Tim’s “OQ Chronicles” Review: Part 1
Hey everyone!!!
As most of you know, Smallville is in the midst of a hiatus break and new episodes are not airing on the CW. But in spite of the hiatus, those who are not Sprint Subscribers have the opportunity, via the official CW website, to watch the Oliver Queen Chronicles.
Click here to read Tim’s review of the first half of them!
This review was fun to do, as it was somewhat interesting to do, as this is not a full-blown episode of Smallville, as I usually do, but three little mini-episodes. So I will review each episode individually as they have appeared. I will then give my overall rating on the Chronicles thus far.
CHAPTER 1 – BROKEN ARROW
This episode was a good way to kick off the Chronicles. First off, the thing that I loved about this episode and about the Chronicles in general is how they have blended the classic origin story of the Green Arrow character, and given it a Smallville twist. Not only that, but they have also tied this classic story into the exisiting Smallville continuity. It takes place, pre-season one, circa 1989.
Another example of this is the introduction of Bridgette Crosby interacting with Oliver’s father, which I thought wasd a very nice touch. I also thought that the voice actress they got to play Bridgette sounded qa bit like Margot Kidder. There was even a mention of Virgil Swann himself.
The voice acting I thought was very well executed, as well as the music for the episode. Several music score-pieces reminded me of several early episodes of Smallville, so it was a nice touch.
The script for these Chronicles was also very great. The characters are very well fleshed out. Esp. the character of Mr. Queen (dunno the name of Oliver’s dad). I saw him as a nicer, more benevolent Lionel Luthor. He seemed to have that hostprical aspect that Lionel always seems to have on the show, but it was a nicer figure that Oliver could lean on than would Lex. Also, it proiveded very good foreshadowing, with the bow and arrow and such, and also it eneded on quite a note with the plane taking off while a mysterious someone had planted an explosive on the wing of the plane.
Very strong beginning to these Chronicles, and it left me wanting for more when I first watched it.
RATING:5/5
CHAPTER 2 – BON VOYAGE
This was another strong chapter in the Oliver Queen Chronicles. There was a bit of wrapping up to what happened at the end of the first chapter, with the plane’s wing blowing up, and the plane plummeting into the sea.
One thing that really grabbed my attention was the note that Mrs. Queen was writing to Oliver. We know that Oliver is heading to that island sometime, so will he end up finding this note left him to by his mother? Who knows? We’ll hafta keep watching weekly to find out.
One thing that they did for this episode that really made me smile was after the plane fell into the sea, they transitioned into that first shot they we ever saw in Smallville, that hinted at Oliver’s place in Smallville continuity, and they even added that scene with Lionel talking to Lex in the chopper, taking us back to that first episode of Smallville we watched. Anyways, it was a nice thing.
Then we jumped nine years to when Oliver graduated from Excelsior Prep. This showed him headin off on his infamous boat trip to say “goodbye,” which I never understood what that meant.
SO this was a good episode. A few wrap-ups and some transitions into the next episode, but also very enjoyable. This Oliver Queen Chronicles are shaping up to be pretty good.
RATING:5/5
CHAPTER 3: BETRAYAL
Here is where the Oliver Queen Chronicles’ story starts to kick off. I say that as this is what begins of what is typically known of the Green Arrow origin story. What happened on that infamous boating trip . . .
I am not familiar with the official origin of the Green Arrow so iof there was really was a hit and run attempt on Oliver Queen liek there was in this webisode, then all power to them. But I thought this was a very nice way to run things to get Oliver Queen on that island.
This whole incident involving the assassination attempt on the boat also made me wonder. Was this whole thing set up by the same guys who set up the explosion on Oliver’s parents’ jet? Interesting . . .
But this webisode, like the ones before it, was very well executed. It was different from the other ones, as it was very action-packed, and had a foreboding kind of feeling at the end, as it lead directly to the island, which we know will have a great impact on the character of Oliver Queen.
RATING: 5/5
OVERVIEW:
So what a way to end the first half of the Oliver Queen Chronicles. I thought these Chronicles were very well-done. They are interesting to watch, and I am excited to see where these Chronicles will lead in to, by their ending. I am very exciting to see where they will head to.
The voice acting is superb on this, script very well-written, and fairly well-amimated. These online webisodes continue in the fashion of the Chloe Chronicles and Vengeance Chronicles by giving fans their Smallville fix when hiatus time comes around. Now we’re only in part 3 of the Chronicles now. Will the Smallville people stop airing the Chronicles once Smallville returns and continue when they go on hiatus again? I for one hope not, but I don’t think they’ll do that, but who knows?
OVERALL RATING:5/5
PS Stay tuned later this week for my review of the Smallville episode, Promise.
I watched them last night in a bout of insomnia. I liked them. The animation style is pretty interesting. Some parts are better than others. It looks like they did a combo of liveaction actors, old clips from Smallville, and then made ’skins’ like you would on the SIMS game or something and then did the rest of the animation. I am curious to see the next behind the scenes episode to learn the actual technique. I do like the look of it though…i like the dark shadows around the edges and the characters designs and voices were good. I loved the way they tied in Smallville to the Queen backstory both in the helicopter flashback and the graduation day at the academy. Looking forward to more of these. Would lvoe to see these for some of the other characters as well.
-Aly