So let me start by saying that I think I actually enjoyed the season more than most people did and after watching all the Marvel Netflix shows and hearing/reading reviews, I've decided that my opinion differs from mostly everyone else's for reasons unknown (except in the case of Jessica Jones). There was a lot of buzz around the release of this show based on a ton of negative reviews but since I usually disagree with reviewers, I did not go in worrying about how good it would be. Part of this is due to the fact that I knew basically nothing about Iron Fist as a character and so had no expectations about what the show would be. I have recently discovered I'm a DC girl more than a Marvel girl (shocking right) in that I think DC heroes are more interesting so I try to learn all I can about them which leads to high expectations (as evidenced by my DCTV reviews) while Marvel I try to enjoy at face value.
I hope all that made sense cause I feel like I had a point in there somewhere and I started out with a plan but then just word vomited all over that paragraph. My overall point was that I heard all the negative press about the show, thought about it for 0.5 seconds and then tossed it out the window to watch the show with no expectations. I did (despite my earlier rant about wanting to go into Marvel products blind) watch one video on Youtube which recapped who Iron Fist was by explaining his backstory and his powers which I do like to do before watching a show cause I like to know what powers a superhero has so I'm not confused.
Where is all this leading? To me saying that I actually really enjoyed Iron Fist. I'd give it a 6/10 and I'd rank it as follows: Daredevil S2, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil S1. The reason it beat out Luke Cage was that despite Luke Cage's overall theme being a lot better than Iron Fist's, I thought that Harold Meachum made a much better villain than Diamondback and that there's something just so fascinating about The Hand.
Let me start with some of the negatives of the show before I get into the positives. Here's where the spoilers begin!!!! Don't say I didn't warn you!
First of all, I will admit that the first few episodes of the season were a bit rough and made me so irritated. I understood why everyone was pretending that Danny wasn't really Danny but I couldn't help but be annoyed with it anyway. Were we seriously to believe that Danny's parents who were billionares, founders and majority shareholders in a large corporation never once had any DNA taken and stored that could have been compared to Danny's? And to top it off, for three or so episodes Danny kept saying that he wanted to talk and that he was the real Danny but it wasn't until he got to the mental hospital that he actually gave out information that only he knew and I was sitting there wondering why he didn't just blurt it out in Ward's office in the first episode! If he started shouting about how they would play Monopoly or that he hated a certain color of M&Ms or that he made Joy a vase from the start, all this could have been avoided.
I also cared so very little for Joy Meachum and disliked her from almost the beginning of the season when she tried to buy out Danny instead of helping him. Like your best friend just came back from the dead and you're more worried about him taking back the company than his wellbeing? I couldn't help but compare Iron Fist to Arrow cause there were so many parallels (bad me!) and compare Tommy to Joy. She did not get any better as the season progressed and I suppose we're to believe that she will be an antagonist in the next season if there is one. I think Joy's biggest flaw was one that many characters have in that they don't actually know anything about what's going on but think and act like they do and pass judgment without knowing all the facts. Technically this is no fault of Joy herself but she never tried to learn everything and instead decided to shut everyone out and leave. Good plan Joy.
I also was not a fan of the way Danny's emotions were portrayed. I understand that Danny is a human and he is not perfect but after 15 years or so with monks you would think that he would have learned not only to control his emotions better but also to have gotten past his parents' death. Every time Danny spoke of them, it was like it just happened yesterday and I understand PTSD and everything but I feel like the monks should have taught him to face his emotions directly and get past them and how to look at situations more logically. Instead we got a violate Danny who snapped as a moment's notice and would rush into things head first without thinking.
Another thing that irritated me was the amount of time we spent at Rand Enterprises. This could have been interesting but Danny despite how much he fought for his seat back didn't actually care about Rand and so we were forced to sit through boardroom politics that our main character wasn't a part of. I know it gave the Meachums something to do but I was so very bored by it. I only like boardroom politics and politics in general on TV when the characters we're following are sharks and can outwit the people they're playing against. I personally find this kind of intelligence very attractive and honestly prefer mentally badass characters to physically badass ones so it was a lost opportunity.
And finally this isn't really a complaint but it's not a positive either so maybe it'd be a neutral observation but did anyone else notice how Danny kind of was the villain in this show? I've always been fascinated with the idea that certain villains are only villains when they're viewed from the eyes of those they've wronged. If you know me you know I love the grey areas and grey characters and nothing is better than a complex villain. Danny despite being a hero in that he's trying to stop the Hand and Harold Meachum was also a villain in the eyes of K'un-Lun and Davos in that he stole the power of the Iron Fist and then ran away with it leaving K'un-Lun to fend for themselves. Isn't that such a villainous move? Like if we followed the show from Davos' POV we would see a selfish outsider who left our people alone and vulnerable. I freaking loved it. Davos is also being set up to be the villain next season and the best part is that we can totally see his point of view and may even agree with him, especially now that K'un-Lun has been destroyed or overthrown or gone from this dimension.
Now let's move to the positives!
So first of all, I actually really liked Finn Jones as Danny. I know a lot of people had problems with his portrayal but I personally thought he was fine. Would I have preferred an Asian American, of course, but I had no problem with what I got. In fact I actually loved everyone that the show cast, particularly Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum and David Wenham as Harold Meachum. Tom played Ward in the perfect place where we as the audience could simultaneously hate and pity him. We started out thinking that Ward was a terrible person and ending up cheering him for killing Harold in the end. That shot of the pictures of Ward and Danny framed on the wall made me grin! David was able to play Harold as evil and crazy and even when he was pretending to be nice or loving, there was this air of danger coming off of him. His motivations made sense and I loved the reveal of him being the one to kill Danny's parents in the end.
I also loved Colleen Wing and her relationship with Danny. It was the best portrayed in the Marvel Netflix shows (other than maybe Luke and Claire) in my opinion and I thought they had great chemistry together. One of my favorite scenes was the one where Danny and Colleen recharged their chi together to hip-hop music. It was much sexier than their actual sex scene. Beyond the romance and how completely badass she was at fighting (her cage fights were amazing), Colleen had my favorite arc in the show. She went from this kind of cynical but loving teacher to a part of the Hand to realizing that she might have been brainwashed and lied to her whole life. I loved her duel with Bakuto and that epic moment when he broke her sword and she used the broken piece like a throwing star to stab him. I was so so worried that she might die by the end of the season (thank you Daredevil S2 for scarring me) but luckily she survived and I really really hope she's in the Defenders when it comes out.
And of course I can't forget Claire! She slays every time she appears on these Marvel Netflix shows. I love that she's been learning how to fight so that she may become a hero on her own right and that Iron Fist had so many hints towards her relationship with Luke Cage. The only struggle with having her here and playing such a large role was that she kept dropping hints towards all these people that she knew and it leads you to wonder why she can't at least call Daredevil to come help cause he's had practice fighting The Hand even though logistically we know why.
I also had no problems with the fight scenes and actually enjoyed all of them a ton. Colleen's cage fight, the hallway fight with the Hatchet Men, the three-round trial challenge with the Hand, the fight against the drunk Hand member, Davos and Danny against Bakuto's Hand, Bakuto v Colleen and the final scene with Danny and Harold were all amazing. Part of this may be because I know very little about martial arts but to my untrained eyes, the fights looked great.
So as you can see from my long ass review of Iron Fist, I really enjoyed my viewing and unlike with Daredevil S1 and parts of Luke Cage, I was never bored and unlike with Jessica Jones, I didn't hate a character so much that I wanted her/him off the screen immediately (that dumb neighbor in Jessica Jones still makes me shudder). This show made me so excited for the Defenders and I cannot wait until it airs. I have so many questions about the Hand and I can't wait to see what happens!
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Iron Fist and I'll see you all soon for my review of Disney's Beauty and the Beast!
xoxo Allie
No comments:
Post a Comment