I usually don't review TV shows, but felt compelled to write after the unfair poor reviews, and the alt-right somehow stepping in. I've watched the same amount of episodes that the critics claim to have watched, and I think they're lying; most of them clearly watched the first and maybe the second, and then wrote a trendy review. It's pretty much on par with the other Netflix Marvel shows, with the same weaknesses and strengths. The catch is that the first couple of episodes feel more like a CW show, due to different characters and the way it introduces our hero.
Rather than introducing yet another cynical, jaded hero, which would have made this hard to distinguish from "Daredevil", we are given a clueless, regressed man-child, with a heart of gold and a hipster look. He has not matured above age 12 or so, and still behaves like a devout monk. He reminds me of some small-town friends when they traveled overseas as part of a church mission; the beat of the big cities and the squalor of the slums was too much for them. Like all of the other Netflix Marvel series, the challenge of the hero is not much about fighting the super-powered villain of the week, but exploring a super-powerful person dealing with real-life circle of societal powers, where they are weak outsiders. It is humorous and endearing to see him be out of his league, despite all of his powers. Perhaps critics preferred another Jeaneane Garrofalo clone like Jessica Jones.
Addressing the other criticisms:
-The pacing: yes, it starts somewhat slow, and builds up the hero and villains (which are not black & white), putting the hero in a vulnerable position, and not revealing much of his powers. It goes into where you would want it to by the end of episode 3, and then dives into Daredevil's world after that. This is an odd criticism, as "Luke Cage" had the same pacing and build up in the first 3 episodes, and "Daredevil" also took it slow in the first few episodes. "Jessica Jones" had an extremely uneven pacing, with the story stopping-and-starting after often detouring to unlikable secondary characters.
-That it's racist whitewashing: they cast a white young man to play a white young man. I would fully support this criticism if Finn Jones would have been cast as Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, but it's not the case. Quite frankly, I don't care what race Danny Rand would have been, as he is not a very iconic character, although some choices would have involved significant re-writing of the plot and a very different character. To say that he could have only been an eastern Asian plays into the stereotype that all Asians are good at martial arts. It also makes another racist statement: that no one else is good at martial arts, except for those who invented it. That's like saying that the lead in "Creed" should have been an Iraqi or a Greek. It also ignores that many champions of martial arts are not eastern Asians. For example: Connor McGregor is the off/on MMA champion, and it's usually South Americans who challenge him. The Koreans obtained most of the medals in Tae Kwon Do and the Japanese in judo at the latest Olympics, but many other medalists were European and Irani. The various kumite karate world champions vary in race and nationality; they're not all Japanese or even eastern Asian. And as for a white hero being very skilled at martial arts and taking on ninjas: why wasn't this a criticism of "Batman Begins" and "Daredevil"? Also making this claim silly: Rand's character was trained by mandarin-speaking monks from another dimension. It's unclear whom else they were training, and who earned the mantle of Iron Fist before him; he just happened to earn it then, possibly fulfilling the prophecy. Finally, while everyone was not watching the show and complaining of this, they missed fight scenes in this show involving an Asian-American woman taking down big white guys.
-The quality of the fight scenes: this seems to vary per who directed the episode. The first couple of episodes essentially have Finn Jones doing slow movements, which are then sped up. He combines some basic wushu with judo and parkour. It improves later, when directors with experience from the other Netflix Marvel shows take over. Finn's kicks and movements are more impressive, and there's better use of editing and doubles to hide his weaknesses. It's not on par with "Daredevil", but this show has the disadvantage of not having its hero in a costume, to better disguise skilled stuntmen. It's still miles better than the fighting in "Jessica Jones", and Luke Cage's habit of just repeatedly tossing people. The scenes involving Collen Wing are much better, with better fight scenes and opponents who put more effort.
-It's topically irrelevant to the current, real world: after the first few episodes, we get into big pharma overpricing medications; the opioid epidemic and the role of big pharma in it; hipster's clashes with realities when they take on big corporations or become overnight CEOs themselves; human trafficking; corporate images in the viral era; morally ambiguous situations in lawsuits against big corporations. If this is not relevant, then the critics need to go out for a walk.
I still prefer "Daredevil", but this so far is an engaging addition to the series. Make up your mind.
Rather than introducing yet another cynical, jaded hero, which would have made this hard to distinguish from "Daredevil", we are given a clueless, regressed man-child, with a heart of gold and a hipster look. He has not matured above age 12 or so, and still behaves like a devout monk. He reminds me of some small-town friends when they traveled overseas as part of a church mission; the beat of the big cities and the squalor of the slums was too much for them. Like all of the other Netflix Marvel series, the challenge of the hero is not much about fighting the super-powered villain of the week, but exploring a super-powerful person dealing with real-life circle of societal powers, where they are weak outsiders. It is humorous and endearing to see him be out of his league, despite all of his powers. Perhaps critics preferred another Jeaneane Garrofalo clone like Jessica Jones.
Addressing the other criticisms:
-The pacing: yes, it starts somewhat slow, and builds up the hero and villains (which are not black & white), putting the hero in a vulnerable position, and not revealing much of his powers. It goes into where you would want it to by the end of episode 3, and then dives into Daredevil's world after that. This is an odd criticism, as "Luke Cage" had the same pacing and build up in the first 3 episodes, and "Daredevil" also took it slow in the first few episodes. "Jessica Jones" had an extremely uneven pacing, with the story stopping-and-starting after often detouring to unlikable secondary characters.
-That it's racist whitewashing: they cast a white young man to play a white young man. I would fully support this criticism if Finn Jones would have been cast as Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, but it's not the case. Quite frankly, I don't care what race Danny Rand would have been, as he is not a very iconic character, although some choices would have involved significant re-writing of the plot and a very different character. To say that he could have only been an eastern Asian plays into the stereotype that all Asians are good at martial arts. It also makes another racist statement: that no one else is good at martial arts, except for those who invented it. That's like saying that the lead in "Creed" should have been an Iraqi or a Greek. It also ignores that many champions of martial arts are not eastern Asians. For example: Connor McGregor is the off/on MMA champion, and it's usually South Americans who challenge him. The Koreans obtained most of the medals in Tae Kwon Do and the Japanese in judo at the latest Olympics, but many other medalists were European and Irani. The various kumite karate world champions vary in race and nationality; they're not all Japanese or even eastern Asian. And as for a white hero being very skilled at martial arts and taking on ninjas: why wasn't this a criticism of "Batman Begins" and "Daredevil"? Also making this claim silly: Rand's character was trained by mandarin-speaking monks from another dimension. It's unclear whom else they were training, and who earned the mantle of Iron Fist before him; he just happened to earn it then, possibly fulfilling the prophecy. Finally, while everyone was not watching the show and complaining of this, they missed fight scenes in this show involving an Asian-American woman taking down big white guys.
-The quality of the fight scenes: this seems to vary per who directed the episode. The first couple of episodes essentially have Finn Jones doing slow movements, which are then sped up. He combines some basic wushu with judo and parkour. It improves later, when directors with experience from the other Netflix Marvel shows take over. Finn's kicks and movements are more impressive, and there's better use of editing and doubles to hide his weaknesses. It's not on par with "Daredevil", but this show has the disadvantage of not having its hero in a costume, to better disguise skilled stuntmen. It's still miles better than the fighting in "Jessica Jones", and Luke Cage's habit of just repeatedly tossing people. The scenes involving Collen Wing are much better, with better fight scenes and opponents who put more effort.
-It's topically irrelevant to the current, real world: after the first few episodes, we get into big pharma overpricing medications; the opioid epidemic and the role of big pharma in it; hipster's clashes with realities when they take on big corporations or become overnight CEOs themselves; human trafficking; corporate images in the viral era; morally ambiguous situations in lawsuits against big corporations. If this is not relevant, then the critics need to go out for a walk.
I still prefer "Daredevil", but this so far is an engaging addition to the series. Make up your mind.