Netflix and Marvel's
Iron Fist is set to hit small screens everywhere next Friday, March 17th. Ahead of the release, some early reviews for the series have hit the web from various outlets, and it will come as a disappointment to many that the reception to the final Defender is less-than-stellar. While the reasons are many, the main criticisms appear to be levelled at poor pacing, characters, and story.
You can check out some excerpts of the reviews below, and hit the links for more in-depth analysis. Beware of a few minor
SPOILERS over episode content, but there's nothing too major. Let us know what you think in the comments below!
The Verge
With any property that touches on the politics of the day, there really is a rush to judge its merits before it comes out, when patience might better serve the would-be critics. After all, Marvel has earned enough goodwill since Daredevil premiered in 2015 to hope that wrestling with its inherently problematic source material might give its latest series a charge, and make it current and relevant. The sad truth, however, is that Iron Fist is the weakest of Marvel’s Netflix series to date. As far as diversity, representation, and appropriation go, the series fails in a number of ways. But, over the course of its first six episodes, it also manages to fall short on basic levels like storytelling. Its creative laziness bankrupts the entire show. Marvel’s new series is a disappointing case study in studios needing to try harder to tell difficult stories well.
Variety
Iron Fist is the most frustrating and ferociously boring example of Netflix Drift [pacing problems] in some time...It takes forever for anything to happen on Iron Fist, and as it stumbles along, the uninspired production design, unexceptional cinematography, and painful dialogue fail to distract the viewer from the overall lack of depth, detail, or momentum...Good luck, bingers: Getting through two episodes was a challenge.
THR
Through six episodes, in addition to failing to introduce a main character I care about at all, Iron Fist hasn't given me any season-long arc/objective that I could describe for you, much less one I'm curious to see resolved — and that's before it hits that wall between episodes 7 and 12 that none of the Marvel shows has been immune to. For heaven's sake, Iron Fist has already wasted the "Is our hero actually crazy?" gaslighting episode, a structural conceit that doesn't work when you ask the audience to question everything we think we know about a character before we actually know anything about the character. With a big four-hero mashup allegedly unfolding out of Iron Fist, this misstep couldn't have come at a worse time for Marvel and Netflix. It's a good thing I really like Daredevil, Jessica and Luke.
UPROXX
If Iron Fist was an otherwise boring series with a hero who kicked butt in exciting ways early and often, I’d forgive the bland expository parts in the same way I do for a lot of action shows and movies. And if Finn Jones couldn’t fight but was otherwise a riveting screen presence blessed with sparkling dialogue and a compelling character arc, I’d get past the alleged living weapon’s lame physical prowess. But when neither part works at all, why would anyone but the most devout, masochistic Marvel completist want to watch?
MIC
Iron Fist isn't a terrible show by any means; if it aired on the CW, it might have even felt like a revelation. But Netflix has earned high expectations for its superhero shows, ones that have been able to effectively tackle heavy topics like sexual assault. When it comes to The Defenders, Iron Fist just doesn't pack enough of a punch.
CNET
As the last member to join the roster of Netflix's "Defenders" crossover, "Iron Fist" felt like the chance to broaden the TV universe's gritty scope with levity and more fantastic elements, especially in a post-"Doctor Strange" world. It comes tantalisingly close to indulging in over-the-top action, but after half a dozen episodes, you're left with the impression that everyone involved is maybe taking a show about a kung fu master who once hugged a dragon to death a little too seriously.
Fifteen years after being presumed dead in a plane crash, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) mysteriously returns to New York City determined to reclaim his birthright and family company. However, when a long-destined enemy rises in New York, this living weapon is forced to choose between his family’s legacy and his duties as the Iron Fist.