Comic Con - Reviews are in CW's 'Arrow'

So what did the Comic-Con masses think of The CW’s Arrow?

Based on DC Comic’s Green Arrow, the new fall action-drama’s pilot seems ready-made for the fan event. The pilot just screened in Ballroom 20 and fans…

Pretty much loved it. The crowd not only applauded at the end of the episode, they applauded following a particularly intense fight scene. “It was fantastic,” says Gabi, 35, visiting from England. Gabi enthused about star Stephen Amell despite having also loved Smallville‘s Green Arrow played by Justin Hartley. “[Amell's] really physical and his acting is great.”

“I really liked it; it had really good production values,” says Jamie, 45, who watched the pilot along with Gabriel, 12, who added: “It was really cool; it really kept you into it.”

“I don’t watch much TV, but I would watch this,” says Carissa, 22, from Paso Robles, California.

Starring Amell as billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, the fast-paced origin story plays a bit like a TV-sized Batman Begins. Unlike The Dark Knight, however, this hero uses lethal force (a good thing — aiming arrows at bad guys’ legs every week would get silly pretty quick). The pilot also manages to tell a pretty ambitious story on a small-screen budget (some CGI-aided scenes involving a yacht at sea look a million times better than last year’s infamous Ringer pilot boat scene).

“It feels like a continuation of Smallville, only darker, it was really good,” says Alex, 22, from San Diego.

A joke about the ending of ABC’s Lost went over particularly well in the room. So did this exchange where Queen — newly rescued after spending years isolated on an island — is told that a potential dating prospect “looks like the girl from Twilight.”

“What’s Twilight?” Queen asks.

“You’re so better off not knowing,” his friend replies.

Shelby, 25, from Arkansas, says she really enjoyed Arrow, though had a slight criticism. “It was action packed, but if I’m being honest, it was just a tiny bit cheesy,” she says. Sounding just like an industry insider, Shelby then added: “I’m pretty sure it was just the pilot working the kinks out.”