Iron Fist (Marvel/Netflix)

[Seven of Five]

I'm a bit late the party. I finally made it through Iron Fist, after two aborted starts. Both times I made it just two episodes in, and both times I just felt so bored. This time I just thought that I'd blast through it, and even if it's terrible, at least I'd be somewhat ready for The Defenders.

So somewhere around episode six or seven I was finally being more drawn in. I agree with a lot of the opinion here that suggests that Finn is probably the least successful aspect of the show, and is why it was the hardest of the Netflix/Marvel shows to get into. Having said that, I've enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was going to. Claire Temple was good to watch again, and in particular I'm enjoying her becoming a fighter. Ward and Colleen were probably the most interesting characters for me, with Harold the most interesting villain. It was a shame that he remained so separate throughout the season, right until the last episode.

The pacing was definitely off. There was too much of a slow burn going on in the first half, whereas the last episode and the DEA being after Danny all happened so quickly it could have done with some time to breathe.

It's funny back when Scott Buck was announced as showrunner for this, I was pretty wary being as he was the head writer of the last three seasons of Dexter, which were some of the worst episodes. I can see he has been moved on to another project for the show's second season, so hopefully there is a more definitive direction for the show and for Iron Fist himself.

And now I have to wait for the hubby gets back from work before launching into The Defenders.

 

[Skywalker]

I, too, just finished watching this after putting it off for so long. I agree that the first few episodes are kind of a slow burn, and once the storyline moves past all that "Is he really Danny Rand?" and "Will he get his company back?" stuff it gets more interesting. Finn Jones was probably the weakest link in the cast but he wasn't awful; there's certainly room for improvement, though.

I am glad I watched this before starting The Defenders, though. And I'm actually pretty optimistic about the future of the show, now.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Well, there have now been three signs that season 2 may see an improvement; the new showrunner, how Danny was portrayed in Defenders, and now, Finn Jones is beginning physical training four months before shooting begins. In S1, he essentially came straight from Game of Thrones and learned his choreography on the spot. Hopefully, this means that the fight scenes will look better.

Plus the possibility of adding Daughters of the Dragon to the mix and I'm genuinely looking forward to S2.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, Jones just having actual time to train and learn the choreography will be a huge help. Hopefully he puts on a little muscle. Not that Iron Fist should be like a bodybuilder or anything, but he should be a little more defined.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Yeah, Jones just having actual time to train and learn the choreography will be a huge help. Hopefully he puts on a little muscle. Not that Iron Fist should be like a bodybuilder or anything, but he should be a little more defined.

Agreed. And recall that Hugh Jackman was quickly cast as a replacement Wolverine and didn't have time to train before filming and it shows. In every appearance after that he had time to train and he was ripped.

 

[LJones41]

I saw a clip from "The Defenders" that involved a major fight scene. Finn Jones was . . . okay as far as screen fighting goes. But I also noticed that both Charlie Cox and Elodie Young looked better. But it's possible that Jones will get better in time.

 

[Skywalker]

Elodie Yung is a trained martial artist. Charlie Cox has both been doing this longer than Jones and is more easily replaced by a stunt performer when needed.

Jones will be fine next season. He's got far more time to prepare this time around than he did before, since he started filming Iron Fist very shortly after he got the part, and then jumped into The Defenders immediately after that.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

And he's already started training for Iron Fist season two, so that will hopefully help.

 

[Anwar]

The big problem is that Danny doesn't wear a mask, so they can't sub in a pro stuntman like they can with Daredevil.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, but Jones has hinted that he might get a costume next season. Which, if true, will hopefully include a mask.

Maybe he'll cross paths with a certain Melvin Potter...

 

[tomalak301]

I'm finally getting into the series and it's not as bad as the 17% says. In fact i enjoyed the second episode more than the first even though I still don't think I like this Hand storyline. It's just not really interesting to me yet. Still Danny summoning the Iron Fist was cool and makes me want to continue.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

17% doesn't mean it's terrible, it means it's consistently not good. It means 83% of critics thought the bad outweighed the good based on the first six episodes or so. It's worth pointing out the average rating was 4.5, meaning critics thought it was worth a four or five out of ten. The problem is six is considered fresh. If 100% of critics gave a show a five, it would get a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, it's unusual for something that is good to get consistently poor reviews (polarizing views are different, I could see a well-loved film or show get 50% because people love it or hate it).

 

[Anwar]

I'm more surprised at the high ratings all the other MCU Netflix shows got, I mean DD JJ and LC are good but I don't think they're THAT good.

 

[LJones41]

17% doesn't mean it's terrible, it means it's consistently not good. It means 83% of critics thought the bad outweighed the good based on the first six episodes or so.

To be honest, I don't see this as a reflection of the show's quality. I think the latter really depends upon each individual's personal opinion of the show. It's all subjective.

 

[tomalak301]

17% doesn't mean it's terrible, it means it's consistently not good. It means 83% of critics thought the bad outweighed the good based on the first six episodes or so. It's worth pointing out the average rating was 4.5, meaning critics thought it was worth a four or five out of ten. The problem is six is considered fresh. If 100% of critics gave a show a five, it would get a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, it's unusual for something that is good to get consistently poor reviews (polarizing views are different, I could see a well-loved film or show get 50% because people love it or hate it).

Yeah I know Rottentomatoes isn't really a good source of reviews, and unfortunately I have a habit of going there. I do however remember all the controversey surrounding this show and I think that might have led to the bad reviews/press and so far I don't really see it just talking in terms of the show's quality. After only seeing the first two episodes I just think it's average, but there's a lot of time to go yet.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Jones will be fine next season. He's got far more time to prepare this time around than he did before, since he started filming Iron Fist very shortly after he got the part, and then jumped into The Defenders immediately after that.

Could Batman play Iron Fist? If he had time to prepare?

 

[Christopher]

Could Batman play Iron Fist? If he had time to prepare?

He is a master of disguise.

 

[Anwar]

Critics were ready to go into Iron Fist with a biased viewpoint. There was already the outcry before the show started about the lead being white (of course, no one cared that Dr Strange did a similar story) instead of Asian. And then the show had the opposite problem of the others (it started off weak and got better in the latter half, while the others tend to peter out halfway through) and most critics only saw the first half.

And the show doesn't have the "Major Issues" thing the others do (the lead isn't blind, isn't a woman dealing with rape trauma or a black man dealing with racial issues). It deals with child abuse, but not in as intensely a manner.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

While there was plenty of bias against Iron Fist because of race, there was also a lot of outcry against Doctor Strange about race, too.

I admit I had some bias going into the show, but most of it came from what the reviews specifically said about the show, particularly regarding the story, the characters and the acting. I wanted to believe they were wrong and there were some instances where I completely disagreed, such as the notion about the board meetings being excessive and boring (they were barely there and usually they served a purpose). However, in general I found myself agreeing with the reviews despite them, not because of them, in regards to acting and writing. That being said, one of the things that people often criticized the show for is the fighting (outside of the drunk ninja played by the actor who auditioned for Danny) and I didn't have much of a problem with that aspect, although I freely admit I don't have much of an eye for fighting, especially specific styles.

 

[Spot261]

While there was plenty of bias against Iron Fist because of race, there was also a lot of outcry against Doctor Strange about race, too.

I admit I had some bias going into the show, but most of it came from what the reviews specifically said about the show, particularly regarding the story, the characters and the acting. I wanted to believe they were wrong and there were some instances where I completely disagreed, such as the notion about the board meetings being excessive and boring (they were barely there and usually they served a purpose). However, in general I found myself agreeing with the reviews despite them, not because of them, in regards to acting and writing. That being said, one of the things that people often criticized the show for is the fighting (outside of the drunk ninja played by the actor who auditioned for Danny) and I didn't have much of a problem with that aspect, although I freely admit I don't have much of an eye for fighting, especially specific styles.

Hint: not one real fight has ever actually looked like a choreographed kung fu movie scene, no matter how well trained the combatants