Generally speaking, helicopter departures are safer if you hover at a low height then pick up speed before climbing (look up the 'dead man's curve'). Even for a twin turbine this is generally safer. The pilot will be balancing this against the risk of hitting a line, which I'm sure he or she will be looking out for - I don't think this helicopter had line cutters installed. It's true that lines can be very hard to see.
I'm not a helicopter pilot so I wouldn't like to comment on whether one or another course of action is clearly better than the other, but I'd be very cautious about judging the pilot's actions to be reckless.