Discuss Marvel's Iron Fist
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The problem with this show
posted by Ask Me AnythingSTAFFMOD on March 21, 2017 at 7:03 AM
I didn't hate it, but it was inferior to the other 3 Marvel Netflix shows. I did not read any reviews or watch any promotional material before watching the series so this is all based on just my personal viewing. Here are the things I had a problem with.
Danny Rand is too skinny. He's supposed to have been training for years and he has very little muscle.
The fights. They are not nearly as good as Daredevil's.
Boring corporate intrigue. Luke Cage suffered from this a bit too, but I found Joy and Ward to be insufferable. Harold was the only saving grace of any Rand related plot points.
Limited display of powers. How the hell is Danny the Iron Fist when he doesn't know the extent of his powers or how they work? We the audience were never shown a limit or weakness to his powers, they just worked when he needed them and didn't work when the plot said so. And lastly, my biggest problem:
Danny is an idiot. They imply he knew about the internet before he arrived in New York so AT NO POINT did he look up his family to see what happened to the company after his plane crashed?
All the drama in the first few episodes happens because Danny is a moron who didn't bother to do research or use critical thinking to go about informing/convincing people he was the real Danny Rand. He also makes a series of dumb and bizarre decisions that that the plot needs him to make.
The best things about the show for me were Colleen, Harold, and Gao. Finn Jones as Danny was just not very good. Hoping Joy and Ward die in a fire in the first scene of the next season.
Reply by outlawx
on March 21, 2017 at 7:23 AM
Yeah his stupidity is unbelievable. With years of building his chi there was probably no time to become wise - so he's just this (spoiled) teenage boy, now with fighting skills ;)
OT: the enumeration in the quote is wrong
Reply by Innovator
on March 21, 2017 at 5:49 PM
I discussed with friends what was it that was the real problem with Iron Fist. It was the overwhelming lack of Stage Production/Style. Other than the Modern Board room (that unfortunately contrasted with the madmen style Rand Offices) and Colleen Wings dojo (which most of the obvious Stage Production budget was blown) the rest locations in the film were mundane and boring as all hell. Kun Lun was reduced to a bunch of Styrofoam rocks, the Chinese restaurant was the same Chinese restaurant used on numerous films, the streets were well the streets. And those places that were given character like aforementioned dojo and office and the game of death areas of Rza's episode 6 (which unfortunately was so obviously directed by Rza that I didn't even have to look at the credits to figure out which episode he directed), lacked any coherent style as the series drew from many inspirations without settling on one for itself (it was all over the place just like much of the storyline). The series in several scenes tried to draw from 70's American Martial Arts films in set design (without the undertones of color and camera work the genre oozed with) while trying to convey Hong Kong Kung Fu films for performance, which anyone who grew up with those films would know they were very much different animals altogether. Even the scene in China against the drunken master and the Chinese sword maiden though had fine performances lacked style in camera work and set design (really both were just played in a very clean warehouse driveway with a random drunk homeless man?), which destroyed any impact of the performances a lot. You see this kind of dirty clean locations throughout, like the organ transplant areas of the Hand. Dirty fences and shelves with clean floors, the areas for each of the Rza fights. It was like thing were rolled onto a set like a stage play.
What it should have done from the start is decide on a look and feel to the series and stick with it (with a few diversions for effect). If you want to draw from Hong Kong Kung Fu films then draw from them the inspiration for the look as well. If you want to draw from American Kung Fu films then go all heart and do so. And why the hell does an Iron Fist series not have a single China Town scene? I mean WTF!?
The other problem that was distracting was the horrible wirework that was prevalent throughout, but that wasn't my biggest problem with the series.
Reply by in_the_crease
on March 21, 2017 at 11:33 PM
I'm a little confused. How do you feel about Ward, exactly?
Reply by Ray
on March 23, 2017 at 2:26 PM
At least its not dark and depressing like JJ and LC or even DD.
Reply by Ask Me Anything
on March 25, 2017 at 2:28 AM
Whoops, I meant to say I liked Harold and not Ward. Harold was actually fun to watch. I'll go back and edit that
Reply by tellylass
on March 25, 2017 at 2:37 AM
Ward and Harold were the two I liked on the show.
Reply by in_the_crease
on March 25, 2017 at 5:18 AM
Ah, now that makes much more sense!
Reply by Bulletproof5FDP
on March 25, 2017 at 5:59 AM
Definitely is the weakest of the 4 Netflix Marvel series. Only characters I truly liked were Colleen and Harold. Danny Rand was super unlikable compared to Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage.
Reply by jomarthecat
on March 26, 2017 at 5:38 PM
Isn't this the point of the show? Him accepting and learning his powers? He has defeated the dragon and gained access to the iron fist, but he hasn't learnt how to use it.
Reply by MrsBuckyBarnes
on July 20, 2017 at 4:33 AM
interesting. i found jessica jones intolerable, a pretty disgusting human being tbh (jj in the comics is much more impressive) but at least the series gave a very compelling (but not to my mind wholly acceptable) reason for why she was so messed up and reprehensible. the problem with rand is that he was also an arse, but his back story undermined any justification for his conduct. yes, his parents were killed, but he was saved and taken in by monks who trained him for 15 years to attain excellence in terms of physical prowess, integrity and spirituality. he should have been the most well rounded and centred person you could meet. instead, he abandoned his companions in kun-lun, leaving them in danger, and his impetuousness caused harm to his extended family in new york. when davos said danny rand destroys everything he touches, that was of course an exaggeration, but he kinda had a point. danny rand, as portrayed in this iron fist, is not someone i could like or respect.
Reply by Ask Me Anything
on July 20, 2017 at 10:01 AM
You mean being mind controlled into letting a creepy looking dude put his greasy wiener in your butt multiple times for weeks/months on end and making you kill an innocent woman wouldn't making you just a little moody?
Reply by MrsBuckyBarnes
on July 20, 2017 at 1:26 PM
what a vulgar and simplistic response.
Reply by JustinJackFlash
on July 20, 2017 at 9:18 PM
The show was however frequently suggesting that the monks' unwaveringly strict treatment of Rand was abuse. The show was suggesting Rand was suffering from PTSD.
Reply by Ask Me Anything
on July 21, 2017 at 4:30 AM
How so? That's more or less what she went through. It informs her entire character. JJ was basically turned into an unwilling sex slave which you described as "not...wholly acceptable ".
Reply by MrsBuckyBarnes
on July 21, 2017 at 3:03 PM
for starters, your description of sexual assault was flippant and crass.
i think it would be fair to suggest that how each individual responds to trauma varies and consists of more than being a "little moody". personally i don't think trauma can be used to justify all sorts of conduct, for example, sexually and psychologically abusing other people, which is what jessica jones did - and she was not under mind control then. if you are wondering when did jj sexually abuse anyone, give some thought to the nature of her relationship with luke cage. then imagine what you would make of that relationship if the gender roles were reversed.