A review of 'Peacemaker': The series never quite hits the right tone

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A review of 'Peacemaker': The series never quite hits the right tone

Transcript¹

The new HBO Max show Peacemaker — about the DC Comics character of the same name — picks up where the film Suicide Squad² left off. Is it a show you'll want to watch?

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

John Cena's character from the recent "Suicide Squad" movie now has his own series in HBO Max's "Peacemaker." NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says unlike Marvel's recent success in bringing superheroes to streaming, the effort with DC Comics' character Peacemaker rarely hits the mark.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE³: One of the more irritating things about HBO Max's "Peacemaker" is how the show works so hard to explain itself without actually looking like it's explaining itself. Consider this argument between John Cena's character, Peacemaker, and a hospital janitor⁴ where the janitor insists real superheroes don't have Cena's pro⁵ wrestling-style hulking physique.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEACEMAKER")

JOHN CENA: (As Peacemaker) Yeah.

RIZWAN MANJI: (As Jamil) You're kind of bulky to be a superhero.

CENA: (As Peacemaker) F*** - what do you mean bulky?

MANJI: (As Jamil) Most superheroes have a gymnast body. They are ready to go.

CENA: (As Peacemaker) I'm ready to go.

MANJI: (As Jamil) What superhero are you?

CENA: (As Peacemaker) Peacemaker. You a fan?

MANJI: (As Jamil) There is no superhero called Peacemaker.

CENA: (As Peacemaker) Dude, I'm famous.

MANJI: (As Jamil) Not that famous. Aquaman, he's famous.

DEGGANS: Or the moment when Peacemaker explains why he wears a colorful costume while conducting covert⁶ missions for the U.S. government.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEACEMAKER")

STEVE AGEE: (As John Economos) Maybe I'm stupid, but why would you even want to wear that on a mission? A bright red shirt and white pants aren't exactly conducive⁷ to lurking⁸ in the shadows.

CENA: (As Peacemaker) People see this uniform, it strikes fear in their hearts.

JENNIFER HOLLAND: (As Emilia Harcourt) What people? The other people at the Village People tryouts?

DEGGANS: Those who saw last year's "Suicide Squad" movie met Cena's Peacemaker, a thick-headed weapons specialist and expert fighter willing to use any level of violence to bring peace - kind of like a brutal⁹, jerky Captain America. Imprisoned¹⁰ by the government, he joined the Suicide Squad to work off his sentence. In the film, written and directed by James Gunn, Peacemaker was shot and severely¹¹ wounded after killing¹² another member of the squad named Rick Flag. In HBO Max's series, Peacemaker recovers and sneaks¹³ out of the hospital, only to be confronted by another covert government-run strike team pressuring him to join their shadowy mission.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEACEMAKER")

CHUKWUDI IWUJI: (As Clemson Murn) You only served four years of your 30-year sentence. And you thought we were just going to let you go scot-free?

CENA: (As Peacemaker) Yeah. I killed Rick Flag for you people.

HOLLAND: (As Emilia Harcourt) No one ever told you to kill Flag.

CENA: (As Peacemaker) Made the only choice I could.

HOLLAND: (As Emilia Harcourt) Funny for you how often the only choice in killing people coincides.

DEGGANS: Unfortunately, Gunn, who created the HBO Max series, wrote all its scripts and directed most of the episodes, didn't quite nail the balance of humor and clueless cruelty that made the movie work a bit better. Instead, characters here come off as annoyingly stupid, and the series is too self-conscious about its own R-rated absurdity¹⁴ to find the right tone. The show also has to spend a lot of energy transitioning Cena's character from a rigid¹⁵, psychopathic jerk to a more empathetic antihero. He's supposed to be something of an avatar for the excesses of unbridled jingoism¹⁶, but the character is such a cartoon, introspective scenes like this one fall a little flat.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEACEMAKER")

CENA: (As Peacemaker) I used to think God put me here for a purpose, for peace. I know I said I didn't care how many people I needed to torture or kill to get it, but - I don't know. I'm having feelings about things.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DO YOU WANNA TASTE IT")

WIG¹⁷ WAM: (Singing) Do you really wanna, do you really wanna taste it.

DEGGANS: Even the needle drops like this cut from Norwegian rockers Wig Wam, which is the show's theme song, don't quite have the cool cachet of the classic rock tracks the director used in his "Guardians¹⁸ Of The Galaxy¹⁹" movies. Now, there's good things about this series, including Robert Patrick, who plays Peacemaker's father and racist²⁰ supervillain The White Dragon, and Cena himself, who throws his considerable charisma²¹ into trying to make even the silliest parts of this saga²² work. But too much of this series feels like a pastiche²³ of tricks Gunn has used to better effect in his superhero movies. "Peacemaker" has a handful of great ideas but winds up shooting too many blanks to sustain a series. I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DO YOU WANNA TASTE IT")

WIG WAM: (Singing) Baby, you're losing ground, blind to what you'll soon become, the mirror lies, the whole...

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 janitor   

n.看门人，管门人

参考例句：

• The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
• The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

5 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

6 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

7 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

8 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

10 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 sneaks   

abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• Typhoid fever sneaks in when sanitation fails. 环境卫生搞不好，伤寒就会乘虚而入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Honest boys scorn sneaks and liars. 诚实的人看不起狡诈和撒谎的人。 来自辞典例句

14 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

15 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

16 jingoism   

n.极端之爱国主义

参考例句：

• They have stripped the veneer of jingoism from the play,by showing war in its true horror.他们剥除了极端爱国主义的外衣，在剧中展示了战争恐怖的实质。
• Patriotism can turn into jingoism very quickly.爱国主义可以很快转变为沙文主义。

17 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

18 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

19 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

20 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

21 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

22 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

23 pastiche   

n.模仿 ； 混成

参考例句：

• He has a gift for pastiche.他有模仿他人作品的天赋。Peter Baker's bathroom is a brilliant pastiche of expensive interior design.彼得·贝克的浴室是高档室内设计的集大成之作。