Written by: Kevin Berge
The white savior is here to carry on the eastern culture complete with glowing white halo. (Image Courtesy of: techcrunch.com)
Quick Take: Iron Fist Season 1 takes a long time to get going and never hits its apex, driven by B-movie action and C-movie writing. With a cast of largely acceptable actors and a running plot that never gets going, this season ultimately feels like a wasted opportunity in the wrong hands even at its best.
Marvel-Netflix Seasons: Daredevil S1 | Jessica Jones S1 | Luke Cage S1
***This is a review of the opening season of Iron Fist and serves as an introduction to new viewers. There will be no spoilers beyond the basic opening synopsis, only analysis of the elements of the series and its characters.***
We live in a connected world where a single narrative can dominate critical discussion before a product has even been released. Iron Fist was on life support upon arrival due to rampant claims of racism surrounding the faithful depiction of the main character. However, there is far more to a series than a single casting choice.
Rather than letting just discourse dominate the discussion of this opening season, I will simply state that the series would certainly be different with an Asian-American lead. It might have made for a more unique viewing experience, but the series does not suffer dramatically for its decision leading to a generic view of the white billionaire.
This series has much bigger issues going against it than racial dynamics as the series is both slow moving and often written illogically.
Iron Fist's first season begins with the return of Danny Rand (Finn Jones) to New York City after being presumed dead for 15 years to find his family's business radically changed. He must decide how best to reclaim his family legacy while also facing the rising threat of the Hand, a group he has promised to fight in taking up the legendary mantle of the Iron Fist.
While Danny is the main character of the series, many characters have their own running stories in this season. Ward (Tom Pelphrey) and Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) run Rand Industries and hold it with a firm grip despite family struggles including the loss of their father Harold (David Wenham). Danny also finds assistance in martial arts teacher Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick).
Every superhero series though needs a villain, right? So where's the villain? Well, there's a lot and none. Throughout the course of the series, many characters pop up as threats, but none stay long or leave an impact. One in particular is so poorly acted that he actively takes away from the series' climax.
***This is a review of the opening season of Iron Fist and serves as an introduction to new viewers. There will be no spoilers beyond the basic opening synopsis, only analysis of the elements of the series and its characters.***
We live in a connected world where a single narrative can dominate critical discussion before a product has even been released. Iron Fist was on life support upon arrival due to rampant claims of racism surrounding the faithful depiction of the main character. However, there is far more to a series than a single casting choice.
Rather than letting just discourse dominate the discussion of this opening season, I will simply state that the series would certainly be different with an Asian-American lead. It might have made for a more unique viewing experience, but the series does not suffer dramatically for its decision leading to a generic view of the white billionaire.
This series has much bigger issues going against it than racial dynamics as the series is both slow moving and often written illogically.
Iron Fist's first season begins with the return of Danny Rand (Finn Jones) to New York City after being presumed dead for 15 years to find his family's business radically changed. He must decide how best to reclaim his family legacy while also facing the rising threat of the Hand, a group he has promised to fight in taking up the legendary mantle of the Iron Fist.
While Danny is the main character of the series, many characters have their own running stories in this season. Ward (Tom Pelphrey) and Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) run Rand Industries and hold it with a firm grip despite family struggles including the loss of their father Harold (David Wenham). Danny also finds assistance in martial arts teacher Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick).
Every superhero series though needs a villain, right? So where's the villain? Well, there's a lot and none. Throughout the course of the series, many characters pop up as threats, but none stay long or leave an impact. One in particular is so poorly acted that he actively takes away from the series' climax.
Forget Iron Fist S2, just get to the Daughters of the Dragon series already. (Image Courtesy of: inverse.com)
Speaking on acting, Finn Jones (Game of Thrones) failed to live up to his predecessors, not charismatic enough to be the single lead and make up for lackluster writing. He is quite good selling his moments of true frustration as well as the romantic moments but cannot sell his character's imposing force or quick wit.
Jessica Henwick (Game of Thrones) is the star of the series with great presence in the action, easy delivery, and clear chemistry with Jones. Everyone else hardly makes an impact with Tom Pelphrey (Banshee) and Jessica Stroup (90210) not quite hitting in roles that should have given them range to steal the show.
The real criminals here are the horde of writers at the helm who all cannot seem to decide on the tone and mood. The dialogue is woefully expository and sometimes stilted while the characters are driven to make decisions almost purely based upon what will make the plot go.
The direction of the series has be broken down into pieces as there is some truly fantastic cinematography from Manuel Billeter who was behind the camera for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones as well. However, the choreography is sometimes woefully ineffective and at best just fun rather than visceral when Danny is the focus.
Iron Fist has a terrible start with as strong middle chapter then falls on its face with its conclusion. Only two episodes in the series stood out: "Immortal Emerges from Cave" and "Bar the Big Boss". Both have a steady flow of action (with the best choreography of the season) and hit the emotional moments well.
While other Marvel-Netflix seasons have also fallen at the finish, they all carried a quality of genuine interest. Too much of this series relies on too many differing feelings. Some of the best parts are the fully embraced B-movie cheese while the intense moments are let down by people at the helm who cannot create foundations.
I won't say that I didn't enjoy Iron Fist, but I constantly felt myself tuning out. When the series started out, the only reason to keep watching was the hope that it would improve. While it does, it hardly makes the journey worth the time invested. Marvel-Netflix has hit so many times that it was time for a miss, but this was a big miss.
Jessica Henwick (Game of Thrones) is the star of the series with great presence in the action, easy delivery, and clear chemistry with Jones. Everyone else hardly makes an impact with Tom Pelphrey (Banshee) and Jessica Stroup (90210) not quite hitting in roles that should have given them range to steal the show.
The real criminals here are the horde of writers at the helm who all cannot seem to decide on the tone and mood. The dialogue is woefully expository and sometimes stilted while the characters are driven to make decisions almost purely based upon what will make the plot go.
The direction of the series has be broken down into pieces as there is some truly fantastic cinematography from Manuel Billeter who was behind the camera for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones as well. However, the choreography is sometimes woefully ineffective and at best just fun rather than visceral when Danny is the focus.
Iron Fist has a terrible start with as strong middle chapter then falls on its face with its conclusion. Only two episodes in the series stood out: "Immortal Emerges from Cave" and "Bar the Big Boss". Both have a steady flow of action (with the best choreography of the season) and hit the emotional moments well.
While other Marvel-Netflix seasons have also fallen at the finish, they all carried a quality of genuine interest. Too much of this series relies on too many differing feelings. Some of the best parts are the fully embraced B-movie cheese while the intense moments are let down by people at the helm who cannot create foundations.
I won't say that I didn't enjoy Iron Fist, but I constantly felt myself tuning out. When the series started out, the only reason to keep watching was the hope that it would improve. While it does, it hardly makes the journey worth the time invested. Marvel-Netflix has hit so many times that it was time for a miss, but this was a big miss.