FinnBoyega's Marvel's Iron Fist Spoiler Free review

Am I the only one who thinks of Oliver Queen when Danny Rand is talking?

Im on ep9. Enjoying the show. Id say definitely keeping me invested than jj or lc did. Looking to seeing rand in the defenders.

6.5 or 7/10 sounds about right to me.

The first two episodes are slow, then it picks up and gets a lot more interesting, before finally leveling off around episode 10. With the exception of the final episode, which I think was rather weak, primarily because of who they settled on to be ultimately the show's primary villain/Danny's final opponent. But the characterizations were all strong, though some weren't as well-written as others (Harold Meachum is a prime example -- more on him in a minute).

I think Finn Jones' performance is much more layered than critics blinded by a desire not to incur the wrath of the SJWs, and the blinded-by-misplaced-anger SJWs themselves, give it credit for. Even very basic common sense seems to evade a lot of the critics who have been lambasting the show, and Jones in particular. One ridiculous complaint you often see in reviews is that it's not reasonable that Danny Rand would show back up after fifteen years expecting to be welcomed back with open arms. Of course it's reasonable, considering Danny Rand, ultimate warrior though he may be, still has the emotional maturity of a ten-year-old-boy. It's as if the critics either weren't paying attention to key exchanges throughout the series, or willingly chose to ignore those things counterproductive to their preconceived "white savior" nonsense.

What I especially liked about Jones was that, for a dude who only had, what was it, a month between being cast and the start of filming to train for the role, he does a surprisingly solid job during the martial arts sequences. But y'know, Charlie Cox had a fight double for most of DD season 1 too, and no one seemed to complain about it. Yet he worked his ass of during the off-season, came back in season 2 and ended up doing a lot more of his own fights. I'm sure Jones will do the same. So if/when Iron Fist season 2 comes around -- and I do hope there is a season 2 -- expect Jones to be doing a lot more of his own fight scenes, and a lot more convincingly.

The biggest faults of this show for me were the same faults that Luke Cage suffered from -- namely the uneven pacing, how it occasionally seemed to be wandering about in hopes of tripping over a central through-line, and a piss-poor choice of final villain. Except unlike in Luke Cage, I think in Iron Fist the actors and their obvious dedication to their roles make up for more of those weaknesses. To use Howard Meachum as an example again, however poorly written he was, I don't think he was anywhere near as poorly written, or as wincingly campy and badly portrayed, as Diamondback from Luke Cage.

Brass tacks: The critics and knee-jerk reacting SJWs were way off in their critiques. Of course they didn't enjoy the show, because as a result of all that ridiculous pre-release anti-Asian rhetoric, they went in already determined not to like it -- because it starred a white dude! And they accuse his creators of being racist??? Oy to the [frick]ing vey....

Anyway. It isn't great, true (I put most of the blame on the showrunner, who obviously struggled to build a full and complete season-long storyline) but it's not even close to being awful. Although -- and not to contradict that I did like the show -- I did notice one huge brain-fart in the show. It's revealed at one point that Danny took a vow of celibacy...but he seems to have forgotten all about it when you-know-who puts the moves on him. I was expecting there to at least be a hestitation -- "Wait...I made an oath to keep it in my pants, remember?" -- but nope, it never comes up again (no pun intended).

How I'd rate all the Marvel Netflix shows to date:

1. Daredevil, Season 1 -- 9/10
2. Jessica Jones -- 8/10
3. TIE: DD season 2, Iron Fist -- 7/10
4. Luke Cage - 4/10