Peacemaker - HBO Max DC Series

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Tor Lugosi

Tor Lugosi

Hello, this is Carlton your doorman.
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Jan 30, 2018
They released the first three episodes today for the premiere.

It was entertaining, though so far it isn't really impressing me. Peacemaker doesn't come across as very capable or threatening, especially compared to how he was presented in Suicide Squad. The blonde chick is a miserable, unlikable girl boss and it begs the question as to why, if she's so capable and bad ass, they're not just using her to take out targets. The subplot with Peacemaker's father getting locked up is really convoluted and stupid (and could've easily been salvaged by making the whole thing done on purpose to get better control over Peacemaker).

I'm also not sure why they didn't just release the whole season given that it's only 8 episodes and they've already put up 3.
 
Being completely honest, Peacemaker in Suicide Squad is the most I have ever enjoyed John Cena. Watching him in wrestling, he drove me insane with his repetitive bullshit and actually made me Anti-WWE in the process. But in Suicide Squad, he was pretty good!

However, I have had enough of John Cena for one lifetime, and I have no desire to watch an entire show starring him.
 
Watched the first two episodes, the first episode moved pretty slowly but 2 was a lot of fun and it feels like the actors are getting used to their roles.

This to me feels like DC's answer to Deadpool, which I approve of because why wouldn't I enjoy edgy capeshit? John Xina really does a great job playing a piece of shit loser. Also so far I think the show has done a solid job of having Peacemaker's father be a bastard white supremacist (the real kind from yesteryear, not the retard E-Celebs) without having some obnoxious voice of reason state the obvious.

The only thing that makes me sad is realizing that Robert Patrick got fucking old... I'm glad he's getting work. I even liked his run on The X-Files.
 
Watched the first three episodes as was killing time. And I think unless you are bored and lack the will to do something actually productive, that's the best use of it.

On the plus side John Cena is semi-likeable in it. (And you said he couldn't act). The fat girl is likeable, despite that the character seems to be more a checklist of Diversity points than actual individual. Credit to the actress. In fact, it's kind of a problem because hers and John Cena's characters have way more chemistry together than she does with the actress playing her wife. If Peacemaker and Leota (her character) hooked up I would continue watching this show. But there's a near zero chance they do that. Shame. I guess production values are okay.

Now the negatives - obviously just my point of view.

  • Why is Pacemaker so less capable than in the movie? His depowering as he injures himself from balcony jump to balcony jump is only the most convenient example. Generally he's just fairly useless and like @Tor Lugosi noted - why is he even needed when they have Harcourt who is not only massively capable at the same stuff but more willing to kill the targets than he is? She also doesn't have all the rogue, erratic behaviour he does. All round, the team would be more effective without him on it so fundamentally it doesn't make sense.
  • Harcourt is obnoxious. Presumably we're meant to sympathise with her but all I see when some guy tries to chat her up at the bar is a woman who massively insults him sending him running; and then when his buddy comes to demand to know what she said to him she breaks his arm and beats him up. For context, she has gone there, alone, sitting at the bar drinking by herself. If you want to drink and be alone, why don't you drink at home? Bars are for socializing. At the least don't crush the ego of any guy who dares to think you might be in his league. Later on, she seems alright with assassination. I've seen no reason so far why I should like her.
  • Why are 4/5 people in prison White? Just in general there's a lot of narrative pushing in this show - like the janitor explaining that there are fewer White people in prison because they aren't looked at as closely by police. That's a lie. Also contradicted in the show itself by aforementioned prison population being 80% White. This show can't keep its narratives straight. Also, all Black prisoners are either angelic youths or Wise Old Black Men. Just take this bullet point as representative of the show's general message pushing.
  • I do not want close up photographs of vaginas to be normalized on mainstream TV.
  • The humour of the show is exceedingly basic. Things like Leota accidentally bringing up a photograph of her partner's vagina in a slideshow; a villain(?) torturing Peacemaker by inflicting pain on another person - the joke being Peacemaker's stoic refusal to give into it. Generally it's all derived from crudity and people being comically inept. This contributes to the basic flaws of the show as Harcourt repeatedly mocks Peacemaker's ineptitude making you wonder why he's there. (And why he's so much less competent than in the movie). I don't ask that the show be Frasier but can we have at least a little wit mixed in with the bathos?
  • Just a general lack of reason for me to invest in any of these characters except Peacemaker himself and Leota. It's not a problem that a show has unlikeable people in it; unless the show doesn't realize they are unlikeable. As in this case. Perhaps I'm underestimating the writers and it's a deliberate attempt to make Peacemaker more sympathetic to me. Something along the lines of trying to make me think: 'well, he kills people for an undemocratic secret organization but... he's not these other guys'.
I'm slight obsessive about completing things so I may watch more; but I can't recommend it.
 
Overly Serious said:
Harcourt who is not only massively capable at the same stuff but more willing to kill the targets than he is?
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I really thought they were going to show that she didn't have it in her to pull the trigger, which is why they needed Peacemaker, but no, she had no problem killing the security guard and didn't hesitate at all. It's a really bizarre writing decision to not only constantly shit on your protagonist but also constantly show that he's really not necessary for the plot. I wonder if Harcourt's actress being James Gunn's current girlfriend has anything to do with it.

John Cena is definitely carrying the show right now. Leota's actress definitely saves the character, who is only really interesting due to her connection to Waller.
 
Tor Lugosi said:
I really thought they were going to show that she didn't have it in her to pull the trigger, which is why they needed Peacemaker, but no, she had no problem killing the security guard and didn't hesitate at all. It's a really bizarre writing decision to not only constantly shit on your protagonist but also constantly show that he's really not necessary for the plot.
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They're government agents and really not supposed to be going around committing extrajudicial murders. He's a convicted felon and supposed to be a deniable and expendable asset, he's meant to be pulling the trigger so they can keep their hands clean. The fact that he can't even do that now is kind of the whole premise of the show.
As for why he seems to be less capable compared to the movie, remember how that ended with him getting beaten, shot and having a building dropped on him? He's only just gotten out of the hospital and he's just a regular guy with a bedpan on his head, not Superman. He's physically, and mentally, broken.
 
I hate shows that are titled after their protagonist but focus on the ensemble. Arrow was good then they kept adding team characters, same with Flash.

His sudden incompetence is just used as a justification to have a team. A basic formula where the core of the show is just the protagonist, a buddy and a mentor would work way better.

Don't get me wrong, the character is growing on me but the entire team dynamic is just awkward.
 
Goodbye Horses said:
They're government agents and really not supposed to be going around committing extrajudicial murders. He's a convicted felon and supposed to be a deniable and expendable asset, he's meant to be pulling the trigger so they can keep their hands clean. The fact that he can't even do that now is kind of the whole premise of the show.
As for why he seems to be less capable compared to the movie, remember how that ended with him getting beaten, shot and having a building dropped on him? He's only just gotten out of the hospital and he's just a regular guy with a bedpan on his head, not Superman. He's physically, and mentally, broken.
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Okay, that's a good explanation for why they need him. But (a) they really needed to make that clearer as it's not going to occur to a lot of people. Particularly as (b) the government agents are killing people anyway.

As regards the de-powering, they mention his broken clavicle in the opening scene and tell him not to lift his arm above his head but really it goes beyond this. In that scene in the movie where he's competing with not-Deadshot, he's a one man army. I'm not a huge fan of the "elite training makes me unstoppable" conceit of some comics characters but if it's established then they need to stick with it.

I did miss one positive from my list though. I like the weird dance opening they do at the start.
 
Goodbye Horses said:
They're government agents and really not supposed to be going around committing extrajudicial murders. He's a convicted felon and supposed to be a deniable and expendable asset, he's meant to be pulling the trigger so they can keep their hands clean.
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The agents have already killed two people, attacked law enforcement, and tampered with evidence & witnesses which led to a US citizen being wrongfully imprisoned. Harcourt killing that security guard shows that they don't care about dropping bodies or who pulls the trigger.

The fact that he can't even do that now is kind of the whole premise of the show.
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Doesn't change the fact that he's still an active detriment to the team and so far they'd very obviously be better off without him. All I'm asking for here is that they give an actual reason as to why he was selected for this mission. Hell, even just something like "It's not you but your father's tech that we're interested in." would be enough.

EDIT: To clarify, I like John Cena in the show, Peacemaker's character arc so far, Leota, and the butterfly plot, but I feel like the setup could have been much stronger. Even a dumb comic book-y plot point like the butterflies can't take over people with a certain blood type, thus giving them a very limited talent pool to draw from, could've worked.
 
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I questioned his reduced capabilities as well. It might just be their way of making him a more sympathetic protagonist which would be unfortunately lazy writing. The other possibilities are his injury holding him back but also in the third episode they showed he is struggling with some sort of trauma and questioning his "peace at any cost" motives which could be throwing him off. My guess is the plan is for him to change his ways and become a "true" hero and that's when he will be back at full capability.
 
I watched the first episode and will not watch anymore. The show is basically a checklist of politics and diversity point.
Black lesbian couple: Check
White racist men: Check
White hero made to look dumb as fuck: Check
Not-so subtle rants about racism and police: Check!
Lead character fucks a tranny and can't tell the difference: Check!
It's basically the Twitter superhero movie.
 
Peacemaker doesn't come across as very capable or threatening, especially compared to how he was presented in Suicide Squad.
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This was my problem with the trailers. In the movie he's a slightly corny but otherwise completely normal behaving alpha/jock/whatever. In this he seems like he's half a retard. It strikes me as back in the 80's and 90's when an "adult" character would get a cartoon and need to be toned down drastically.
 
Cardenio said:
Was that some joke with the arguing couple that Xina ties up? She looked like a frumpy woman to me.
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I think they just thought the woman from the bar was going to turn out to be a dude. It was certainly looking that way as it's exactly the sort of humiliate-the-white-male comedy this show is going for and there were lots of careful camera angles such as a lamp placed directly in front of her crotch when she's standing face on. Also, her face was a bit weird. Things like that.
 
Overly Serious said:
I think they just thought the woman from the bar was going to turn out to be a dude. It was certainly looking that way as it's exactly the sort of humiliate-the-white-male comedy this show is going for and there were lots of careful camera angles such as a lamp placed directly in front of her crotch when she's standing face on. Also, her face was a bit weird. Things like that.
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Yea, they were setting it up to be an Asian ladyboy type thing.
 
The Valeyard said:
Screen Rant has deemed Peacemaker problematic.

TL;DR The conspiracy theory from the Alex Jones parody seen on TV in the first episode is shown to be correct in the third episode and that’s a problem.
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You can't please these cunts, and Jame Gunn and the crew of faggots who wrote this Twitter checkbox diveristy show should have known better. They will ALWAYS find something to moan about because that's where their patreon $$$ comes from.
Now we have a shit show that worries more about the stresses of being an overweight fat black lesbian, rather than an autistic dumb superhero who does entertaining wacky stuff.
 
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