Iron Fist Spoiler Review

Marvel's Iron Fist took a beating from critics prior to its release this past week. Currently with a 17% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Marvel's newest addition to their Netflix Defenders Universe is the lowest rated one yet. So where did the so go so wrong?

Episode one starts off and you immediately feel that Netflix/Marvel charm that Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage all brought prior. However, by episode three you will be asking yourself "should I even bother continuing?" 

Before I continue with the bad, cause there is quite a bit, I will touch on the good of the show. 

Without a doubt the first episode was the best part of the season. The introduction to who Danny Rand is at this point in time was handled very well. A lot of the back story is revealed through-out the season, but it was handled best in episode one. With that the character of Ward Meachum, the son of Harold Meachum, Co-founder of Rand Enterprises, has the most interesting story arc through-out the entire 13 episodes. His battle with substance abuse, his trying to please his father but not wanting to become his father was very intricate and pleasing in the end. 

Finally, Rosario Dawson, reprising her role as Clair "The Night nurse" Temple was an excellent addition. Unfortunately for fans of hers there was very little substance to her character and no real growth. I could easily talk about this in the bad remarks portion, but I am a big fan of Rosario and feel she was the best actress in the show, despite the poor dialogue through-out. 

Now the bad. 

The pacing, just like the previous three Netflix/Marvel shows is just horrible. Thirteen episodes is too many for these shows. 10 episodes should be the mark for these seasons. Luckily it seems Marvel has taken notice of this big complain as Defenders show will only have eight episodes. 

Now I don't know about you but I was expecting a Kung-Fu heavy show. I mean what else should we expect from a show about a Legendary Martial Artists? So why was there so little action? When we actually get some fighting the choreography is a bit lacking as it seems TOO practiced and clean. (If you have seen the Star Wars prequels, you should understand that.) 

Season One of Daredevil we all knew Kingpin was the bad guy, as we knew Purple man was for Jessica Jones and Cottonmouth was for Luke Cage. So why is it after 13 episodes of Iron Fist I still have no idea who the BIG BAD of the show was?  Ward Meachum looked to be taking that tile early on but then then The Hand seemed to take it, however they were never established as a real threat. Then in the final episode. YES, the FINAL EPISODE, Harold Meachum is discovered to be behind everything. And man did that feel forced. The silver lining with that revelation was Ward's story arc in killing his father. 

Now, maybe the most disappointed aspect of the show was how they tried to fool everyone into thinking that Colleen Wing was anything but a member of the Hand. It was pretty early on that I figured out that there was more to her than being just a Dojo runner in New York. Her character also went from strong-willed bad ass to quirky little mentor to damaged... The flow of the character was just horrendous. 

I'm sure there is A LOT more I could get into regarding this, but DAMN if Marvel didn't swing and miss with this one. 

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