Following in the underwhelming footsteps of Marvel hourlongs like “The Defenders” and “The Inhumans,” Fox’s generic and yappy superhero show “The Gifted” comes to us from writer-producer Matt Nix, who also created 2015’s short-lived Billy Crystal sitcom “The Comedians,” 2015’s short-lived Jason O’Mara drama “Complications,” 2010’s short-lived Bradley Whitford hourlong “The Good Guys,” 2017’s short-lived Justin Kirk drama “APB,” and USA’s long-running “Burn Notice.”
Bryan Singer, who directed four X-Men movies (some of them quite wonderful), brings little to none of his witty visual flair to the “Gifted” pilot, which follows superpowered mutants trying to evade government authorities following the disappearance of The X-Men.
None of the characters make much of an impression despite the accomplished cast embodying them, including Stephen Moyer (“True Blood”) and an unusually blonde Amy Acker (“Angel,” “Dollhouse”) as the concerned non-powered parents of two mutant teens, Paul Redford as John “Thunderbird” Proudstar, Jamie Chung (Valerie Vale in “Gotham”) as teleporter Clarice “Blink” Ferguson, Natalie Alyn Lind (Silver St. Cloud in “Gotham”) as telekinetic teen Lauren Strucker and Emma Dumont (“Bunheads,” “Aquarius”) as Lorna “Polaris” Dane.
A Blink played by Fan Bingbing already appeared in 2014’s excellent “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” In the comics Polaris is the daughter of supervillain Erik Lehnsherr and has inherited his magnetic superpowers.
... stays within its limits, and looks like a solid time-passer in the CW mold. …
... There are certainly plot points that seem insufficiently thought through. But the actors -- including Sean Teale, Jamie Chung, Emma Dumont and Blair Redford as the mutant resistance -- give a good account of themselves. …
… surprisingly just as good as any other comic-book inspired show on network television. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The show, created by Matt Nix, is hampered by a sometimes laughably bad script and second-rate special effects, not to mention the predictability of the story line. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... The original “X-Men” film trilogy with its myriad characters and school setting always seemed like it might work better on television in a serialized format than in the movies. But the “X-Men” universe TV show we’re getting seems like it will be more of an on-the-run show, which is inherently redundant and less appealing. …
... The family dynamics are pretty banal despite a solid cast …
... a gripping and savvy series that carves out its own space in the cluttered comic-book TV landscape. …
… tepid ... “The Gifted” struggles to find any of the wonder in their gifts. In what seems to be a misguided attempt to look “serious,” “The Gifted” is a gray, humorless hour oriented towards cheap-looking action sequences.…
9 p.m. Monday. Fox.
