Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Review Roundup: What Did The Critics Think? Not Exactly Super

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Review Roundup: “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” the new superhero series from Joss Wheedon premiered last night on ABC to mixed reviews.

“Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” is the first TV property from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which includes comic books and huge summer movies, like the one “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” is based on, which made $1.5 billion at the box office. Yes. That’s Billion with a B.

 “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” takes up where “Marvel’s The Avengers,” left off.

The New York Times says “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” has action, but no superhero. The New York Times review says “Marvel's Agents of SHIELD” looks tiny compared to the movies. It’s sleek, “polished and fast moving” sure, but “there’s still an inevitable residue of disappointment.” Reviewer Mike Hale says the “series doesn’t demonstrate the imagination or verve it needs to break its comic-book narrative out of the bonds of budget and weekly format.” He says Clark Gregg who plays Agent Phil Coulson “hits the same appealing note of wry authority that he struck in `The Avengers’” but we don’t know if he can do anything else. The New York Times concludes with “The first week’s adventure feels perfunctory, though, even given the constraint of introducing characters and back story, and most of the team members are still strictly two-dimensional.”

Slate Magazine’s review of “Marvel's Agents of SHIELD” says “it’s not super, in more ways than one.” Slate points out that “The Avengers” was the third biggest movie since like every but “The series is as dull, small-minded, and mercenary as its cinematic progenitor was entertaining, attention deficit-proof, and mercenary, but it has a built-in audience. What’s that on your TV? Not a bird or a plane, but a canny cash grab.”

Variety says “Get past the show’s parentage and Disney’s synergistic presence, however, and “Agents of SHIELD” resembles any number of other series from the past built around crack teams charged with facing down fantastic threats — from “The Man From UNCLE” to “The X-Files” to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s” Scooby gang — albeit with a souped-up level of hardware.”
You can’t put too much into a pilot of any show, “Marvel's Agents of SHIELD” has room to grow.

The New York Daily News says "Purely as action-adventure, however, something the most unschooled civilian can punch up on the TV screen, "S.H.I.E.L.D." is rip-roaring good fun."

Marc Buxton of Den of Geek US says "The show feels like a Marvel Comics story: snappy and fantastic characters with human foibles, an indulgence in gadgets, a devotion to past history and continuity...all the elements that have made Marvel special in comics and on film are here. One of the elements that old time fans will appreciate the most is the sense that SHIELD has existed for a while, that it has a history.” And concludes “It can build its own world of rich characters centered on a world of super-powered espionage, but it can also add richness and flavor to the film universe. It is the beginning of a new era for Marvel and fans should welcome it. Judging by the buzz leading up to the premiere of Agents of SHIELD...we already have.”

The Escapist says “Marvel's Agents of SHIELD” is “a sharp, funny show with a breezy pace, a promising cast of characters and the kind of clever (though, yes, a little too impressed with its own cleverness) scripting one expects from a Joss Whedon production. The question, as ever, isn't whether it's good but whether it's good enough.”

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