Rating: 2/5 – Too Heavy To Fly
The Movement’s basic premise is that there is a section of a city gone wrong and a rag tag bunch of characters try to inspire the citizenry by their actions. While the high concept works, generally speaking, the execution is a bit flawed. Instead of using a scalpel to slice her vision into the book, writer Gail Simone uses a chainsaw which results in clunky, preachy, dialogue and underdeveloped characters.
Katharsis, one of the lead characters has a very interesting back story (which I only found out about by searching online). In the actual pages of the series she lacks the depth to make the reader care about her or her unfortunate plight. When Katharsis is captured and brutally beaten the truly exceptional art by Freddie Williams II makes every punch feel real.
If more time had spent developing Katharsis maybe the scene would have carried a much more emotional impact. Instead of feeling bad for her we feel bad for what is happening to her.
In between the moments of overwritten and preachy dialogue, Simone attempts comic relief with the character Mouse. This attempt at humor often falls flat. Even worse it breaks up the flow what otherwise was a very compelling and dramatic scene.
In order to have a great conflict you need an enthralling villain. In the series it is clear that the police department is clearly corrupt and ineffective. There are no shades of grey that would really make the story all the more interesting. Additionally, the main antagonist is the epitome of the one-note mustache twirling villain. At one point he even snarls “Look at her. An immigrant. Probably an illegal”. Instead of making the villain seem truly reprehensible, it just made him seem pathetic instead.
What frustrates me as a reader is I know that his book could easily be a 5 star book. The elements are there to make it something truly special. The series seems like it wants to be a combination of The Secret Six and Brian Michael Bendis’ Scarlet. The problem is that it lacks the heart of either book. It feels rushed like Simone knows she only has a few issues before it gets cancelled and she wants to get her treatise across at the expense of character and plot development.
Simone is an excellent writer and her work in other series has been nothing less than outstanding.in this series she just seems to be missing the mark.
I’ll keep reading The Movement for the rest of the run because Simone has earned my trust with her previous work and I am hopeful she can turn it around from near misses and ineffective humor to the compelling social narrative that lies underneath.
Reviewed by: Hank Johnson – hank@comicspectrum.com
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