DVD Reviews

Human Target: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 4, 2010, 19:28 GMT

This is the thinking of Christopher Chance, a mysterious security agent for hire who assumes different identities, at times literally becoming a human target on behalf of his clients. Using the popular DC Comics title as a springboard for riveting and intelligent action and adventure, Human Target provides a thrill ride with no clear boundaries. Resourceful, driven and compelled by a force known only to him, this take-charge antihero will ...more

If you need protection, then you may want to hire Christopher Chance. Fox’s action series may be on the small screen but the production has all the hallmarks of a big action movie. All bolstered by some great camaraderie in its delightful stars.

Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) was once part of a shadowy organization that trained him to kill. When a job goes wrong, Chance’s conscious causes him to resign from that dangerous game – though resignation from such an organization offers dangers of its own.

He decides to protect instead of kill and joins up with fed-up cop Winston (Chi McBride) who turns in his badge to leave an ineffective system where sometimes the innocent die. Winston acts as Chance’s manager and frontman, but they’re also joined by Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley), whose nerdy looks hide his deadly skills and underworld contacts. Guerrero and Winston have a “love to hate one another” relationship.

Chance’s method is to insert himself into the client’s life, find the threat, and then act as a human target that takes the bull’s-eye off the client and puts it on him before he neutralizes the threat.

His protection extends to the designer of a California bullet train, an unknown hacker flying in to reveal a Internet security flaw, find a friend’s murderer in the Russian embassy, a thief in disguise at a monastery, an attorney with a secret past, a weapon designer held hostage in the company headquarters, an old flame in South America, adopts the guise of a prize fighter, expose a conspiracy in Alaska, a princess who wants to give up her crown for love, and himself when his former organization catches up with him and his old partner Baptiste (Lennie James) comes to kill him.

Human Target is based on the DC Comic’s comic book of the same name. I had remembered that much. What I didn’t know is that Rick Springfield starred in a 1990s attempt at the same material!

In the comic, Chance would assume the identity of the person he was protecting through his mastery of disguise (the Springfield attempt did this also). This new version forgoes that gimmick and instead just makes Chance the ass-kicking special ops trained Bond-like character. He still inserts himself into the lives of his client, just doesn’t assume their identity.

Chance is played my Mark Valley, whose charm and good looks made me think back to Jon-Erik Hexum who starred in a similar television show (although that character’s cover was a male model who did espionage on the side – the show would end in a tragic accident when Hexum jokingly put a blank filled pistol to his head as a joke and the blank shot him in the temple and killed him).

Valley’s chiseled good looks are only matched by the glossy action that dominates the series. It seems more along the lines of a big budget action film, but appears on the small screen. What also makes the show is the familial relationship between Chi McBride, a standout from Pushing Daisies, Jackie Earle Haley, and Valley.

The interactions between the trio as well as Winston and Guerrero’s adversarial relationship are a standout of the show. You may be pulled along by the action, excitement, and derring-do but you’ll keep coming back for the expertly written characters and excellent acting.

It’s a show that is full of surprises (a bionic man has a fun cameo) and I have a grand time watching the first season’s run (happily a second season is coming).

Human Target is presented in widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Disc one’s special features start with a commentary from Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and executive producers Jonathan E. Steinberg and Peter Johnson on the pilot episode.

There are deleted scenes for “Embassy Row” (2 minutes) and “Sanctuary” (1 minute). Disc three has a deleted scene for “Christopher Chance” (2 minutes), the 15 minute “Confidential Informant” about the creation of the show, and the 15 minute “Full Contact Television” about the action and stunt work.

Human Target is heavy on the action but it’s also heavy on the talent on both sides of the camera. Our main characters are fascinating enough that you’ll continue to tune in to see their camaraderie. It’s a great TV show and I know I’m looking forward to the next season to see the new cases and adventures.