We are smack-dab in the middle of superhero saturation on television and in the moving pictures. It feels like you can't change the channel five times without landing on someone who's wearing an eye mask or a kid who's experiencing some sort of an origin story, and TV audiences miraculously haven't grown fatigued. Thus, there's no superhero-show slowdown in sight. Of course, task of successfully launching a new one into an already crowded airspace means said new one will have to be different. And PlayStation Network's (yes, I said PlayStation Network) Powers is just different enough. The series—which is available only to PlayStation 3 or 4 owners through the PlayStation Network subscription service—is a solid first attempt at original programming for a fledgling network. But with that said, it's not worth buying a new console or paying up for Playstation Network just to watch it. Based on the Brian Michael Bendis comic of the same name, a TV adaptation of Powers has been in the works for some time now. The property originally landed at FX with Jason Patric in the lead role; the network shot a pilot, but then decided not to move forward with the project. After that, Sony—who owned the rights—ported it over to the PlayStation during a period when seemingly every media company on the planet was frantically scrambling to get into the original programming game. I've always loved the concept of Powers, though I've admittedly never read the comics. On the new TV series, Christian Walker ( District 9's Sharlto Copley) is a former "Power," or superpowered individual, who's now a cop in a city where Powers are commonplace and celebrated. (We don't yet know how Walker lost his powers, but he has a scar that I suspect is part of it.) He's partnered up with non-Power Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward), and they set out to solve the murder of one of the city's most popular superheroes. Christian's new life as a powerless being, in combination with a young girl named Calista's (Olesya Rulin) desire to join the ranks of the Powers, provide the series' overall theme (hey, you don't need superpowers to be special!). However, Powers is first and foremost a cop show. The world populated by superheroes functions as the window dressing, but the show's early episodes (I screened two in order to write this review) are spent following Christian and Deena as they scour the city for leads and clues. And even that sense, Powers is a pretty pedestrian cop show with a twist. Powers exhibits several of the problems that are someone typical of debut series on new TV "networks," including obvious budget restrictions, a cast comprised largely of unfamiliar actors (in Powers' case, Michelle Forbes and Eddie Izzard are exceptions), and lots of painful exposition (though to be fair, that's more acceptable in comics, the medium on which the show is based). But many of its flaws will likely be overlooked by genre fans in search of a slightly more adult superhero show, because that's exactly what Powers is. In fact, it rivals HBO's The Leftovers in terms of unnecessary use of the F-word, and it features at least one decapitation, though nudity appears to be off the table. But it's not quite enough, and the show's restraint—likely a result of PlayStation's established user base, which includes lots of younger viewers—is easily noticeable in the final product. Still, the world that Powers is set in and the series' more mature tone is worth a look, particularly for genre fans who are tired of broadcast TV and family movie superhero stories. If you already have a PlayStation, give it a whirl. If you don't and you're a fan of the genre, try to seek one out. Everyone else? Wait for any one of Netflix's upcoming Marvel series. Are you planning to watch Powers? Powers' first three episodes debut Tuesday, March 10 on the Playstation Network, with new episodes debuting each Tuesday thereafter. The first episode will be available to all PlayStation 3 and 4 users; the rest of the season will only be available to subscribers of PlayStation Plus.
via Gaming News Headlines - Yahoo! News http://ift.tt/1GkmjDR
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