PILOT REVIEW: Hawaii Five-0

HAWAII FIVE-0

Starring: Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park
Based on the original series Created by Leonard Freeman
Written by Peter M. Lenkov (teleplay and story), Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci (story); Directed by Len Wiseman

TV remakes have not had too much success over the years but CBS has tried it once more with an elaborate remake of the 1970s classic Hawaii Five-O. This intense new drama series follows Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) who sets up an elite unit/task force in Hawaii alongside Detective Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan), ex-cop Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and his cousin and cop Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park). In the pilot, Steve tries to avenge his father's death by shady underground figure Victor Hesse and puts together his new team. Of course the classic theme song is back, it wouldn't be Hawaii Five-0 without it.

I have not seen the original TV series so I cannot compare it to that. It is certainly high energy if nothing else but the pilot played more like a shoot 'em up action movie with buddy comedy elements that was missing lots of important parts. It was almost as if they created to intricate a storyline to handle in the opening episode. Unlike other procedurals, it was the character development that was stronger than the storyline. The dynamics between Steve and Danno were obvious from the start as they did not like each other at first. O'Loughlin and Caan are both promising in their roles as are Kim and Park as cousins and friends. The opening scene of the pilot was intense but not the knockout punch one would imagine for such a hyped series and it was more violent than I anticipated. Still, it has promise if it can simplify the storyline. The ending in the pilot was unsatisfying because they hadn't completed the story well enough.

The Hawaii backdrop makes for some excellent exterior scenes and some fun elements you can't get in other crime shows. Hawaii Five-0 is one of the season's more promising titles and it's actually more important that the characters are good (which they are) than the story (which it wasn't) in the long run. The stories can improve. I wasn't blown away by any means but I was intrigued - it might be the type of show to drop in on from time to time but not a must-see every week. At least we get a theme song!