Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season | Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum

Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season | Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum | BETTER AND BETTER!

DVDs:

Smallville - The C...

	Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum Warner Home Video, 2008 average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Take negative reviews and add salt, Season 7 is one of the best

One of the biggest complaints in these reviews on Amazon.com is that Smallville never goes anywhere with the storyline. However, if someone would watch Season 1 and then jump to Season 7, the differences are huge, and headed in the right direction. One of the tags I've heard for the series is something like "Becoming evil isn't as light switch, it's a journey." or something like that. The same goes for becoming a hero to the world. Anyone expecting to see Clark (permanantly able to) fly and in his trademark blue tights is basically asking for the SERIES FINALE.

The truth is, in this season MANY events happened which signal the beginning of the Superman era... MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT: Supergirl is introduced; Lex goes over the edge into pure evil; Black Canary, Green Arrow's future gf, is introduced; Lionel's days are numbered; Lana is shown the door... and if you're looking for lose ends in general to be tied up, Season 7 makes a point to tackle as many as possible. It has been my favorite season since Season 3. I admit the season starts slow, but it took off quickly and never let up.

for more information click here

BETTER AND BETTER!

Smallville just keeps getting better and better. Other reviewers have stated that the show has been spiralling down since the fifth season, but personally, SMALLVILLE'S 7th season is even better than the previous 6. There have been cast changes that I have found a bit saddening, like the death of Lionel and the absence of Martha Kent, however in retrospect I believe that these developments were made to add more substance to the plot and the main arc of the storyline. In every great epic, there has to be a profound dialectic between the forces of good and evil, and , evil does not necessarily have to be black [as suggested by other conventional fairytales etc...]. Lex Luthor is a very unique "lex" in the history of superman mythology. It is hard to totally hate Lex, even while one knows that he is Clark's ultimate antithesis [and I don't mean nemesis]. Michael Rosenbaum has created a Lex that is very complicated - he is the nemesis with shades of grey. Lex himself is fighting his own goodness and this is what makes the plot so great in this wonderful tv show. I was pleased to see that TPTB made it easy for the transition of Clark romantic destiny to Lois lane. Lana's character had to evolve in the manner it did [can't say more ... spoiler] so that the viewers will actually see her as an obstacle to Clark ultimate purpose. Suffice it to say, there have been sad moments in this season but I can't wait for the eight season! and the ninth, tenth.... twentieth! [hopefully]. If the Simpsons can continue beyond 10 seasons on FOX then I am hoping that Smallville will follow this trend. I hope that TPTB will heed the call of fans. After the ending of BUFFY, ANGEL and CHARMED, I hope that my other fave. tv show will be aired for as long as possible!

for more information click here

The Return to the WB/CW Teen-Drama Formula With Some Highlights

After watching the season finale of season 6 with the introduction of Bizarro, I was excited believing the CW writers would step-up and transform Clark Kent from the not-so mild-mannered farm boy (that is more in tune with John Byrne's adaptation that Siegel and Shusters) into the caped Man of Steel that we've all been waiting for. Instead, the writers went on strike. When they came back, they put-together a mis-match bundle of episodes that made myself and other comic fans and scholars cringe.

To myself and others, season six was the pinnacle of the series, especially with the "Justice League" episode where the team walks away from the ruble with serious expressions knowing their work has just begun. THAT was awesome and, to me, it should have been where Clark Kent began to develop into the Man of Steel. Instead, season seven went in complete reverse and brought the franchise back to it's roots; teen drama. Granted that is what the WB (Now CW) is known for but the original four seasons were to show Clark Kent's high school years; when that theme ran it's course the producers decided to explore the early transformation of Clark Kent into the Man of Steel but that theme has gone on and on... and on for about three seasons and now season seven retrogresses back into teen drama once again.

The teen-drama begins with Kara (AKA Supergirl), Clark's cousin from Krypton. Now, Supergirl was introduced in the 1950s to entice younger readers with what historian Bradford Wright calls "silly stories." In this regard, the CW sticks true to the comics as Kara's stories right from the start are exactly that starting with a Miss Smallville beauty contest. The distrust and arguments from Clark to Kara are somewhat true to the comics although their back and forth badgering spanning several episodes got annoying and her character development seemed to be more on her revealing outfits. It's obvious they didn't hire Laura Vandervort (Kara) for her good acting or bright ideas. Then again, with the exception of Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), the same can be said of the entire cast.

The next element of annoying teen drama was the back-and-forth love story of Clark and Lana Lang. Now, anyone remotely familiar with the Superman mythos knows Superman is destined to be with Lois Lane and Lana was more of a childhood crush to help with the back story rather than be a recurring character. For the sake of the first four Smallville seasons, this meant Lana had to stay and rightfully so. Problem is, even with Clark Kent "maturing" after his graduation from high school, Lana wouldn't leave, the drama intensified, and she actually became a detested character. Lana's constant trust then mistrust of Clark was more akin to a bad soap opera than intriguing drama. Thank GOD she's gone!

On top of that, without Clark Kent even dreaming of becoming the Man of Steel, he has fought several primary villains from the Superman franchise such as General Zod (which was poorly done), Brainiac, and Bizarro. Now I hear Clark Kent, not Superman, will face Doomsday in season 7 the villain that "killed" Superman in 1993.

To compensate for a lack of Superman development, the writers decided to use some creative liberties and introduced a group called "Veritas," a secret society that knows a "secret" on how to control "the traveler" AKA Clark Kent. Now, I loved that they brought Robert Picardo (known as The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager) as a guest star on an episode or two, but the Veritas conspiracy essentially seemed more of the same trust/mistrust style story that just had a Latin name.

To me, however, the largest complaints of the series is the horrible insertions of commercial advertisements into the show. The episode "Hero" was nothing but a 42-minute long advertisement for Stride Gum under the guise of bringing back the 'beloved' character Pete Ross. Ross even goes as far as to hold up a container of Stride Gum with a smile on his face. Last time I saw something that blatant was a parody of advertising in Wayne's World. The show also inserted numerous Toyota references, especially to the Yaris. Granted in one episode in season six Chloe gives Clark her keys and says, "Take the Yaris," not realizing the head space in one of those cars would not be sufficient to allow actor Thomas Welling (who is easily over six feet tall) to drive comfortably. Believe me, I've sat in one and I'm 6'5.

Now, despite all my criticisms I do have some compliments on season seven and these pluses will push me to purchase the series!

The episode "Apocalypse" where Clark witnesses a world without him, while being an obvious rip-off of It's a Wonderful Life, has an interesting yet subtle message embedded into it. It shows Clark Kent trying to blend in by being bumbly, wearing a traditional dark suit with thick glasses, and showing affection for Lois. To me, this shows what Smallville would look like if they went from what they are to what many critics are demanding they become and I gotta tell ya, aside from the nuclear missiles I liked what I saw. This was Thomas Welling's debut as a director and I thought he did an excellent job portraying himself as what Clark Kent SHOULD be. I think the CW writers should move towards this mindset minus the nuclear Armageddon.

The next episode I really liked was "Action" where an action film purposefully made to look like the Superman franchise is being filmed in Smallville. This episode was made in response to various fans, such as myself, criticizing Lana Lang's character as antiquated and unnecessary demanding that she be booted off the show. While this episode makes a strong reference to the disaster on the set of The Crow, it still takes an almost humorous jab at it's critics, so kudos to the writers for that episode.

After all is said and done, I can barely recommend this season to Smallville fans; it retrogresses back to teen drama and bores the audience with back and forth drama that resembles a cheesy soap opera than a comic-based show. However, it does have some quality points that fairly redeem it in my eyes and I hope the writers, now back from the strike, will shape up or ship out as I will watch season eight with a heightened sense of scrutiny.

for more information click here

Sean Pasek is spot on, but too high score

Sean is right, too many highly anticipated moments were a let down by poor disjointed writing. I too am a great fan since season 1 and would rate most seasons a 5, unfortunately this season fell short of its usually stellar performances, especially Lana's character. A few great shows saved this from being a 1 or 2.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

products you might be interested in