Why ‘Heroes’ Is Better Than Any Movie(s)
Heroes: the show that came out of nowhere has gained huge popularity on NBC based on a comic book-style narration… even with non-geeks. It’s better than any other action/drama TV series (past and present), and is better than any movie series (even those based on comic books) will be.
Length/Continuity
Movies typically adhere to the standard format: intro, body, and conclusion. Even if room is left for a sequel, almost all of the storylines are completed and tied together by the end of the 2-3 hour saga. Heroes doesn’t do that.
Season 1 was considerably longer than a movie, and even if Season 2 is cut short due to the awesome strike, it will be as well. Why is this important? Having a huge amount of time to tell your story, as long as it’s a good one, benefits everyone. Plus, when you don’t have to fit an entire story (including a “happy ending”) into a specific amount of time… that leaves many options open.
It’s the reason some people get up in the morning.
Characters
Heroes, as I mentioned before, is in the style of a comic book. For the uninitiated, this means that there are many characters being dealt with throughout the long and twisted plot, any of which may become the focus for any amount of time… or the writers may decide to bounce back-and-forth in tandem between a handful.
Movies don’t do this. There’s really no reason I can think of as to why, other than it’s the way things have always been done, and it’s a proven format. God forbid you do something new. Even the Spiderman movies predominantly follow one character (Peter Parker/Spiderman).
Reading… But Better
What it comes down to is that Heroes is like reading your favorite SciFi books or comic books, but with much more action and realism than you could ever make up in your head. George Lucas understood this when he made the Star Wars movies: a continuing story without a specific end is very attractive. It leaves the viewer wanting more.
All your base are belong to us.
Heroes will eventually have to end, since NBC cancels all the good shows anyways (The Black Donnelly’s anyone?), but all signs point to this lasting at least a few more seasons.
Character Types
All the other factors aside, there is one overwhelmingly important piece that makes the show so successful: the characters themselves. Whether or not the viewer likes certain characters, each one is realistic and true-to-life (as much as such themes of superpowers allow). The world is believable, as it is, for all intents and purposes, our world.
Every small boy (and maybe some girls?) wishes at one point that they have superpowers… there’s some people who don’t grow out of this. The idea that “average people” wake up one day and have powers, and apply them to a good vs. evil battle in a world much like ours, speaks to that same part of us.
Don’t Be Like Lost
For all it’s strengths, many viewers think the first half of this season was fumbled: tangential stories about Claire’s love-life, a multi-episode journey into ancient Japan… it wasn’t what was expected. But the writers apparently knew what they were doing, because with that slow setup, the series stands to have some of the greatest episodes yet.
It’s just not the same…
I hope that Heroes doesn’t turn into Lost…. I was a big fan until I got tired of all the boring drama/inaction and random nonsense. So far, we’ve seen a good tie-in of all the characters and plots, even if they don’t have definitive beginnings and ends.
Let’s keep it that way, and without any mechanical-but-alien-and-smoke monsters.
