Has new comic book adaptation Human Target already been dumbed down beyond recognition by Fox? The first review of the much-buzzed-about pilot for the series suggests so - and points the finger at Dollhouse as the reason why.
Reviewing the pilot for Bleeding Cool.com, screenwriter Adi Tantimedh has a less than positive take on what to expect from next fall's "bodyguard who stops at nothing to defend his client, even if it means taking on his life" drama... and he's looking to one of last year's new shows as a reason for his disappointment:
It's obvious Fox didn't want a situation worse than Dollhouse. The problem with Dollhouse was that there was no central character for viewers to identify and root for because the main character literally had no personality and the main actress would play a completely different person every week. If Human Target followed the comics, the hero, in impersonating his client, would end up being played by a different actor every week. So Christopher Chance [the show's lead character, played by Fringe's Mark Valley] merely goes undercover like any bodyguard and joins the staff or household of his client. Here he's a translator, where we're treated to some of the worst Japanese ever spoken by a white guy who only learned those lines a few weeks before production... It's utterly mediocre, composed entirely of clichés and parts cobbled together from other movies and served up in a slick, glib package that looks like it does the job but is only skin-deep. Which means it might actually be a hit for Fox. Who knows?
Other changes to the show include giving Chance a team of backroom back-up, including Pushing Daisies' Chi McBride and Watchmen's Jackie Earl Harley, and dialing back on the comic hero's psychosis from playing so many roles so often. More worryingly, though, is Tantimedh's mention of Tricia Helfer appearing in a geek-bait cameo role in the pilot... What do we have to do to get this woman a permanent gig somewhere that'll rely on her acting talents rather than asking her to show off and pout a lot?
Human Target premieres on Fox this fall.