Marvel’s Iron Fist (Netflix)

[Silver Nemesis]

It looks like they've finally cast the fourth member of the Defenders. According to Entertainment Weekly, Games of Thrones actor Finn Jones is playing Danny Rand in the upcoming Netflix show: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/25/finn-jones-iron-fist?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter

The Defenders miniseries should now be a lock for 2017.

[Silver Nemesis]

Jessica Henwick and David Wenham have joined the cast as Colleen Wing and Harold Meachum respectively. Filming is well underway and numerous location pictures have appeared online. Thus far, it seems Danny's favouring the Dude look. But I'm sure his classic costume will appear eventually.

Nothing will top Daredevil for me, but I think Iron Fist has the best shot at second place on the superhero TV league table. It's looking good so far.

[Silver Nemesis]

[Silver Nemesis]

The BBFC has rated this '18', making it the second 18 certificate MCU show after Daredevil season 2. Expect delicious brutality. Here's the most recent trailer:

[Silver Nemesis]

Thus far, it seems Danny's favouring the Dude look. But I'm sure his classic costume will appear eventually.

Show's what I know. 

I've been concerned about the direction this series was heading in for a while now. It always seemed to lack the strong identity of the other Marvel Netflix shows, the lead actor didn't look like he was in the right shape for the role, and the showrunner really dampened my enthusiasm when he confirmed the classic comic book costume won't appear. And now the early reviews are coming in, and they're all saying it sucks. But I'm not sure how seriously to take some of these reviews when they contain criticism like the following:

But Marvel's considered response was to instead show a privileged white guy mansplaining martial arts to a female Asian sensei (Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing), and it's hard to believe that no-one found the optics of that troubling.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-03-08/marvels-iron-fist-a-second-rate-daredevil-that-matches-the-low-expectations

I'll probably still check it out for myself, but it looks like this could be the first MCU production to get a 'rotten' rating on RT. The Marvel fans better get working on that petition...

[johnnygobbs]

MCU show featuring disabled hero = positive RT score

MCU show featuring female alcoholic heroine = positive RT score

MCU show featuring black ex-con hero = positive RT score

MCU show featuring straight white able-bodied male hero = negative RT score

How did we not see this coming?

[Silver Nemesis]

I finished watching this over a week ago. I wanted to take some time to think about it before posting my opinion, but even now my feelings remain mixed. Objectively speaking – taking into consideration writing, visual style and themes – I think it is the weakest of the Marvel Netflix shows. But subjectively speaking, I found it more enjoyable to watch than either Jessica Jones or Luke Cage. Maybe that's because it feels closer to Daredevil, or maybe it's because I like the martial arts content. Whatever the reason, I found Iron Fist to be far more watchable than the reviews led me to expect. (I disregard any critic who makes unironic politicised use of the following terms: 'mansplaining', 'cultural appropriation', 'white privilege', 'woke' or 'problematic'.) Here's my own non-political review (mild spoilers ahead).

Each of the previous three Marvel Netflix series was stylistically aligned with a different genre (crime drama, film noir, blaxploitation). Each series explored its own thematic preoccupations in considerable depth. And visually, each had its own signature colour palette conveyed through lighting, mise en scène and cinematography. Iron Fist is obviously meant to be a throwback to the kung fu movie genre, but it doesn't embrace or capitalise upon its cinematic lineage the way the other Netflix shows did with theirs. It also doesn't have much in the way of central themes to explore, and consequently feels rather shallow. The signature colour palette is based around yellows and greens, which is a little too similar to Luke Cage's golds and greens. So it also lacks a unique visual identity on top of everything else.

This last point is exacerbated by the absence of recognisable iconography from the comics. The most disappointing omission is of course the costume. A modified version of Daredevil's season 1 'vigilante suit' would have sufficed, but we don't even get that. We do get one brief glimpse of an earlier Iron Fist wearing the classic suit, but this is shown only fleetingly in the form of grainy black & white footage. Here's a behind-the-scenes photo of what the costume looks like:

I'm keeping my fingers crossed Danny will wear something like this in The Defenders. I understand the budgetary limitations might preclude depictions of K'un-Lun or Shou-Lao, but the costume shouldn't have been a problem. Even the Hand are visually downgraded in IF. In DD s2, they were badass undead ninjas sporting their classic red outfits from the comics. In IF, they're mostly just teenagers recruited from the streets of New York, similar to the Foot Clan in the 1990 TMNT film. But at least the Foot Clan wore ninja outfits, unlike these guys.

The boardroom drama with the Meachums didn't both me as much as it apparently did most other viewers, but I admit it drags at times. Considering this is a show about a man who acquires kung fu super powers after defeating a dragon in one-on-one combat, the emphasis on corporate bickering feels ill judged. The tone of the series as a whole is far too dry for the source material. Stylistically, I was expecting something more along the lines of the Kill Bill films, with affectionate visual and musical throwbacks to the martial arts cinema of yesteryear. But there's nothing like that in IF. There are one or two fight scenes utilising split screen composition, but that's about as close as the show gets to a retro kung fu aesthetic. The rest of the editing, I'm sorry to say, is decidedly 21st century. One 35-second fight scene in particular has already achieved online notoriety for its use of 56 separate cuts:

Compare that to the classic stairwell fight from Daredevil season 2, and the inferiority of IF's editing becomes even more obvious:

As for the choreography, it's a mixed bag. None of the fight scenes are as visceral, exciting or impressively coordinated as Philip J Silvera's work on DD. But there are some entertaining and well-staged skirmishes scattered throughout the season, particularly in the latter half. I think once Danny gets his mask they'll be able to make better use of a stunt double to handle his fight scenes, and that should lead to improvements.

As for Finn Jones, I'm not sure what to make of the guy. I was speaking to a friend the other day who is nearing the end of the series, and although she's enjoying it, she said Jones was too wet for the role. I kind of agree. He definitely lacks the physicality needed to play Danny. Not just in terms of martial arts skill, but also with regards to his physique. I appreciate Jones only had a few weeks to get in shape for the part, but then so did Charlie Cox for DD s1. Here's what Finn looked like:

And here's what Charlie looked like in DD s1:

Aside from the physical aspects of the character, I also had issues with the way he was written. Early on in the series he claims to have mastered self-control in centring his emotions, but later on he's throwing tantrums every five seconds. I guess that was supposed to signify that his mastery wasn't as comprehensive as he believed. But what about his motivation? He returns to New York to regain control of his company, then apparently loses all interest in that and instead becomes fixated on destroying the Hand. But since he didn't know the Hand were in New York when he first returned, why did he come back? And what exactly does it mean to 'destroy' the Hand? To drive them out of New York as Daredevil almost did? To defeat their leader? To kill every last member? To frustrate their plans to invade K'un-Lun? If the latter's the case, as it seems to be, then shouldn't he have stayed in K'un-Lun? I wish there'd been more clarification about what the hero's objective was. Without establishing a clear goal at the beginning of the series, the show deprived itself of a through line that might have tied together the disparate plot strands. And because of this the story meandered all over the place with little to no dramatic momentum.

In spite of all these criticisms, I didn't dislike Danny as a character. In fact there were times when I found his childlike naiveté quite endearing. I also liked Colleen Wing and thought she was a far more appealing character than Jessica Jones or Misty Knight. And while I wasn't mad on the Meachums' storyline overall, I thought David Wenham and Tom Pelphrey were excellent in their respective roles. Their messed up father-son relationship was one of the more compelling subplots throughout the series. Being a massive Daredevil fanboy, I also dug the way this show connected with Matt's adventures, particularly with regards to Madame Gao, the Hand and the storyline about the Steel Serpent heroine from DD s1.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Iron Fist for what it is. It has the same pacing issues that plagued the first seasons of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, as well as numerous other shortcomings. But I don't think it's the complete disaster some are claiming. The problems can be fixed. The first thing I'd do would be to give Danny his classic comic book costume. That way a stuntman can handle the fight scenes and they can crank up the choreography a notch. Secondly, I'd amalgamate both Luke Cage and IF into a single Heroes for Hire show. These two characters work well together, and combing their storylines might help resolve some of the pacing issues. But until such changes are made, the MCU Iron Fist is just ok.

[thecolorsblend]

I'll read this thread and post my thoughts after I finish watching the show... which is taking a lot longer than it needs to because of some really retarded, aggravating reasons.

[Silver Nemesis]

Denny O'Neil has written a short piece expressing his thoughts on the no-costume controversy:

http://www.comicmix.com/2017/03/30/dennis-oneil-iron-fist-and-the-costume-unseen/

[riddler]

To me this is the first misfire of the MCU. There really is nothing redeeming here. Finn Jones neither looks nor acts impressive and to me that poses a real problem. He's not a weak actor per se but the lead actor is always crucial in comic book adaptations and he merely held his own while the other 3 lead actors brought some real life to their characters. The villain is also the weakest of the bunch, so much so it's unclear at times who we should be rooting against.

The martial arts is really the only thing that stands out here. The 'back from being presumed dead' plots from Batman Begins, Iron Man, and Arrow is redone again and the typical clichee is followed of the hero resuming a business being run by someone else upon his return. The Danny/Joy relationship of childhood friends becoming female business tycoons and male super hero works better with Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris and the whole 'hero sacrificing money to do the right thing' clichee is taken so far here that it's hard to admire Danny for how much money he throws away for what he perceives to be noble causes due to the sheer stupidity of the things he does.


To me the biggest subplot lifted from other superhero films was the themes of the Hulk films, Dark Knight Rises and Iron Man 3 in which the hero is made as big of an underdog as possible by stripping him of every last thing he has and throwing every obstacle possible at him. This strategy works on film because it allows for a big payoff at the end but  we didn't get nearly enough payoff moments of seeing the hero triumph, Danny fails far more often than he succeeds just like his show. Comparisons are made to Daredevil but the final episode of

Sorry folks I've never said this about an MCU property but I hope this series doesn't get another season. I'm not saying it's totally unsalvagable but there's a considerable drop between this and the other shows, I think they'd be better suited grooming the Iron Fist into the incredible hulk of the defenders. Now that the character has been established in a solo outing, reserve him to the Defenders and/or appearances in the other series.

One positive though; Rosario Dawson is outstanding again here, she's definitely the Phil Coulson of the TV universe but I'm hoping they don't kill her off during the defenders because she brings some solid grounding to these series and she should be in all these series with the possible exception of Jessica Jones.