Iron Fist Review

Iron Fist is the latest Marvel series on Netflix, coming after a series of impressive comic adaptations like Jessica Jones, Daredevil and Luke Cage, and setting up the upcoming Defenders series that’s going to bring these shows together. However, Iron Fist failed to rise to my expectations, and the fact that it’s essential to the Defender’s show is the only reason that got me to finally finish the series. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly.

The Good:

Colleen Wing played by Jessica Henwick

When it comes to the character herself Wing is well written and developed. So, developed that she could pass as a lead instead of Iron Fist himself, but was wasted as a love interest later instead. As the series progress you begin to grasp her personality and get to understand her better. Wing is a wild ride of a character that takes you on emotional rollercoaster between what’s right and wrong, making you emphasize when you should and discard her when it’s necessarily. Jessica Henwick bodies the character flawlessly with a strong performance and badass fighting scenes that outshine the main ones in the series. Her cage fight scenes in episodes 3 and 4 are one the highlight in the series.


Ward’s and Joy’s Dynamic

These duos took the show by a storm. Their dynamic was so stirring that it made the cooperate part of the show the most exciting plot line. Ward was introduced as the druggie crazy cruel man that is constantly making bad decisions influenced by his not so dead abusive father. Where Joy is portrayed as the soft hearted but firm business women that puts Dany and the cooperate before her own self. That doesn’t last as the show slowly switch their characters in a surprisingly believable development that puts both of them at the opposite sides. The bomb drop at the end of the last episode makes me eager to see what’s going to happen between these two, and what Joy has up her sleeve for Danny.

Madam Gao

Gao first appeared on Daredevil as an ally in the heroine business with Wilson Fisk himself and turned out to be the mastermind behind the hand. She already has the ability to manipulate half of the characters she met including some of the defenders and The Punisher. While Iron fist explores the hand more and dives into the organizations and Gao herself, there’s a lot of mystery and unanswered questions regarding her character. Her powers are briefly seen and her ability to know secrets and popping up in the right place and on the right time leaved viewers hanging and keen to get their questioned answered. Her appearance as a frail old woman is nothing short of deceiving for what she truly is.
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The Bad

Harold Meachum

The MCU has no shortage of bad villains, but the marvel mcu does, until now. Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones put out villains the put the movie ones to shame. Strong performances and well written backstories that make their intentions clear and show you their motivations and expectations. Wilson Fisk introduced us to the concept that the bad guy doesn’t always view himself this way, while Killgrave made us hate and yell at our screens. Their dynamic and chemistry with their heroes is what sets them apart, that’s what Iron Fist lacks. A good villain is more than just a good performance, and David Wenham is the perfect example of that. He didn’t have the shock value of the good guy going dark scenario. The writers opted for a half assed mysterious asshole that just keeps going darker. His death was the best thing that ever happened in the series until he was revived again. His revival wasn’t shocking or expected, it was almost infuriating that he was back. I’m sure the Harold killing Kyle with ice cream lover was intended to be similar to Wilson Fisk chopping someone’s head off with a car door or Cottonmouth beating a man to death with his fists, but the scene failed miserably. It almost felt as a parody.

Clair Temple

She was introduced in Daredevil, phenomenal in Luke Cage and cute on Jessica Jones, but on Iron Fist she was downright obnoxious. Her character is often shoe horned in the marvel Netflix show in a way to bring them closer. And while it’s understandable that they wanted to connect these shows in a not so obvious as the CW legendary DCTV crossovers, Clair Temple was a bit of a fail. Hogarth did the job just fine, as she actually had a role to play instead of just shuffling around attempting to be a comic relief and failing. The only bright side in this is the fact she wasn’t playing a love interest to Dany Rand.

The Ugly

Iron Fist

It’s refreshing to see a hero actually embrace his powers and is ready to train others to do the same. As a concept, he’s a perfect fit in the Defenders. Nevertheless, the real deal is absurd. Finn Jones did not deliver a bad performance per say, but perhaps the wrong one. The biggest casting mistake in this show is unfortunately the lead character. He plays what’s supposed to be a powerful and self-assured superhero as a spoiled brat, always bragging to himself and others that he is iron fist. A great quality in concept, but onscreen it just felt wrong. Appearance wise he’s very charismatic, but it takes more than that to make him relatable . His flashbacks were handled very badly, and in effort to keep the superhero show realistic to fit with the others it did the opposite. Iron Fist was supposed to introduce us to fantasy and mysticism, just like Doctor Strange did in the MCU. But instead we got boring flashbacks and a very vague description of how Danny got his powers.

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    Iron Fist series sets up the main villain that the Defenders will face, but glosses over its own. It’s a combination of every short coming from the previous Netflix mcu universe. Merging strong secondary characters that surpass the lead, and struggling to tell a boring story in 13 hour long episodes that could have easily fit in 8. When it comes to the legendary Hallway fight scenes we wait for in Daredevil, the one in Iron Fist while not bad, looked tragic in comparison. It doesn’t have the swift and crafty transition between reality and flashbacks that Arrow has, or the exciting plot twists of Luke Cage. It’s not heart wrenching as Jessica Jones or as gritty as Daredevil, but it is a show that had potential to be the best in its group, but failed to do so. As a standalone it’s an okay series, but when we have the rest of the wide superhero variety on tv and Netflix it falls short. Iron Fist might redeem himself in the upcoming Defenders series premiering on Netflix on August 18, 2017.