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For the
fans, Iron Fist is an exciting introduction to the final Defender and
his supporting cast. The series is not
without its flaws, but it does a respectable job of tying things together,
connecting in the other Marvel Netflix shows, and setting up the upcoming
crossover The Defenders. Without
giving away too much, here is my non-spoiler review of the second half of the
season.
Before getting into it, let's get the suitability out of the way. There is very little in the way of graphic violence, little-to-no foul language, and just about nothing in terms of explicit sex scenes.
On the
positive side, Iron Fist does a really good job of introducing and
developing all of its regular cast members.
Danny and Colleen in particular are given compelling arcs over the course
of the season. Though they could have
done a much better job of fleshing out the reasons for Danny’s decision to
leave K’un-Lun, the question does finally get answered near the end of the season. There are some original characters, but most
of the characters in the season are imported from the comic books, and they are
all remarkably faithful to the comic book inspiration. There are a couple of places where the
writers take liberties with the characters (Joy Meachum is a notable example),
but for the most part I actually like the versions in the show better than the
comic book versions. Joy’s story through
Iron Fist season 1 is much more interesting and engaging than her comic
book debut, where she thinks the Iron Fist killed her father and turns into a
revenge-driven maniac. There is one
comic book character who (in my opinion) they did a terrible disservice to—the Bride
of Nine Spiders, who appeared in episode 6—but they make up for that in episode
8 with one of the most interesting (if not strictly faithful) adaptations of a
comic book character in the series. Hopefully
that character will return in some capacity in one of Danny’s future
appearances.
What makes
the season’s villains so interesting is their connection to the heroes. Over the course of their appearances, they even
receive good development. Unfortunately,
that doesn’t include fleshing out the villains’ motivations. That may be where this series falls flattest
in comparison with the other Marvel Netflix shows: the villains, though compelling and
developed, lack motivation. Think back
to Fisk in Daredevil season 1, Killgrave in Jessica Jones season
1, or Diamondback in Luke Cage season 1.
All of their motivations were crystal clear by the end of the
season. Why were any of the three
villains in Iron Fist doing what they were doing? To be honest, I don’t know. Even the “big bad” who emerges in the season
finale doesn’t get his motivations explained—the expected motivation isn’t even
mentioned, and the stated motivation makes zero sense.
One thing
the show does a respectable job of is fleshing out and explaining the Hand,
which looks to be the primary villain for The Defenders. Pulling back the curtain on the Hand makes
them somewhat more interesting than Daredevil season 2 could do. However, the Hand’s appearance in Iron
Fist looks just a little too different from Daredevil, which
muddles the story a bit. Hopefully they
will explain things a little better in The Defenders or something,
because as of now I’m kind of confused.
In terms of
fight choreography and effects, the season does a decent job. There are only so many ways to change things
up when your hero’s primary ability is to punch people, which is why every so
often Colleen needs to pull out her katana.
The villains’ use of different fighting styles (the use of Zui Quan (“Drunken
Fist”) in episode 8 stands out in particular), as well as the inclusion of
other people on Danny’s side, helps add variety to the fighting, but there’s
still only so much you can do with the Iron Fist by itself. It would have helped considerably if they had
allowed Danny to learn more of his chi abilities—even just being able to
channel his chi through his feet would have been an improvement! I understand the storytelling reasons for
confining him to using the Iron Fist in his hand, but still. On top of that, there is one time that they
show a previous Iron Fist in action, and the most exciting variation from Danny’s
fighting style is that the previous Iron Fist kept both fists glowing through
the entire fight. That would have been
the perfect opportunity to show off some of the Iron Fist’s more exotic chi
abilities—in the comics they could channel their chi through projectiles, use
it to enhance their battlefield analysis, and even create imaginary projections
(okay, that last one’s pretty weird, but still). Hopefully Danny will learn some of these
abilities in his future appearances.
Before
concluding this (non-spoiler) review, I need to talk about three main
characters in particular because they will be showing up in The Defenders. First, Claire Temple, who is certainly the
connection between all the heroes. She
has an interesting story through this season, and it fleshes her character out
quite a bit, particularly with how she has been affected by her
interactions with the four heroes. However,
it seemed like at some point they ran out of exciting things for her to say and
decided that she really needed to let the audience know that SHE’S THE
CONNECTION!!!!! By the end of the
season, it felt like every other line was an allusion to the fact that she
knows Daredevil and Luke Cage. The
writers really needed to step back and remember that their audience has
probably already seen the other Marvel Netflix shows and doesn’t need the
constant reminders that Claire was in them.
Colleen Wing
gets the award for most dynamic character (Ward Meachum is a close second) in
the season. Her friendship/relationship
with Danny was a little off at first, but by the end of the season it was
completely believable. She also really
comes into her own as a fighter and hero.
Given how personal the Hand fight is to her, I can’t wait to see her
square off against them in The Defenders and beyond.
The man
himself, Danny Rand, seems to be getting a bad rap in reviews. His character is pretty nebulous—half the
time he is completely naïve, half the time he is a brilliant businessman; half
the time he can’t figure out the Iron Fist, half the time he is every bit the
Defender of K’un-Lun. His motives for
leaving K’un-Lun are all anyone can talk about up until the end of the season,
but that does finally get resolved in the penultimate episode. At first revenge is not his
motivation, but then it is, and then it isn’t.
However, Finn Jones actually plays a pretty good Danny Rand. He gives him enough of a commanding presence
at Rand while still maintaining the naïveté of a man who was just given control
of a major corporation with no experience.
His search for meaning, friendship, and family in New York is
interesting, particularly in the way that the “real world” clashes with the
Eastern philosophy he picked up in K’un-Lun.
In short, Finn Jones embodies his character (in my opinion) every bit as
much as the other Defenders embody theirs.
So is Iron
Fist a perfect series? No. But is it at least worth checking out? Absolutely.
Iron Fist gives an interesting introduction to its protagonist
and his cast of friends and enemies. It opens
up the Marvel Netflix universe far more than any of the other series to-date
(seriously, they go to China. The
furthest from NYC anyone had gone before now was Georgia.). And it gives us the best idea yet of what The
Defenders will be about (hint: you’ve
got two of ‘em).
What did you
think of Iron Fist? What do you
want to see in Iron Fist season 2/The Defenders? Let me know in the comments!
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