I'm through 5 eps and while it's uneven, it's still entertaining enough thanks to DD and partially Luke Cage. Even Jessica has her moments. Feels like a DD S2 expansion pack tbh. Which is fine by me, as DD is my favourite of the shows thus far.
They gotta do something to make Danny likable though, he is pretty wack.
The restaurant fight scene really bothered me; they made Luke Cage look so inept at fighting.
He alone should have been able to easily to take out everyone.
I'm four episodes in and... still really loving it! It's got all the stuff I love about superheroes on a consistent basis. Danny is significantly more likable in an ensemble than as a protagonist, and I particularly love Matt and Jessica together.
My favorite bit in Episode 4 was Stick busting in and spouting a bunch of vague bullshit - like he's done to Matt a bunch of times - only this time Danny's there and...
he immediately buys into it! He's 100% on board from the first sentence! Because Stick is just an older, misanthropic version of Danny Rand - showing up out of nowhere to yell at you that you HAVE to listen to his ridiculous story because it's SUPER IMPORTANT.
And this makes me super glad that Jessica Jones S2 is probably like... six months away? Less than a year at least. Would be nice to see some more cross-contamination now that everyone's met up, where appropriate.
I never saw Iron Fist, due to the racial shit, lack of interest and the overall bad reviews but 3 episodes in and I can't stand Iron Fist. Maybe it's the actor and the way he acts, it all just comes off really annoying.
Kinda hilarious how technically the one bad thing about skipping Iron Fist is that you still meet him in Defenders, and don't have IF as a way to get used to his awfulness lol
Danny is likable because he's so horribly unlikable. Like, the dude is so thoroughly a joke. In Iron Fist you're laughing at him, but the show doesn't really know it. But in Defenders, I feel like they're significantly more self-aware about how much of a joke he is. Maybe I just have Stockholm syndrome.
Episode 3:
His non sequitur "MY PARENTS DIED IN A PLANE CRASH!" is one of the best laughs I've had in a while.
I never saw Iron Fist, due to the racial shit, lack of interest and the overall bad reviews but 3 episodes in and I can't stand Iron Fist. Maybe it's the actor and the way he acts, it all just comes off really annoying.
I think that is the point throughout. The other defenders roll their eyes or mock, hell even Colleen does (man, I really like her, she is way better than what GoT gave her). They seem to really play it up that he is this doofus who needs to grow up and it seems he starts to throughout. Honestly couldn't stand him either (and really only cared about Colleen from the series again as I think she does a way better job).
Honestly really liked the series over all. I need to finish Jessica Jones and I guess watch Luke Cage. I'm almost there about watching Iron Fist, almost. I'm disappointed the supporting cast from DD want in this too much as I really like them. Secondary characters were mainly IF and LC with JJ distant 3rd (I'm ignoring the two main DD secondaries as they are integral to the whole plot).
I hope we start to get more in DD S3, a date for Punisher and the rest, and I truly hope they do a Defenders Season 2.
Danny is likable because he's so horribly unlikable. Like, the dude is so thoroughly a joke. In Iron Fist you're laughing at him but, in Defenders, I feel like they're significantly more self-aware about how much of a joke he is. Maybe I just have Stockholm syndrome.
Episode 3:
His non sequitur "MY PARENTS DIED IN A PLANE CRASH!" is one of the best laughs I've had in a while.
So the color grading and editing in this series is obnoxious. Going from cool blues to piss filter Luke Cage is annoying. The idea of color-theming the early eps was an interesting one, but it seems like they just half-assed it and decided to do it in post with all the subtlety of a kick in the pants.
So the color grading and editing in this series is obnoxious. Going from cool blues to piss filter Luke Cage is annoying. The idea of color-theming the early eps was an interesting one, but it seems like they just half-assed it and decided to do it in post with all the subtlety of a kick in the pants.
Watched the first two episodes and they were boring as fuck. It just doesn't mesh well. I liked JJ and the first season of DD, this seems much more like the usual Marvel Comics stuff with a greater emphasis on the supernatural compared to the character drama of the aforementioned series.
The fights are technically ok but didn't feel there was a strong enough emotionally background to really get into it. Also everyone's special ability is punching things. That rare moment where Luke bends something or Gao force pushes something ends up standing out but the Iron Fist punch frequently feels unconvincing in comparison. Too much glow and not enough boom maybe? Like,
not convinced that door couldn't be breached by dynamite instead,
magical chosen one voodoo or not. Aside from
punching Luke,
didn't really sell that the Iron Fist punch is a knockout.
I liked the banter though. The rapport and degrees of prodding, subtle and non-subtle grew nicely and they seemed on good enough terms at the end that it's like yeah, working like a (newly) well oiled machine by show's end.
Elektra is just bizarre to me. Her and Daredevil was weird to me in DD season 2 and still weird here and the only justification I can muster is love is blind but this does not satisfy my need for something to be there to back up how both of them drop what they're doing to imply they feel for each other. Maybe it's a comic book cheese thing that you're supposed to let slide because they're the forgone endgame couple. Eh.
Also Alexandra's plan was wacky but at least she was charismatic and classy. I dunno what
Elektra
has going for her but it sure felt like a downgrade. Like I kinda get Alexandra's motivations and how she lived a long time and that influences her decisions even though those decisions are bad and all the buildup just hits the brakes without payoff, all for a GOTCHA plot twist that turned the show over to an even less competent villain. I think they should've just followed through because it felt like it was going to get somewhere thematically eventually but instead shock twist.
All the other villains are such ciphers and that makes them dull and fodder, especially since one villain
Elektra has amnesia for more than half the series and I had no investment in seeing her get her memories back because aside from how Daredevil feels about it, I don't care about her. Should I? For most of the show, she's 95% soulless murder machine that the other characters don't care about. Even the brief fight with Jessica doesn't establish any connection aside from Jessica being confused and annoyed.
I'm only 2 episodes in and it feels competent so far. I nearly zone out every time Danny and Colleen are on the screen, and it's baffling what they did with Misty's hair, but so far so good.
Just finished the show. Loved most of it. There was a stretch in the second part of episode seven and most of episode eight that I tuned out because it wasn't doing much for me, but I thought they stuck the landing in the final minutes.
Is it me, or did Danny suddenly become a (mostly) better character in
the Chinese restaurant
? Like his dialogue was better, his acting was better, he was actually funny at times. He was so much bearable and actually pleasant relative to how he appeared in the first three episodes. Although I did laugh at this ridiculous exchange with Matt:
"Stop treating me like a kid."
"Then stop acting like a kid."
*launches out of his char*
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!"
They really need to rethink the "naive hothead who's basically a 10-year-old in a 30-year-old's body" approach to Danny.
Finished with Episode 6, and I'm liking it so far, especially the character interactions. I don't care for Danny, but his interactions with Luke are at least pretty good, though that might just be Luke picking up the slack there.
Daredevil and Jessica together is actually pretty good. I hope he shows up more in Jessica Jones Season 2.
This isn't Daredevil Season 1 or Season 2 1st Half quality, but it's pretty good so far, unless the show 180's on me in the last two episodes, I'm thinking my ranking of these shows so far is:
DD S1 = DD S2 1st Half > Luke Cage = Defenders > Jessica Jones > DD S2 2nd Half >>>> Iron Fist.
The way producers make it sound, there won't be any meaningful cross-pollination between characters outside of a Defenders setting. Extremely disappointing.
The way producers make it sound, there won't be any meaningful cross-pollination between characters outside of a Defenders setting. Extremely disappointing.
The way producers make it sound, there won't be any meaningful cross-pollination between characters outside of a Defenders setting. Extremely disappointing.
I'm four episodes in and... still really loving it! It's got all the stuff I love about superheroes on a consistent basis. Danny is significantly more likable in an ensemble than as a protagonist, and I particularly love Matt and Jessica together.
My favorite bit in Episode 4 was Stick busting in and spouting a bunch of vague bullshit - like he's done to Matt a bunch of times - only this time Danny's there and...
he immediately buys into it! He's 100% on board from the first sentence! Because Stick is just an older, misanthropic version of Danny Rand - showing up out of nowhere to yell at you that you HAVE to listen to his ridiculous story because it's SUPER IMPORTANT.
And this makes me super glad that Jessica Jones S2 is probably like... six months away? Less than a year at least. Would be nice to see some more cross-contamination now that everyone's met up, where appropriate.
