[TV] Iron Fist

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:23 am

Think the sweatpants go away soon and it seems like the action is starting to pick up as it seems like the Hand are getting more involved (think I am on #6). I dunno I think I like it better than JJ - I just couldn't get into that one despite wanting to for Tenant (maybe I should retry it now...could have been my mood back then)

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:55 am

The problem with JJ was it was dragged out for too many episode and they dragged it out by having people do incredibly stupid things. I liked it but thought it was very flawed as a series.

So far Iron Fist is good ( 2 episodes in ), though not on par with DD. I have no real knowledge of Iron Fist so that may be part of the reason. No expectations to be shattered, I guess.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:48 am

Same here. My only knowledge of Iron Fist is what I catch when my son is watching Ultimate Spiderman (and that's not much plus it's in the ultimate cartoon universe where there’s a ton of differences)

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:36 pm

Aaannddd here's Claire to annoy me...

Hamlet3145 · Post by **Hamlet3145** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:49 am

I'm watching it though not loving it. I really think those first four episodes could have been condensed into about 1.5. The only character that I've really taken a shine to is Colleen Wing. I kind of wish they had made Danny full on crazy and not just eccentric/out of touch. But maybe that is just my love of the waaaaaay better produced Legion shining through.

Also, doesn't help that the fight scences remind me of this:

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:34 am

Yeah, the fights have definitely been underwhelming compared to the prior Marvel Netflix serieses...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 12:10 pm

He just doesn't seem tough. I feel like I'm watching Enter the Dragon starring the members of Coldplay.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 4:02 pm

hepcat wrote:He just doesn't seem tough. I feel like I'm watching Enter the Dragon starring the members of Coldplay.

So I'm just 5 minutes into episode one and from my perspective and perhaps due to my Gen X sensibilities, I think Danny Rand is pretty annoying because he looks like some self-absorbed millennial snowflake that's returned home from travelling after graduation (High School, College, University, whatever). Is it bad that I was rooting for the probably poorly paid security guards to put a beat down on him? Oh well back to the show!

Edit:
Halfway mark and hoping that the Kingpin comes and kills everyone except Homeless Al but that ain't happening.

Edit 2:
Around 48 mins in. Sonofabitch! I liked that guy.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:05 pm

Just finished it. I really enjoyed it.

DDS1
JJ
DDS2
Iron Fist
Luke Cage

Victoria Raverna · Post by **Victoria Raverna** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:18 pm

Finished it, too. While it is not as bad as the pre-release reviews claimed it to be, it is not as good as the other netflix marvel series. Seem like we got a different Iron Fist that most of us expected. Instead of a super skilled Iron Fist, we got an Iron Fist that is still in training.

Normally I don't pay attention to mistake or plot holes but there seem to be one big one in it:

Spoiler:

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:31 pm

Did the series get better after the six episodes that were the basis for all the reviews?

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:35 pm

I'm about half-way through, but so far, I have to agree that the show's greatest flaw is the lacklustre fight choreography (I also agree with hepcat that Finn Jones certainly does not convey the notion of being a capable and dangerous martial artist). All the moreso, considering that Iron Fist is supposed to be one of the greatest hand-to-hand fighters in the whole Marvel universe. It definitely pales in comparison to the spectacular fight choreography in the Daredevil series.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 7:11 pm

Starting ep.3. The rich are weird. Like hyperbaric chamber Michael Jackson weird. But the show might be showing some promise.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:00 pm

Side note: Tom Pelphrey (Ward the wimp) played a reformed white supremacist bad ass named Bunker on the incredibly entertaining Cinemax series Banshee. They really should have just died his hair blonde and made him Danny Rand. Or at least a tough villain. Seems like they missed an opportunity there. He's much better than the material they're giving him in Iron Fist.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:29 pm

hepcat wrote:Side note: Tom Pelphrey (Ward the wimp) played a reformed white supremacist bad ass named Bunker on the incredibly entertaining Cinemax series Banshee. They really should have just died his hair blonde and made him Danny Rand. Or at least a tough villain. Seems like they missed an opportunity there. He's much better than the material they're giving him in Iron Fist.

Perhaps in a future season he'll come into his own but hopefully it will not take the form of some cheesy battle suit or drinking element X.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:38 pm

Bringing up Banshee reminded me what a great fight scene looks like.. (Warning: very bloody)

I miss that insane, over the top show.

Update: WTF...did a main character suddenly and inexplicably become a drug addict during an episode of this show?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:58 pm

Can we get a Madame Gao show? I'd watch that.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 2:39 am

I've watched the first two episodes and I'm enjoying it. It's a great throwback to late 80s/early 90s film and television, from the score to the cinematography and effects. Is it slow placed? Sure. But I think it might be time to recognize the Netflix Marvel series as something existing in the space between television and film. And different from existing premium/pay cable series in structure. While they could certainly be tighter paced, I think there's room for something that's more on the level of an extended miniseries.

I also continue to be impressed by the massive differences in tone and feel between the different series.

tru1cy · Post by **tru1cy** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 6:36 am

hepcat wrote:Bringing up Bamshee reminded me what a great fight scene looks like.. (Warning: very bloody)

I miss that insane, over the top show.

Update: WTF...did a main character suddenly and inexplicably become a drug addict during an episode of this show?

He was popping pain meds the entire series... the more stress he was under the more he used...

I agree that Nola vs Burton fight was epic and very few tv or movie fight scenes have come close to matching its outright viciousness

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:44 am

I must have missed that. It just seemed like the show mentioned drugs a few episodes in and then bam...one of the characters is suddenly a junkie.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:06 am

hepcat wrote:I must have missed that. It just seemed like the show mentioned drugs a few episodes in and then bam...one of the characters is suddenly a junkie.

He was popping a pill every time

Spoiler:

the more those interactions intensified the more he went to his little white friends. Think about the things he was asked to do before that break.

Note: I'm questioning the sequence of events in my head because watching 13 episodes of a show in two days makes it a little hard to keep track of the order of things.

Hyena · Post by **Hyena** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:50 pm

Hamlet3145 wrote:I'm watching it though not loving it. I really think those first four episodes could have been condensed into about 1.5. The only character that I've really taken a shine to is Colleen Wing. I kind of wish they had made Danny full on crazy and not just eccentric/out of touch. But maybe that is just my love of the waaaaaay better produced Legion shining through.

Also, doesn't help that the fight scences remind me of this:

This x1000. I keep waiting for a DD S1 hallway fight, but so far all I've seen is Stage Combat 101. In fact, I'm convinced that Daredevil could beat the piss out of him, and that doesn't speak very well for the "greatest hand-to-hand combatant in the Marvel Universe."

I can think of about a dozen actors offhand that have the physical abilities to pull this off better. When I saw the tattoo for the first time, it looked odd on his caved-in chest. I thought he did a decent job of portraying the "I just got back to society and have no idea how to interact with normal people" routine, but about three episodes in, that all went away and suddenly he's this worldly, buddha-spouting wise man.

Damn, looking back on this it sounds like I hate the show. I am actually enjoying it. Colleen Wing is indeed the bright spot on the show. Hell, I'd watch her eat the soul of Danny Rand and become the next Iron Fist, but after reading the "Deadpool 2" thread, I might be attacked and beaten with a plastic comic book protector sleeve.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:06 pm

I have to say I did not recognize Wing as a Sand Snake until I looked it up...

JCC · Post by **JCC** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:20 pm

I finished Iron Fist. I liked it and put it generally on par with the other Marvel series.

I would rank them as:

Jessica Jones - (by far the best for me)
Luke Cage - (this was neck and neck with JJ for me until the stinking turd of a final episode.)
Daredevil/Iron Fist - I rank these pretty much on par with each other as I think these shows are very similar - in fact a bit too similar. When Iron Fist was at the docks I was wondering when he would bump into Daredevil as it felt like I was watching a rerun of Daredevil. Daredevil probably has greater highs (Hello Fisk!.. more intense, violent fighting) but also lower lows (I think the guy playing Daredevil is by far the worst lead actor on any of the series - mainly during the day as the lawyer where he looks like he's reading lines off a screen on his glasses.) Iron Fist's biggest flaw was that it felt too much like Daredevil except more kung fu with a less interesting hero. But still very similar. I may be in the minority but I enjoyed the character played by Faramir - he was probably the most interesting character on the show. If you like the fighting a lot on Daredevil I understand the feeling that Iron Fist on average seems like a pale imitation. Having said that, I thought IF had some really fun fights particularly in the last few episodes. Another character I enjoyed on IF was Ward - the guy playing him was terrific. A much more interesting character than Oggy and True Blood chick from DD - both of whom had subplots that I had no interest in.

Keep in mind, I am not a comic guy at all. Even when I was a kid I was a casual comic book kid, mainly only reading Spiderman. I was by no means a collector.

In any event, I have enjoyed all the Marvel series so far and am pretty excited to see the Defenders! I would say none of the Netflix series have ever been as bad or annoyed me as much as Iron Man 2 did!

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:31 am

So I made it to episode 8 and it has gotten better. I just have to remember that Danny is the intellectual equivalent of growing up like veal. His existence growing up was train, fight, eat veggies, get beaten with sticks, repeat with the occasional sneaking out to eat donkey or homemade hooch (see previous episodes). He might have had a better chance running his company if the monastery had access to reruns of Dallas. I guess his emotional and intellectual awakening is part of the show which I hope comes soon because I can only take so much Forrest Rand. Watching some of the episodes in Italian for kicks makes it interesting as well. But I hope he gets better fight choreography, if not this season than the next.

18 minutes into ep 8. Yawn.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:40 am

I finished it. Felt it could have been 10 episodes rather than 13 without losing anything (caveat: this applied equally to the prior 3 Marvel Netflix serieses), the dialogue was largely terrible, the character of Danny Rand was more interesting when it was named Stephen Strange, and the martial arts largely came down to this...

Daredevil could kick Danny Rand's ass six ways from Sunday, which I believe is a problem given the supposed nature of Iron Fist. Granted, in this show he's still learning. But if he's that nascent of a fighter, why is he already the sole possible guardian of the path to K'un Lun?

Also,

Spoiler:

Still, looking forward to The Defenders. I see shooting has already wrapped. Anyone heard rumors on release date?

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:55 am

ARRRGH I couldn't care any less about the dynamics between Joy and Ward Meechum. Why is this being dragged out? (32 mins in)

And for some reason the dialogue in this episode from all the characters is really falling flat for me. Hoping drunken beggar kills them all because you don't just introduce a drunken beggar into this sort of show and not use him for something else.

ARRRGH more sibling bickering!

Ep 9...well that's the last time I make fun of hyperbaric chambers.

And I just didn't like this scene:

Spoiler:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 12:40 pm

Zaxxon wrote:
Daredevil could kick Danny Rand's ass six ways from Sunday, which I believe is a problem given the supposed nature of Iron Fist. Granted, in this show he's still learning. But if he's that nascent of a fighter, why is he already the sole possible guardian of the path to K'un Lun?

Yeah, I was watching the season 2 opener for Into the Badlands last night, and a character called The Widow essentially shamed the entire first season of Iron Fist in a single, 5 minute fight scene.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 1:06 pm

The learned monks of Kun'Lun should have hired on Stick to train the Iron Fist. Or at least the fight choreographer from Daredevil.

Eps 10: I love secret electronic data collection centers that have ancient weapons on the wall for all sorts of situations.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 1:47 pm

tru1cy wrote:
hepcat wrote:Bringing up Bamshee reminded me what a great fight scene looks like.. (Warning: very bloody)

I miss that insane, over the top show.

Update: WTF...did a main character suddenly and inexplicably become a drug addict during an episode of this show?
He was popping pain meds the entire series... the more stress he was under the more he used...

Uh, did you both just miss a major point?

Spoiler:

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 1:49 pm

And at around 39 mins in eps 10 truer words were never spoken: "Wow, you are the worst Iron Fist ever."

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 2:26 pm

Watch overly calm dirty hippie transform into temper prone Millennial in less than 10 episodes. I don't know which was more annoying.

Watch multiple mass murderers be tied up or subdued only to be allowed to babble or get away because the good guys didn't want to finish them off. We can't torture Madame Gau. Instead, let's come up with a complicated plot of securing truth serum from the Rand labs (because of course they have that stuff on hand) and injected her with it only to find it doesn't work. But sure, don't bother to gag her so she stops manipulating every character as they walk into the room one at a time to guard her. Whether it was her or Bakuto I kept yelling "chop off their head!" Stabbing Bakuto a few times is pointless.

I like the color coded bank transactions. Red means bad, right?

It's always funny to see Kung fu fighting and wonder quickly how they would get demolished by an MMA fighter.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:24 pm

Grifman wrote:
tru1cy wrote:
hepcat wrote:Bringing up Bamshee reminded me what a great fight scene looks like.. (Warning: very bloody)

I miss that insane, over the top show.

Update: WTF...did a main character suddenly and inexplicably become a drug addict during an episode of this show?
He was popping pain meds the entire series... the more stress he was under the more he used...
Uh, did you both just miss a major point?

Spoiler:
He got hooked on that super heroin produced by The Hand.

All I remember is Danny tossing one of the packets at him, and him tossing it into his desk drawer. I don't recall any follow up scenes showing him using it.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:29 pm

hepcat wrote:
Grifman wrote:
tru1cy wrote:
hepcat wrote:Bringing up Bamshee reminded me what a great fight scene looks like.. (Warning: very bloody)

I miss that insane, over the top show.

Update: WTF...did a main character suddenly and inexplicably become a drug addict during an episode of this show?
He was popping pain meds the entire series... the more stress he was under the more he used...
Uh, did you both just miss a major point?

Spoiler:
He got hooked on that super heroin produced by The Hand.
All I remember is Danny tossing one of the packets at him, and him tossing it into his desk drawer. I don't recall any follow up scenes showing him using it.

In one of the later episodes he was using the patch, which I do have to admit was some really cutting edge technology for heroin delivery.

GargoyleBoy · Post by **GargoyleBoy** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:07 pm

I've watched all but the last episode. While I think there are a variety of critiques that I could offer that could be argued to varying degrees, the most damning critique was that for me, it was just boring.

The fights are slow, clumsy, and utterly lacking in consequence. They are not even visually dynamic - the camera work even, in some cases, muddying otherwise fine choreography.
The dialogue is bland, and riddled with cliche'. Characterization is so poor, I found myself not caring about anyone.
Exposition was unnecessarily repetitive. (I swear if I see

Spoiler:

ONE MORE TIME). Every white surface fades into snow. It was trite and unnecessary.
The plot meanders; characters undertake (and then abandon) courses of action with no consequence. For example:

Spoiler:

The villains (with the exception of Gou) are relatively impotent, and are four-color pastiches of villains lacking depth or impetus of any sort.
And the "heroes"? Basically, marginally super-powered Shaggy (from Scooby Doo) with 90's boy band hair. A woman character written so clumsily that she goes from

Spoiler:

And Claire Temple, who

Spoiler:

Can I root for Madame Gou?

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:26 pm

GargoyleBoy wrote:And Claire Temple, who
Spoiler:
insists on riding along on missions she is cripplingly unqualified for, with no good reason except to provide her with additional screen time.

You act like there is more than one nurse in New York. There isn't. Just her. Plus we need Claire to tell us that Reiki isn't pseudo science b.s.

GargoyleBoy · Post by **GargoyleBoy** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:30 pm

Moliere wrote: You act like there is more than one nurse in New York. There isn't. Just her. Plus we need Claire to tell us that Reiki isn't pseudo science b.s.

That explains SO MUCH.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:47 pm

Its not very popular that Ive seen.

First season review

Iron Fist is the weakest part of Iron Fist

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 6:21 pm

Moliere wrote:
GargoyleBoy wrote:And Claire Temple, who
Spoiler:
insists on riding along on missions she is cripplingly unqualified for, with no good reason except to provide her with additional screen time.

You act like there is more than one nurse in New York. There isn't. Just her. Plus we need Claire to tell us that Reiki isn't pseudo science b.s.

She was in some fighting scenes using what could be tiger claws holding her own... well at least not getting hurt which is good since she's needed to patch up the others.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 6:41 pm

$iljanus wrote:She was in some fighting scenes using what could be tiger claws holding her own... well at least not getting hurt which is good since she's needed to patch up the others.

Another ridiculous concept: that a nurse taking a few private lessons could hold her own against trained Hand assassins.