Marvel has been on a winning streak both at the movies and on Netflix. For the most part, their movies and series resonate with audiences. After three other Marvel series on Netflix (including 2 seasons of Daredevil), will their fourth series, Marvel’s Iron Fist hold up or will it let fans down?
What I liked: (minor Spoilers)
The story and the plot of Marvel’s Iron Fist was compelling and fun. The general story structure is similar to the other Netflix Marvel series but it had plenty of variations. It kept you guessing what would be next. It was a natural plot driven by the characters in this series.
The series developed the characters of further along. The characters of Danny, Colleen, Ward, and Joy all grew in the series. Some of the characters grew in ways we didn’t love. Danny went from being a very innocent character to fighting his dark hidden side to developing into a hero and then realizing his failures. Ward went from an unlikable bully to full jerk to controlled son to a drug addict and then to a slightly more likable jerk.
I enjoyed the tease of seeing mystic city of K’un-Lun. We got slight glimpses but didn’t get to see it full on. I had expected we would get an episode or two just in K’un-Lun but we didn’t. We also didn’t see the dragon, Shou-Lao the Undying. It made me want to know more and see more but it wasn’t needed for the story. It leaves something to explore for Danny’s character in the future.
I liked the cast of this series. All of the main characters were really good and believable. Finn Jones was a fine Danny Rand and Iron Fist. The biggest issue he had was some of the fight scenes but that wasn’t his fault. Jessica Henwick was a fantastic Colleen. I thought Henwick’s fight scenes were really good. Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao was outstanding. I didn’t see anyone miscast in this series.
What I Did Not Like:
Some of the fight scenes were not as good as they could have been. There wasn’t anything that wowed me like either Daredevil season did. Iron Fist is the top martial artist in the Marvel Universe so his fight scenes should be awe inspiring and they weren’t at all. They weren’t bad but they weren’t to the level we expected. This is very early in his superhero career so we could see things becoming better in the future. It has been stated that they only practiced the fight scenes for 15 minutes prior to shooting.
There were some action scenes with acrobatics that looked a it staged. It looked like the characters were on wires. Other action scenes looked more natural. I was hoping to see a little more Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon floating in some of the acrobatic scenes.
Review:
If this series had come out 10 years ago, we would be clamoring about how awesome it is. We are used to our Netflix Marvel series being excellent. This series is really good but fails to live up to the extremely high standard of Marvel’s Daredevil series.
The critics may have disliked this series but I really enjoyed it. I don’t think it will let fans down. There will be moments fans don’t love as much as they had hoped but I think fans will generally enjoy this series.
RATINGS:
IMDB: 7.7 out of 10 Stars
Rotten Tomatoes- Critics: 18%
Rotten Tomatoes- Audience: 83%
MY Grade: B
