MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS As a person who'd read and greatly enjoyed the Painkiller Jane comic series, I was quite excited about this show. Sure, the comics themselves are trashy, a touch cliché – mainly a triumph of style over content – but hey, it's like Transformers, nobody watches it for the plot, do they? I was ready and prepared for a bit of shiny, mindless fun, but what emerged was generally a great disappointment.
Don't get me wrong, the reason I gave this a 4 rating is because some of the episodes are quite entertaining, but the whole thing is dragged down by mediocre acting talent, cardboard cut-out character development and a truly lamentable script. It's obvious that the budget is low too, but crummy special effects can often be forgiven if a show is well written. The plot contains only the vaguest references to the stories in the comics, something that surprised me given that Jane's co-creator Jimmy Palmiotti is producing and even directs episode 13.
The script mostly sounds like it was hastily scrawled on the back of a napkin by teenagers who are too lazy to do research and too immature to realise they're NOT being deep and meaningful. Jane's back story and the cause of her powers are changed (there were some discrepancies in the comics but the show changes it all for the worse, in my opinion) and none of the cool visual elements that made the comic so exciting are present at all – Jane's blood-red hair and skimpy wardrobe are gone, as are her endless supply of bandages, and her Batman-style quest for revenge against criminals is replaced by a sprawling, ill-conceived season arc about 'Neuros' – loosely-defined genetic mutants who can do "dangerous things with their minds".
These Neuros are clearly an excuse for the writers to do anything they want in each episode and offer very little in the way of explanation, and given that it's a show about a woman with mysterious regenerative capabilities, there's precious little opportunity given for Jane to demonstrate her talents, especially early on in the season. Kristanna Loken is definitely a saving grace for the show, she's the best actor in the ensemble and brings a wonderful androgyny to the role that is sadly very under developed, especially as Jane came out as bisexual in the comics. Again though, the obvious emotional torture that made comic book Jane so engaging is heavily watered down and becomes nothing more than a way for Loken to deliver a closing Desperate Housewives-style sum up of the 'issues' explored in each episode.
Overall, unless you've got a lot of time on your hands like I did at the time, it's probably one to avoid. Lovers of the comics will most likely be sorely disappointed, as I wouldn't say that it's even true its most basic elements. As a standalone TV series, there are episodes that almost work, so if you're desperate to try some out I'd got for 8, 10 or 14 as a taster.
Don't get me wrong, the reason I gave this a 4 rating is because some of the episodes are quite entertaining, but the whole thing is dragged down by mediocre acting talent, cardboard cut-out character development and a truly lamentable script. It's obvious that the budget is low too, but crummy special effects can often be forgiven if a show is well written. The plot contains only the vaguest references to the stories in the comics, something that surprised me given that Jane's co-creator Jimmy Palmiotti is producing and even directs episode 13.
The script mostly sounds like it was hastily scrawled on the back of a napkin by teenagers who are too lazy to do research and too immature to realise they're NOT being deep and meaningful. Jane's back story and the cause of her powers are changed (there were some discrepancies in the comics but the show changes it all for the worse, in my opinion) and none of the cool visual elements that made the comic so exciting are present at all – Jane's blood-red hair and skimpy wardrobe are gone, as are her endless supply of bandages, and her Batman-style quest for revenge against criminals is replaced by a sprawling, ill-conceived season arc about 'Neuros' – loosely-defined genetic mutants who can do "dangerous things with their minds".
These Neuros are clearly an excuse for the writers to do anything they want in each episode and offer very little in the way of explanation, and given that it's a show about a woman with mysterious regenerative capabilities, there's precious little opportunity given for Jane to demonstrate her talents, especially early on in the season. Kristanna Loken is definitely a saving grace for the show, she's the best actor in the ensemble and brings a wonderful androgyny to the role that is sadly very under developed, especially as Jane came out as bisexual in the comics. Again though, the obvious emotional torture that made comic book Jane so engaging is heavily watered down and becomes nothing more than a way for Loken to deliver a closing Desperate Housewives-style sum up of the 'issues' explored in each episode.
Overall, unless you've got a lot of time on your hands like I did at the time, it's probably one to avoid. Lovers of the comics will most likely be sorely disappointed, as I wouldn't say that it's even true its most basic elements. As a standalone TV series, there are episodes that almost work, so if you're desperate to try some out I'd got for 8, 10 or 14 as a taster.