NBC is rebooting “Heroes” with a whole new cast apart from Jack Coleman, who plays Noah Bennet, and a few guest appearances. “Heroes Reborn” is a 13 episode miniseries that has a completely new story arc that occurs after the events of its predecessor.
I’m pleasantly surprised by the new show. The premise remains the same with people figuring out how to deal with their superpowers that were a result of genetic mutations.
Bennet searches for information about a secret organization that hunts people with superpowers while dealing with targeted amnesia around a specific date. Corporate espionage is still prevalent in the reboot but the story focuses more on guerrilla warfare where people hide in the shadows or kidnap mutants.
One character is a Japanese girl that has a crazy ability that which lets her enter video games when she unsheathes a katana. The problem was that when she used the sword, the show turns into a bad version of computer graphics similar to “Code Lyoko.” I was almost upset that this would be a significant portion of the series until the main antagonist takes her sword away. I felt that it was a convenient plot point that allowed me to save my eyesight and the producer’s money from being siphoned by an expensive special effects budget.
The Japanese girl also has a gamer sidekick that joins her on an adventure to find the sword in America much like Hiro and Ando’s adventure from the previous series. This is the only parallel plot compared to the previous show but I don’t mind it too much because the shots and cinematography are actually quite mesmerizing.
Another character is a Mexican war hero that is forced to continue his brother’s legacy as “El Vengador,” a vigilante that protects his community and runs around in a luchador mask. I’m not sure how I feel about this storyline where people are run through an underground railroad for mutants. I think that the motivations are sometimes silly.
I really like how the sets in some scenes are designed such as the office of the main antagonist, where with crazy multi-colored carpeting lights up the shot, or in a fake optometrists office, where brilliantly beige office equipment with western themed art and wallpaper matches the gleam of a magnum revolver staring at the camera. The show plays well with lighting too. The shots are not afraid to go dark to show the contour of people’s bodies especially when the scenes get grim or mysterious.
However, despite some of the silly stories occurring, I’m interested in the overall plot of the new series. The Renautas corporation managed to weaponize mutant powers that let them track and locate mutants along with other scary experiments. There are plenty of back stabs and strange premonitions to keep me curious and unusual scenes to keep me entertained like assassins catching secret employees on coffee breaks.
I’m decently satisfied with the show so far but am still suspicious that the reboot might follow the same veain as the original “Heroes.” It could get easily get too complicated and issues could remained unsolved to the point of canceling the series.