Once again, this review is NOT spoiler free.
Expectations: Given Marvel’s track record with these shows, I was definitely looking forward to Iron Fist when it was announced. Then I saw the first trailers. I was...underwhelmed. The lead actor looked the part, there was some mystery initiated in the narration, and we got glimpses of people like Madam Gao to up the ante, but we didn’t get to see much in the way of amazing martial arts.
In preparation for the launch, I spent some birthday cash to pick up copies of the Immortal Iron Fist comics run begun by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja, which were fantastic. After reading them, I was ready to see a mystical monastery, hordes of ninja assassins, a showdown with the dragon Shao-Lao the Undying, and kung fu artistry to make Jet Li ashamed.
I got none of those things.
Easter Eggs: I caught a poster showing Stan Lee’s face in one of the later episodes and there are multiple references to the other Defenders peppered throughout the dialogue.
Opening Sequence: This was a real let down for me. All three previous Marvel Netflix offerings had fitting (in the case of Daredevil, perfectly so) openings and music. Iron Fist’s opening is a CGI rendering of the title character performing kung fu, with the moves leaving swirling lines of wavy, ink-dark tracery behind that is reminiscent of Japanese or Chinese calligraphy. All of this is set to a blend of traditional Eastern music and Tron-Legacy-like techno beat. So far, so good.
However, the color pallet is all dark grays, leaving the lines with less pop. Additionally, at the end of the sequence, the lines reveal nothing. They serve no purpose but to “look cool”. During the first episode, I kept waiting for the pan out to show us Iron Fist’s kata had drawn out the dragon symbol of his power. Contrast this with Daredevil’s opening which hints at both character motivation and actions. Overall, it just felt like a missed opportunity.
Themes: Iron Fist is a show about purpose and the search for meaning. Several characters are caught between who they want to be and what they feel they need to do. Because it relates so closely to Luke Cage’s theme of choices, I can easily see Luke and Danny having common ground in the upcoming Defenders title.
Acting: I don’t have any complaints here. Everyone in the main cast did a solid job. Finn Jones did a good job showing the innocence that a young man who grew up secluded in a monastery would have. Jessica Henwick is very good as Colleen Wing, the martial arts instructor and sidekick, with sweetness and confidence in equal measure. Jessica Stroup and Tom Pelphrey were completely believable as sister and brother duo Joy and Ward Meachum. I think Pelphrey deserves special mention for his work on a character who ends up being as complex as Ward. David Wenham is an utterly human kind of monster as Harold Meachum, Ward and Joy’s father. Rosario Dawson just is Claire Temple at this point. And Wai Ching Ho returns with a good bit more screen time as Madam Gao, manipulator extraordinaire, a role that seems like it was written with her in mind.
Writing: This show has three major flaws and two of them are here.
First is pacing. I completely understand the complaints of slow pacing that began echoing down the tubes that comprise the internet when the show first aired. I think this was deliberate on the part of the writers. The main character meanders through a good portion of his life, pulled this way and that by competing loyalties and goals, and the story meanders with him.
Another reviewer I listened to theorized that, in the age of binge watch television like Netflix and Amazon Video, the writers were trotting out not thirteen distinct episodes, but a thirteen hour origin story movie. I can’t speak to the writers’ and producers’ intentions, but at times the plot feels like it’s true.
As a result, we spend an awfully large amount of time in stories that are centered around people who aren’t the title character.
Which brings up the second flaw: side characters that are more interesting than the main character. I have two in mind specifically: Ward Meachum and Colleen Wing.
Ward starts off as the mirror opposite of Danny. He’s got a family, an important place at Rand Enterprises, and a sense of purpose and drive. He’s also an annoying brat. Over the course of the show, Ward loses his position at Rand, he loses the love of and respect for his abusive father, and loses the purpose that his father had given him by proxy: building the Meachum legacy at Rand.
What Ward does that Danny does not seem to fully do, is replace what he’s lost. He regains his position at Rand, this time on his own terms. He not only stands up to his father, he is instrumental in helping bring him down. He actively tries to protect his sister. And along the way he grows into a sympathetic character. The viewer WANTS Ward to win.
But the best thing about this show is Colleen Wing. She’s the most fully orbed character we meet. The first time we see her on screen, she gives Danny, who she thinks is a homeless beggar, a couple of dollars. The very same scene shows her tacking up flyers for her struggling dojo, underlining her compassion. She continues in that vein, honorably and capably giving of herself and her skills to her students and to Danny. When her love for Danny challenges what she believes, she follows him into certain danger repeatedly and gives up the closest thing she has to family for him.
Compare that to the main character’s story arc. Danny Rand starts off as a homeless orphan who’s been raised by interdimensional warrior monks (in a monastery we never get to see) to be a living weapon in a battle he doesn’t fully comprehend. He abandons those duties, and the only family he’s had for fifteen years, to return to New York. He then, through luck and the compassion of a childhood friend, becomes the billionaire majority shareholder of his father’s corporation. He proceeds to mandate policy changes, despite having no understanding whatsoever of how to run a business. He then abandons his duties as a board member to pursue The Hand, all the while being manipulated left and right by their very agents.
After he’s managed to screw up everything with his lack of focus, his best friend from K’un Lun rescues him and tries to bring him back to fulfill the duties of the Iron Fist. What does Danny do? He pulls rank and insists that, since he’s the Iron Fist, he’ll use his power however he wants and runs off to prevent a monster he set free from destroying the very legacy he came back to claim in the first place.
Not everything about the writing is bad, however. The attempts by both Madam Gao and Bakuto to manipulate Danny into working with them or ignoring them are pretty well executed. All of Harold Meachum’s manipulations, as well as his slowly growing insanity, are laid out with skill.
Danny does have a couple moments showing real growth. One scene that jumps to mind is him asking his office manager at Rand Enterprises for help in sifting information that is related to the activities of The Hand. His concern for her and for the company win her over and we get to see a little charm thrown in with the addition of an origami lotus that he leaves on her desk.
Action: The third and final flaw is this: badly done fight scenes. The Immortal Iron Fist is Marvel’s premier kung fu action hero. Not only do we not get very much of him showing off his skills, especially at first, what we do get is not quite on par with Daredevil in terms of choreography and aesthetic.
In perhaps the worst example of this, Colleen takes on a guard at a Hand compound and takes him out at the end of the fight with a stomp to the head. The camera clearly shows the actress stomping in front of the man’s face. While this is by no means the norm, if fans go in expecting Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and get Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, there is a problem somewhere.
That said, there are several large fights. Danny takes on security guards, hatchet wielding gangsters, Hand trainees, and DEA agents en masse. People are punched, kicked, subjected to joint locks, stabbed, bashed, and shot. There’s a fight in a moving truck that involves kitchen utensils. Danny uses the power of the Iron Fist to break down doors, escape from restraints, and send a group of bad guys flying. Cars get dented and windows shatter.
The most visceral violence occurs in Harold Meachum’s sanctum. He hits his son Ward, then gives him platitudes about how he loves Ward and is doing all this to secure him a legacy. Ward stabs Harold with a wakizashi (a Japanese short sword). Harold kills and disfigures two Hand agents and makes Ward dispose of the bodies. Harold pulverizes his own assistant with the butt of an ice cream scoop.
One final point in the show’s favor is, again, Colleen Wing. With the one unfortunate exception I mentioned above, the choreography for Colleen is quite good. She takes on opponents much larger than her by relying on surprise, speed, superior training, and usually her ancestral katana (a Japanese long sword). She moves like a bouncy ball of doom. In short, she’s portrayed as an amazingly talented martial artist with weaknesses and strengths that are different from the people around her and in keeping with her stature.
Music: Unmemorable. There’s a running gag regarding Danny listening to old school rap and hip hop while he runs through his forms, but aside from that I can’t pick anything out.
Summary: I feel like there was a really good story buried under the slow pacing, but it just didn’t center around Danny Rand, the Iron Fist. For the first time in a while, Marvel has given us an offering that doesn’t seem to understand its audience or its title character. If you’re looking for martial arts action and a compelling hero, skip this and go re-watch Daredevil.
