Stephen Lackey
Created by: Scott Buck
Starring: Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick
Reviews are mixed on Luke Cage season 1 but everyone can agree that it was not the solid hit that Daredevil and Jessica Jones bother were. Sadly, overall, Iron Fist is even less of a success.The word has been that the season was rushed in order to get the character properly introduced in time for The Defenders to go into production. The season, from beginning to end, definitely feels ruched in every aspect from fx, to fight choreography, and to story development.
There are glimmers of hope, and some positive story elements, mostly from a side character. Colleen is the most interesting character in the season and Jessica Henwick does a great job in the role. Finn Jones, as the Iron Fist, is just not likable. It’s not that the character is mean but he just has a bad personality and within the season he does some really stupid things. It’s not that it’s within his character to do stupid things, it’s simply weak writing. I don’t want to be mean myself, but Finn Jones is boring.
Daredevil and the AMC series Into the Badlands have set the bar for martial arts on television. Iron Fist, at its heart is a martial arts story and there’s not one good fight scene in this season of television. That is easily the most insulting part of this show so far. On top of that the fist effect is really horrible looking and the flashbacks to the monastery that Iron Fist came from are non-existant. I don’t think I’ve seen a film or TV show where a location is referenced so many times and never shown. What we get are really cheap looking snow scenes and some rocky landscape. Bad TV doing people!
The ensemble cast is all fine at the acting, they just don’t get interesting well developed characters to sink teir teeth into. There are the timiest moments of success in an overall failure of a season. I’d rather it just be horrible than completely bland and just middling, but that’s exactly what this season of Iron Fist is. The weird thing is that right before the series went live there was word from the producers and Marvel that this series would bring us a variation the atmosphere created for the other shows. Iron Fist would be more light hearted and funny. I did not want that for these shows. Well, the good news is all of that was bogus because this isn’t a campy funny show and it is in line thematically with the other shows. bad news is that this show is a fail.