In the midst of the superhero popularity bubble comes FOX’s Gotham, the latest guise of the Batman universe as told by Rome creator Bruno Heller.

Following Nolan

Following hot on the heels of Christopher Nolan’s hugely successful Dark Knight trilogy, Gotham tells the tale of a pre-Batman Gotham City, exploring the origin stories of many of DC Comics’ most renowned supporting characters.

With Nolan having delved into just how Bruce Wayne came to be Batman, Heller turns the clock back further still, introducing the audience to a young James Gordon and a pre-pubescent Wayne. Call it the origin story of the origin story, or Batman Begins…Begins if you will.

Nolan’s Batman was always going to be a tough act to follow. Grossing over $2 billion across Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, the trilogy received widespread acclaim from the critics and the masses alike.

But Heller clearly wasn’t phased by the big brother comparisons. “I would say in terms of what [director and executive producer Danny Cannon and director of photography David Stockton] are doing - visually - Gotham will surpass the Batman movies.”

I wouldn’t personally agree with him, but the visuals of Gotham are certainly one of its more endearing qualities. Stylistically, the show’s creators have taken influence from 1970’s New York, describing the aesthetics as: “Gritty and dirty and sexy and dangerous.”

This is certainly reflected in the show’s film noir look and feel, and extended to their arsenal of digital assets, particularly the stunning treatments given to the individual character portraits.

witnessgotham.com for example is a beautiful combination of video, imagery, type and transition, offering up a digital recap of on-screen facts to date, while gothamchronicle.com recounts the ongoing storylines of the show with a fantastic tumblr implementation.

Covering Over the Cracks

The visual quality of the series does however attempt to mask over some writing and performance irritations.

A real point of annoyance is the over saturation of character introduction. I understand there’s a lot of source material to utilise and a lot of origin stories to tell, but do we really need to cram that many characters into a 45 minute episode?

The Pilot is the case in point, establishing Selina Kyle, Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma and Ivy Pepper right out the gate with ‘beat you over the head’ dialogue like: “When you walk, you look just like a penguin.” Really?

Although the ensemble cast was heralded with each announcement, the dynamic between Gordon and “turn a blind eye” partner Harvey Bullock leaves a lot to be desired. From the Pilot onwards Ben McKenzie (Gordon) and Donal Logue (Bullock) have been guilty of aggressive over acting, dialing up the testosterone at any sign of potential conflict.

Old Habits Die Hard

This show of extremism serves as just another reminder of how far Gotham has tread from the excellence of Nolan’s nuanced Dark Knight trilogy.

The franchise was revived so successfully thanks to the British director’s dedication to basing the narrative firmly within the realms of realism. Joel Schumacher plunged Batman into the depths of comic book cliches and regrettable one liners, and Nolan pulled off the significant feat of resurrecting the Dark Knight into a world grounded by fact.

While Gotham hasn’t yet relapsed to the extremes of Schwarzenegger’s countless low temperature puns, it is undoubtedly a step back towards the Caped Crusader and away from the Dark Knight.