First Thoughts on 'The Flash' (Pilot)

The Flash is finally here! After a huge marketing campaign started earlier this year, with two tie-in episodes of 'Arrow' season two, followed by the trailer release, and finally the series. Numerous other stuff has been released in between, as well as the announcement of a Flash action figure (which incidentally looks cool).
The Pilot is essentially the origin story for Barry Allen becoming the Flash, complete with narration, a tragic back-story (which has a nice unique element to which I'll talk about later), brooding characters, sequel/series set-up and some woods from an old friend to help Barry on his way. Its not secret that this is a spin-off to Arrow, but Flash does a good job at standing on its own. Oliver Queen's cameo may not help new viewers, but for Arrow fans as well, its a really great moment to see the two side-by-side as heroes, even if Oliver looks more clean-shaven and particularly smiley and cheerful.
The tone is very different from Arrow as well. There is less of the dark, brooding tone with a more down-to-earth approach, but a sense of fun and cheesiness. This is far from a bad thing though, as it sets up its own tone. Flash does, however, take some elements a little too far. Barry seems to always be running, but isn't very fast - something that the writers really like to reinforce so that when Barry becomes the Flash, there is that contrast present. It may be a little too in-your-face, but I think that its not a huge problem, especially as it shouldn't have much more of that in the series.
The lighting also seems so much brighter, there is much less gore and violence than in Arrow (the Bronze Tiger escape sequence being a particularly stomach-churning moment in Arrow), and the bright costume and special FX just add to it. I can see why people wouldn't like this approach, but it reminds me a little of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, which has two of the most popular super hero flicks ever, so its hardly a problem. Its clearly not Raimi as well, as the writers / director have clearly set-up their own tone and style.
Its visually great to the eye, even with a homage to Sherlock near the beginning. The characters are great and feel fully realized, even if some need more time to grow. Caitlin Snow, in particular, felt a bit dull compared to everyone else.
There are some intriguing mysteries set up with the murderer of Barry's mother, Harrison Wells' secrets and I'm interested to see where they go with the character dynamics, especially with Barry's father in prison (having apparently killed his wife), of whom Barry is trying to free.
Despite some clichés and a rather dull villain for this Pilot, The Flash certainly shows future promise and was an all-round entertaining piece of TV. Its such a shame Warner Bros don't agree, otherwise they wouldn't be making a movie reboot for four years' time.
The Flash had a great start, and should be interesting to see go on in the following 22 episodes.