Iron Fist Season 1 REVIEW

Okay, folks, let's talk about Iron Fist.

Now, I first feel bad, because as of writing this, I have yet to officially review the exceptional Daredevil Season 2 or the fun and engaging Luke Cage, but I just finished Iron Fist and I feel like I had to get my thoughts on the screen before I moved on back to the other shows.

For the record, I did enjoy Iron Fist at certain points of the show. I say this now because I'm completely aware that the following statements to the detriment of the show are going to be seen as a totally negative review. I can't help how I feel about the final product, this is just the way it is.

As a quick review, the plot of the series is that after surviving a plane crash in the Himilayas and living within a mythical society of warrior monks, Danny Rand returns to his home in New York City to rekindle relationships with his childhood friends and take up ownership of his company, Rand Enterprises. But evil forces scheming against both Danny and the Iron Fist are putting up a fight before Danny gets his way.

Talking about the lead role of Danny Rand (played  by Finn Jones), I flip-flop on how I feel his performance was. He wasn't necessarily bad, he simply never became dynamic enough or engaging enough to care about him more than the fact that he was the 'main character.' He was a fine martial artist (I'll talk on the choreography and cinematography later), and his delivery was okay, but more often than not, the character of Danny Rand was bland if he wasn't using the Iron Fist or if he wasn't having his PTSD flashbacks. Jones wasn't asked to do a lot as the Iron Fist, and he clearly didn't go above and beyond with the material. Compared to the other Defenders (being Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage), Iron Fist clearly is the weakest of the bunch in terms of character.

A saving grace for the series is Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing, who is not only graceful in her combat sequences, but in many ways, is both a superior actor and character than her series counterpart Finn Jones. She's got gravitas, she's got more personality, despite the brooding that comes along with it, and she's overall more enjoyable to watch on-screen. Plus, viewers have to experience Colleen's experience and strength, despite not having super powers. It's a character type we haven't seen since Daredevil Season 2, and it highlights the best aspects of these street-level heroes: gritty action combined with powerful character moments. That's what Colleen has to offer, and it's why she's the best thing this show has to offer.

When it comes to antagonists, this show is all over the place, and not in the coherent, engaging manner compared to something like Game of Thrones. There are at least three antagonists, one of which has appeared in past Netflix series, and she's the only one who seems to make any meaningful impact by the end of the series. Yes, the other two leave their mark on the series, but because of how the series plays out, The antagonists were ultimately weak, and not a satisfying enough challenge for Danny Rand to go up against.

Now, the cinematography and choreography of fight sequences are what I feel like Iron Fist suffered from the worst. Camera shots were always oddly-placed, and made the show look even lower-budget than I would have suspected it was. Not only that, but the camera work highlighted just how blatantly choreographed each and every fight sequence was. Most of them (unless the Iron Fist was in use) didn't feel real, didn't feel tough, didn't feel authentic. When people highlight how choreographed the lightsaber fights from Star Wars: Episodes 1, 2, and 3 were, at least there were lightsabers to help distract and amaze from the fact. But here, Danny rarely goes up against anything other than a 3 v 1 fight, and each one is just as underwhelming as the last. It's such a disappointment, especially after being told that this show would allude to the classic kung-fu movie era, and deliver such a disappointing package, makes me feel like I just wasted the 9 minutes from that past fight sequence and could have just skipped along to the next part of the plot.

Ultimately, Marvel's Iron Fist is a disappointing fourth edition to the Marvel/Netflix lineup, and not at all the high leading into Marvel's The Defenders that it should have been. Danny Rand was fine, but forgettable, he didn't have a great arc or villains to face, and the show would've faltered due to bad camera work and choreography if it wasn't for the impeccable Colleen Wing. If The Defenders wasn't next, I wouldn't have stopped by. I'm fine with seeing more Iron Fist, but when it's ready to be re-worked and approached with greater care.

Rating: 5/10