Printable Version of Topic Click here to view this topic in its original format MZPtv Backstage > Nine Lives S1 > Nine Lives Posted by: Vaughn Mar 1 2011, 09:09 AM PITCH: http://www.mzp-tv.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3458.0 PILOT: http://www.mzp-tv.co.uk/pilots/ninelives.pdf Feel free to use our cut-out-and-keep guide to structure your thoughts. =============================================== =============================================== Story and Plotting : The Characters : Script Presentation/SPAG : Series Longevity/Originality (does it fit on MZP?): The Showrunner : THE VERDICT : APPROVED/RE-WRITE/REJECTED (delete as applicable) Now Say Why... : =============================================== =============================================== Posted by: reeamya Mar 5 2011, 12:41 PM Okie dokie. And here's my review. NINE LIVES Story and Plotting The story allows all the main characters great introductions and moments to shine. There are two engaging main threads here: The first has Selina Kyle injured during a robbery gone wrong and having to lay low as she recovers in the shady Stan’s brothel. While it’s homicide Detective Renee Montoya's first day in the Major Crime Unit in GCPD. She’s partnered with Sergeant Harvey Bullock and they start to investigate a brutal, ritualistic murder. It’s very well done how the two threads eventually intertwine, with Renee and Harvey crossing paths with Selina in the museum. Selina’s at the museum to steal something for her new “boss” Stan while Renee is staking out the place, hoping to catch the person behind the murders. And with Captain Jim Gordon handing over to Renee, a cold case about a spate of thefts and “to find this Catwoman” this provides an effective way to have Selina and Renee interact/cross paths in the future. The pacing of the piece cracks along nicely. It kept me interested and reading along. The pilot also provided a great introduction to the world the characters inhabit with the setting of Gotham evocatively described. As someone who knows only of the Batman universe and Cat woman via the movies and reputation, I never once felt lost or that I was missing backstory. I was able to follow along with the story without feeling baffled, which is a mark of great writing and an excellent adaptation of material. The only negative I have to say is that Selina’s voice over was not used effectively in the pilot. What seems to be the purpose for her voice over? It doesn’t really add all that much to proceedings. On page 1 Selina voice overs that she hates water and then her voice over disappears until page 24. Where suddenly she begins to voice over again which seems jarring, random and unnecessary. Burn Notice, Scrubs and How I met your Mother are all examples of how voice overs when used effectively become an integral part of the series. Here in Nine Lives, the voice over seemed ephemeral. The Characters All the characters come across strongly with even the smaller roles making an impression. Given that this series is an origin story for Cat Woman, the character of Selina Kyle features strongly, after all, this is her story. And from this first episode she makes a great first impression. She comes across as a complex, layered individual. Despite keeping people at a distance, she comes across as likeable. Her actions hinting that she actually cares under that tough exterior. There are tantalising hints to her past, for example in her reactions/knowledge of how to deal with junkies and drug overdoses, but thankfully we’re not bombarded with lots of backstory. Renee Montoya makes an equally strong impression on me. Her introduction, effortlessly using her duffel bag to take out a fleeing perp while trying to find the person she’s supposed to meet up with, is a classic. She comes across as likeable, smart, driven and principled. She’s a great counterpoint to Selina given that Renee had a more auspicious start to life. And given that she’s been handed the task “to catch this Catwoman” I can see these two just sparking off each other, when they cross paths again in the future. As both Selina and Renee are so strongly introduced, it makes it a shame that the third main, Holly Go Nightly is so under utilised. She’s introduced in a memorable way, with the drug OD but aside from helping Selina out for a little bit with the museum robbery she doesn’t get much to do. And in comparison to the other two hasn’t really made such a strong impression. Feeling more like a supporting character given that other characters, such as Harvey Bullock or Stan have more of an impact on the plot and/or their interactions with Selina this episode. However, given the emphasis is on introducing Selina and Renee and their two threads this is understandable. Script Presentation/SPAG The script is properly formatted as you’d expect from such an experienced writer like Lee. There were a handful of SPAG errors (spelling mistakes/ missing words) that another quick proof read could have picked up though. Another issue I noticed was that characters were inconsistently introduced. Some characters were introduced straight away but others were only given names after someone said their name. This happens with two of the main characters, Renee and Holly and also with Kai and the Sensai. In fact, in Renee Montoya’s introduction she is referred to as “WOMAN” on page 10. On page 12 the description suddenly reads, “Montoya casually retrieves her bag”. In the script, on page 12 Bullock then asks her if she is Montoya and the script then officially names her as ”RENEE MONTOYA”. Series Longevity/Originality Nine Lives has plenty of life in it (pardon the pun). There’s the potential to tell so many interesting stories involving Selina Kyle and Renee Montoya. Just a quick google search reveals oodles of material on both Catwoman and Renee Montoya for Lee to draw inspiration from. So I’m confident that this series could go far. And given all the interest in the ill-fated Bard Investigations, there’s a definite audience for more comic – verse inspired material. The Show runner Lee is a very experienced show runner. There’s not a doubt that he’s capable of running with this and managing his other commitments, if he got the green light. THE VERDICT APPROVED. The pilot was an enjoyable and entertaining introduction to the “Nine Lives” universe. I was impressed that is very accessible to people who know almost nothing about Catwoman. Importantly, it left me wanting more. Wanting to see more of these characters, wanting to find out more about what’s going on. The script isn’t a 100% perfect with occasional SPAG and an unnecessary voice over from Selina but all of this is minor, in that it doesn’t take away from the strength of the pilot. Posted by: Blackster Mar 13 2011, 09:07 PM Story and Plotting: I felt this was a little bit of a departure for Lee, really, and at times it showed. He toned down the sass and snark considerably in order to make this darker than SA or SiB, which he needed to do, but the plotting isn’t quite as airtight at times. After a blisteringly good first page which I expected would set the tone of the thing, it spends quite a chunk going nowhere quite fast. Far too many Sergeant/Diver or Cop/Cop#2 conversations in the first 20 pages and not nearly enough Selina. It felt slow too often, and while admittedly Lee sets up the character dynamics pretty well, it felt a bit of a disjointed piece. On the one hand, he wants to write Leverage – zipping around on breaking/entering missions, Parker-style, with nifty bits of tech. On the other, a Bat-verse version of a Shawn Ryan cop show, all dark murders and corrupt cops. It didn’t gel here for me and it slowed the story down. It just didn’t click when we got to Kai or Sensei or the rather sudden ‘Selina, this is your destiny’ ending. That really felt like Lee connecting dots without much in the way of working for it. The mid-section drags too, before we get Selina off on her mission to the gallery. I was surprised how uninvolved I felt here, when I expected a rip-roaring ride. I think that stems from a key issue with this. Lee has admitted he is taking plotlines and at times snatches of dialogue from his extensive Catwoman comic collection (because he’s not a lying plagiarist weirdo). He’s told me on countless car journeys where he’s taking things from, and the one thing I never said (because I was waiting for this pilot) is that I think essentially adapting these comics is A Bad Idea. Not the plagiarism issue, because he won’t do that, but how well do literal comic-to-TV or TV-to-comic adaptations generally work? Not much. Look at the clusterfuck that Heroes became by trying to be a comic book in TV form. In this case, Lee taking established Catwoman stories and converting them into script – which he’s by and large doing – means you can feel the dots being connected, how ‘this must happen here so THAT can happen’ and so forth, when really we should just get a starting point, the characters from the comics, and go completely fresh. I wouldn’t touch the comic plots AT ALL, bar using characters from them.