• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022 1

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Superman (2025)

    Movies
    July 10, 2025 42

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Movies
    June 26, 2025 8

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    Featured

    Superman (2025)

    Nate Zoebl
    Movies
    July 10, 2025 42
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 20

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 20
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Superman (2025)
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Columns
    Shot for Shot

    Arrow: Suicide Squad is on my TV!

    Sean Reid
    Shot for Shot
    April 1, 2014

    Halfway through the most recent episode of the CW’s “Arrow” I looked at my wife with disbelief and said “Holy crap, the Suicide Squad is on my television!” This wasn’t the first television version of the group. Fans of the Justice League Unlimited animated series will recall an episode featuring “Task Force X” and the group also made an appearance on Smallville, also on The CW network (which I have to admit to not seeing).

    Task_Force_X

    I wasn’t much of a fan of Smalliville, but after 10 seasons, numerous awards and fairly consistent ratings (give or take a couple of seasons) it’s hard to call the show anything but a success. Arrow seems to hedge its bets on being able to pick up where Smallville left off. The formula is somewhat similar, with Arrow chronicling Oliver Queen’s journey toward becoming The Green Arrow. The show also mixes new characters – is John Diggle the next Chloe Sullivan?- with those from the Green Arrow canon as well as the greater DCU. So far, Arrow’s ratings seem to prove that the formula works, even without the blue-and-red boy scout (and, in this case, WITH costumes!). Which makes the inclusion of characters like the Suicide Squad even more interesting.

    I enjoy Arrow overall but I have to admit that it is very hit or miss (pardon the pun). For example, I’m fairly certain the CW has imposed a quota for shirtless scenes per episode, along with other gratuitous fan service, and it certainly won’t be winning any Bechdel awards. Thankfully, the ham-fisted “love triangle” or implausible “random workout” moments are often offset by flashbacks to Deathstroke Island.

    Arrow_Diggle_Waller

    Based on the scores found at Rotten Tomatoes DC characters making the leap to the big screen have been a mixed bag. A few films based on Vertigo titles and/or Alan Moore books (V for Vendetta, Watchmen) have been mostly well received. However, very few of those can be considered “superhero” films, Watchmen being the lone exception, and combined they made less at the box office than Man of Steel. Movies like Green Lantern, Catwoman and even Jonah Hex are all a bit more mainstream comic properties and of those three, Green Lantern scored the highest on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 26% on the “Rotten Meter.” The less that is said about Catwoman and Jonah Hex, the better.

    In the same time period there were two Superman reboots (or a sequel and a reboot, depending on how you keep track), a Batman reboot and there will be ANOTHER Batman story coming as part of the Man of Steel sequel. In spite of the negative reactions towards Man of Steel it still managed to bring in $290 million and has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than the Green Lantern movie. The box office numbers don’t lie, and copying a sound formula will almost never cost anyone their job. Therefore, I think a strong case could be made that Smallville played it safe.

    Arrow_Deadshot

    Superman has been a known quantity for almost six decades and even his bad movies make tons of money. The idea of following a young Clark Kent, the Middle America Everyman farm boy, on his own hero’s journey is as close to a sure thing as you’re likely to get in Hollywood. Unfortunately, Oliver Queen is NOT Clark Kent nor is Green Arrow nearly as well known. Compounding the issue with regards to television were the various hurdles imposed by Warner Brothers with regards to what characters were available. Any character whom Warner Brothers was using for a film franchise was reserved exclusively to the film division and off limits to the television network. Green Arrow while an active part of the last few seasons of Smallville, was essentially a way for the writers to use Batman without officially using Batman.

    In many ways, the same can be said of Arrow. It is impossible to deny that some of Arrow’s best moments aren’t plagiarizing Christopher Nolan. For most of the first season Arrow played very much the same tune as Batman Begins:

    • A young man of extreme privilege experiences a traumatic life event
    • This provides the motivation necessary to begin a journey to right a tragic wrong.
    • He spends a significant period away from home where he acquires the skills         necessary to embark on his mission.
    • He returns home a changed man but relies on his “playboy” image as a way to    disguise himself and protect those he loves from his mission of vengeance.
    • The ominous presence of the young man’s mentor hangs over him like a shadow until such time that the mentor reappears in the man’s life as his foe.

    Slade Wilson, who is basically the evil analog of Batman, was a clever choice to echo the role of Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins. Certainly if one Batman is good then two must be better! This Batman-lite formula can be traced through the other elements as well. Arrow’s version of Count Vertigo, a relatively laughable adversary with an inner-ear defect, become a more serious threat as a semi-convincing Joker* analog and the Huntress storyline was reminiscent of Bruce Wayne’s relationship with Selina Kyle.

    State v. Queen

    Felicity Smoak, a little known character usually associated with Firestorm, quickly became Arrow’s version of Barbara Gordon’s Oracle. Also, I’d be remiss if I left off Officer, formerly Detective, Lance acting in a very Jim Gordon-esque capacity. In many ways, Arrow was as close to Batman on television that a comic fan could get**. And as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    Hence my disbelief when I saw the Suicide Squad on television. Granted, the seeds were planted quite some time ago but “Suicide Squad” took it a new direction. That episode not only brought in, at best, a group of C-List villains but it actually pushed the titular character into the background. While I’m sure this story will ultimately feed back into Oliver’s character development, for most of 45 minutes audiences were watching a story about John Diggle leading a suicide mission with expendable assets, both from a plot perspective and in the case that the audience might not see them again.

    Arrow_Suicide_Squad

    This episode didn’t feel like there was a heavy corporate hand trying to sway the writers toward better known villains out of a concern for the bottom line. It also didn’t feel like it was a chance to shoehorn in some favorites to toss the proverbial bone to the fandom (eg. various episodes of Smallville, *cough* Absolute Justice). This goal of this episode seemed to be “tell an interesting story with characters from the Arrow universe.” It felt organic and internally consistent with the current storyline.

    I’m not saying that it was the finest 45 minutes of television I’ve ever seen, but I will argue that it was some of the most interesting, cohesive, storytelling I’ve seen from a DC/WB property in quite some time. And, perhaps most interesting, it was a story that didn’t feel like it was lifted in part, or whole, from Batman or Superman. Diggle, a character unique to the show, was the gateway into the story. The audience learned about Task Force X, ARGUS and Amanda Waller from Diggle’s perspective and history, as opposed to any presupposed foreknowledge of the characters. This trend looks to continue when the episode “Birds of Prey” airs, with the return of the Huntress and, possibly, putting Ollie’s story in the background as the female leads on the show take center stage.

    Arrow_Birds_Of_Prey

    I can’t help but think that whatever the WB is doing with the television shows is working, while each new announcement regarding upcoming movies makes me cringe. The TV shows seem to be willing take a leaps of faith and build on the formulas that worked in the past, as opposed to simply rehashing the same storyad nauseam. On the horizon there’s Gotham,arguably another Batman-lite project, but stepping outside a bit to focus on Jim Gordon.

    Arrow has provided a launching point for the forthcoming Flash series, the second such show but one that seems to be willing to go in new directions. In a recent interview showrunner Marc Guggenheim even noted that he’d love to spin-off a Huntress series. I’m sure the larger WB Entertainment juggernaut is looking at what Marvel has done with The Avengers and Agents of SHIELD and wanting to capitalize on their properties in a similar fashion. Time will tell if Marvel is ultimately successful in those endeavors, but right now it seems that the gulf between what is going on in the “DCU Television” and the “DCU Movies” is so large it can’t be bridged with a Cosmic Treadmill.

    Arrow_Hood

    * Unfortunately, I think Seth Gabel’s interpretation of the Count turned into a second-rate Heath Ledger impersonation, but I’m not sure I can fault the story for that.

    ** That is assuming that they’re not watching Person of Interest from Jonathon Nolan, which was has been on since well before Gotham was announced.

    (Visited 161 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    ArrowSean ReidSuicide Squad

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge 1.01 “What Lies Beneath”
    Next Advance Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
    Sean Reid
    Sean Reid is a lifelong comic fan and survivor of the 90's comic boom. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English which he somehow turned into a job as a web developer.  Follow him on Twitter @torchcodelab.

    Related Posts

    Crisis on Infinite Earths, Parts 4 and 5

    Shawn Hill
    Reviews
    January 21, 2020

    Lost in Translation 252: Comic Adaptations and Costumes

    Scott Delahunt
    Lost in Translation
    April 27, 2018

    Daily Top Ten

    • RS Grave SightsRegular Show: Fright Pack DVD Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • salo-headerSick Flix: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) by Corin Totin
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • superman-headerSuperman (2025) by Nate Zoebl
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • 80s-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1980-89 by Scott Delahunt
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • star-wars-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1970-79 by Scott Delahunt
    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • a-knights-tale-06Lost in Translation 407: A Knight’s Tale (2001) by Scott Delahunt
    • LastLovecraft-cthulhuThe Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009) by Alex Wolfe
    • 2001Lost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1960-69 by Scott Delahunt

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 483: One More Trailer

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a period piece set in the 60s, around the time the comic was first published.
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #FantasticFour #FantasticFourFirstSteps #MarvelStudios #MCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Superman (2025 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Superman (2025)

Superman is proof that the DC film universe might actually have the perfect person in charge of charting their cross-franchise courses.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#Superman #JamesGunn #DavidCorenswet #RachelBrosnahan #NicholasHoult #DC #DCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 482: Examining Recent Trailers

Two new trailers dropped that are of interest to Lost in Translation: Spaceballs 2 and The Naked Gun!
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Spaceballs2 #TheNakedGun #Trailers
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Final Destinat Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is a return to form for a franchise that never should have been on the brink of death.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#FinalDestination #FinalDestinationBloodlines #AdamBStein #ZachLipovsky #KaitlynSantaJuana #TonyTodd
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E29 - File Card Focus: Big Boa
 
Greg and Jaren return to take a hard look at Cobra’s one-man trainer: Big Boa! 
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod gang at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Cobra #BigBoa #FileCardFocus
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast: 28 Years Later

Paul and John are back with a new PSYCHO DRIVE-IN PODCAST with a brand-new review of 28 YEARS LATER plus a look back at the franchise, its themes, its innovations, and its impact on the genre!
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #28YearsLater #28WeeksLater #28DaysLater #DannyBoyle #AlexGarland #AlfieWilliams
 #AaronTaylorJohnson #JodieComer #RalphFiennes
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com From the World Today at https://psychodrivein.com

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

I can’t wait to see more Ballerina films. Seriously. I want one right now.

—

Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile 

#Ballerina #JohnWick #FromTheWorldOfJohnWickBallerina #AnaDeArmis #KeanuReeves #IanMcShane #AngelicaHuston #GabrielByrne #DavidCataneda #LenWiseman #ShayHatten #ChadStahelski #NormanReedus #LanceReddick
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel