition and contemporary sensibility. Not only is it a Superman for a new generation, it's a Superman for every generation. [15 Oct 2001]
Like an ice cube to the temple on a hot day, Smallville startles and refreshes the way "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" did in its early years. Though not as cleverly written as "Buffy," the new series about Clark Kent, tormented teenager, has much going for it: beautiful people from The WB's Burbank assembly line, movie-style special effects, a subtle sense of humor. [15 Oct 2001, p.D1]
Smallville is one of the best Superman shows out there. I would totally love to see more of him how he saves the world like Lois and Clar in the other shows. But one thing I really hated and that is the cryptonites they are everywhere in this show. Or the funny thing that a normal human breaks hammers etc. when hitting Clark. I mean common, no human lifeform is strong enough to pulverise a hammer while hitting something hard. Superman is just the best hero in my eyes.
Smallville roped me in. The most intriguing premise is that young Clark is only starting to grasp the enormity of his arriving on Earth a dozen years earlier. [16 Oct 2001, p.E1]
Smallville's charismatic star, Tom Welling, has the right stuff to be an overnight teen idol, even without flying around in a Superman suit. [16 Oct 2001, p.1]
Possibly the best comic-book-to-TV-series ever made. It is a show that respects its source material without exaggerating the visceral bombast. It's a show that will entertain you in a single bound. [16 Oct 2001, p.44]
An example of television getting it right. The themes -- teen angst, coming-of-age, puberty, loneliness, intimacy, connection and lack of connection to parents -- are skillfully woven into an engaging story line that reinterprets the 63-year-old mythology of Superman for a new generation...There is a major downside to Smallville -- the acting is pretty bad. [16 Oct 2001, p.1E]
Smallville is probably my favorite show. It shows perfectly how Clark went from a normal farm boy going to school with his friends, to becoming the greatest superhero. This show is packed with great performances, but the standout, near perfect performance, is definitely Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. Love this show, easy 10/10.
I am not sure whether "jumping the shark" is an appropriate enough term for the later episodes, but they are still worth watching, just not as good. The reason being I do like them, but there are some reasons why it is not as good as it used to be.
Overall, I like Smallville very much. It is very intriguing, somewhat original and intelligent. Consistently, it is excellent visually with well-above average special effects and lovely scenery and photography, while the music is both beautiful and haunting with a great theme tune. The writing on the whole is very strong, while the story lines are in general gripping and intelligent with good pacing. The characters are likable and interesting, Clark for me isn't as charismatic or as heroic as he used to be, more the fault of the writing than Tom Welling's performance, but when he was those qualities he was very interesting. Tom Welling certainly does a great job with Clark, as does Michael Rosenbaum as Lex, who I find slightly more interesting. Lana is beautiful, and it was great to be John Schneider and the lovely Annette O'Toole as Clark's parents.
After Season 6 though, the writing just lacked that edge and cleverness it had before and the story lines while gripping have some predictable or groan-worthy moments. And as I've said, Clark isn't as interesting as he was before. However overall, it is definitely worth watching and better than other shows I have seen. It was a show that started off outstanding, but now is merely good(sometimes very good). 7.5-8/10 Bethany Cox