Moving beyond complaints about its first episode … seen it. Discussion. No spoilers in the op to avoid mouseovers.
Spoiler-free review is that it is not the best of the Netflix Marvel crop but far from the worst either. Yeah lotso stupid in in it and not enough chemistry between the characters. It’s decent stupid fun but missing some spark and given stupid fun they could have done more funny.
At least one surprising turn and several items that were telegraphed punches.
I’ve only seen the first 4-5 episodes, but I’m enjoying the hell out of it (and spoilers don’t bother me). Then again, I’d watch Krysten Ritter read the phone book.
Daredevil has always been my favorite comic book character, and I always liked Luke Cage, though I wasn’t a regular reader of his comics. Iron Fist is a dumbass kid who thinks he’s Batman. Just being an orphan billionaire doesn’t make you a detective, Danny.
I did not see Iron Fist but no matter how big of an idiot they established Danny to be he had to have realized that Elektra was goading him to use the Fist. And only using the Fist can seal it up again.
I had not seen Elektra killing Alexandra coming but as soon as it happened it made sense. She was finding her own memories and personality again, they flashbacked to remind use of how she was used to serve Stick’s agenda, not her own, and after she, Elektra, had delivered Danny to them, Alexandra was gloating how all end up serving her and how she had delivered Danny (not Elektra) with a casual order to kill the man she still loves.
The end was baffling. Why spend 10+ minutes on a mournful epilogue with the various characters mourning Matt and then show him for a substance-free 10 seconds to show that he not only survived, but the relatively tension-less peril in the climax and the mourning was completely pointless? Even if Matt was going to survive inexplicably, a la Coulsen, save it for another show so you don’t completely undercut your entire finale.
And the circumstances of his “death” were even more inexplicable. Elektra’s primary motivation in becoming new leader of the Hand was to obtain the substance so that she could try to live forever or at least much longer. And then in the cave, it seemed apparent that she knew there was a bomb and she showed no desire to leave or otherwise survive. So why did Matt stay? He seemed to know from the start that he would never be able to convince Elektra to escape with him given what he whispered to Danny. Since Elektra sabotaged the elevator anyway, Matt staying didn’t seem to make any real difference.
It’s kind of hilarious that the big They-All-Meet-Up scene stemmed from Luke asking Danny, so, you’re a billionaire who owns a major corporation, and Step One of your investigation is personally scaring one skinny youth in a dark alley?
Well the best guess I’ve heard is that the Iron Fist focus was to see if they could salvage it as a story line, taking it less seriously and playing with the idea that even for Iron Fists (who apparently are never the brightest bulbs) Danny is dim. Earnest, but dim.
I really enjoyed it. Good comic booky fun. My only real complaints were the stupid pinhole/slide show/camera focusing scene transitions, and many of the one-on-on conversations were shot in some kind of artsy wannabe style that was just annoying.
My favorite parts were all the times in which various characters told Danny/IF what a dumbass he was. Iron Fist is what would happen if a nice but truly stupid person learned martial arts and got a magic energy fist power.
Episode 2 was also boring, but Mrs. Mahaloth and I very much enjoyed watching Danny do all his marital arts against Luke Cage and seeing Luke Cage just stand there.
We kept saying, “Come on! Light up the fist and punch him!”
I binged the whole thing over the weekend, and I really enjoyed it. My only real complaint is how dark it was. I get you’re going for the whole gritty, street level, dour vibe, but when I can’t see what the hell is going on it’s too far.
It was interesting what they were trying to do with Iron Fist, the whole ‘dim’ thing was pretty funny, but to me it doesn’t gel for me with the traditional character. How did beget selected as the protector of Kun Lun? Aside from everything else, the supposed best warrior from a clan of warrior monks got whipped one on one by Matt Murdock. Sure Murdock was trained by Stick, but cone on?
I binged it. It was fine - better than Iron Fist which I couldn’t finish, and about as meh as Luke Cage. The ending was silly in the ways described above. I was surprised at how Sigourney Weaver was used - no Big Bad scenery chewing and a dispatch well before the end.
Heh. When you put it like that, imagine the resurrection formula being used to bring back not an amnesia-soaked Elektra, but an amnesia-soaked Kilgrave.
I loved it. It was fast-paced and full of action and basically everything I wanted a superhero team-up miniseries to be. Finn Jones still can’t act but at least they got his fight scenes better this time and everyone else was great.
I didn’t see it coming either but yes, it made perfect sense.
I almost forgot who Elektra was until my husband reminded me, LOL (I ran out of the room a lot during Daredevil’s series because of the violence…and I ended up missing a good chunk of the plot as a result).
The better to get away with using stunt people, especially for Iron Fist.
One could argue that Matt Murdock was also “the supposed best warrior from a clan of warrior monks.” He was trained by their absolute best( Stick ) and as we saw in flashback, actively recruited for his abilities. In a straight up fight I’d take Dardevil( comic book or TV show )before either Elektra OR Iron Fist. He’s just tougher in addition to being skilled and his super senses presumably enhance his reaction time beyond anything they can equal.
I think one of the strongest things they did in the Defenders was to show just how much of a badass Matt really was, even without an Iron Fist or unbreakable skin or super-strength.