The the
Netflix branch of the MCU has now had their years-in-the-making team-up event,
their own street-level version of The
Avengers (does this mean The
Defenders marks the end of the Netflix MCU’s Phase One?) Overall, while I don’t think it’s as good as
I would have wanted it to be, it does have a lot of good stuff going for
it. It brings the great elements of some
of the previous series and smooths over a few of the rough edges of others,
even if, in the end, it feels like the sum of its parts is a little greater
than the whole.
Half of
this quartet on the brink of converging – Matt and Danny – have already tangled
with the Hand and experienced harsh losses, but The Defenders kick off with events that put the ancient, shadowy
organization on our other two heroes’ radars.
Luke picks up the scent when the group starts recruiting young Harlem
men for a bit of dirty work, and a missing-persons investigation gets Jessica
on their trail. When these four very
different heroes come together, they’re even more averse to the idea of working
together than the Avengers are in their first film, but with the fate of New
York hanging in the balance, they realize the only thing they can do is stand
together and fight.
I like
most of these heroes a lot (more on Iron Fist in a moment,) and the interactions
between them offer some of the best moments of the season – the snark, the
comments on one another’s powers, the arguing over strategy, and the
interesting dynamic that’s added by Matt being the only one of the four with a
full-fledged secret identity. I also
appreciate that each one comes into the series with a few of their supporting
characters in tow as well. On that
front, some of them don’t get as much to do, which is understandable given the
limited number of episodes, but everyone at least gets in one or two good
moments. And can I just say? I think my biggest takeaway from this season
is how ready I am for more Jessica Jones.
Iron Fist
works slightly better for me within the context of the group. It’s hard to find him credulous as the anchor
of his own show, but here, he functions more like an obscenely-wealthy,
annoying kid brother that the other three enjoy messing with. Also, Finn Jones definitely looks better in
the fight scenes. I don’t know what the
ratio is between more training, better choreography, and better-integrated
stunt men, but there’s a clear improvement.
While I still don’t buy him as a superhero who mostly gets by on his
mindblowing kung fu skills (since his actual superpower is only used
sparingly,) it’s a step in the right direction.
It’s the
overall plot where things get a little muddy.
For me, the franchise has had diminishing returns on the Hand, and while
the aspect of them that’s presented here is interesting and involves some
strong actors, it falls apart a little in the execution. For such dangerous villains, they do a lot of
standing around talking about their evil plan while they send faceless lackeys
after the Defenders. The combination of
the heroes is fun enough to make me interested in seeing more collaborations,
but I hope their next team-up features a tighter story.
Warnings
Strong
comic-book violence, swearing, drinking, and thematic elements.
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