We all love the MARVEL Cinematic Universe, and we know the fact that it started the biggest film-series of all time, back in 2008, and it still growing this day. They’ve expanded the Universe to our TV screens as well: the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is rumbling at it’s fifth season (feck, we have a lot to catch up), and there’s the Agent Carter spin-off too. These series did a great job as family-friendly shows, so that the mainstream movie-goers could get some sidestories for their favourite movies. But in 2015 a profile change occured at MARVEL, and the next show was introduced by the hands of Netflix. The strictly mature result surprised the viewers, not just by the brutality, but with the grounded, and realistic take on a superhero story.
Daredevil (seasons 1 and 2)
Matt Murdock lost his sight at a young age, when a truck, full of biohazard chemicals crashed, and the liquid burned in his eyes. Slowly, his senses became supernatural, which allowed him to get his bearings even better, than someone who can actually see. After finishing univerity, he starts a law firm with his friend, Foggy Nelson, but as an attorney, he soon realizes that at the court, the justice is just as blind, as he is. With his abilities, he acts as a vigilante at night, and soon the streets starts to spread rumors about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.
Daredevil was the first child of the MARVEL-Netflix collaboration, and it turned a complete 180° from the previous iteration of the superhero. Altough the Ben Affleck flick (Ben Afflick?) was a guilty pleasure, it was not as gritty and brutal, like the comics. Now, Daredevil got the treat that he deserves.
Matt spends his day in his office, and in court, trying to testify his righteousness. His senses are so sharp, that he can hear the people’s heartbeat, so he can tell, who’s lying and who’s not, and he can hear if someone’s crying for help, from multiple cityblocks of distance. At night, he confronts the criminals in his costume, and he does not stop, till he beats the truth out of them. And wow, the fightscenes are absolutely genius, It’s really great that Mr. ShakyCam was kicked out of this project, so we can see every little at brutal move. In the second episode, we see a five-minute long continious shot, whitout any cuts, which is mindblowing. It’s a great achievement, not just as acting or stuntwork, but in a technical way too. It’s just amazing, what they did there (oh yeah, and don’t forget that in the second season, there’s another scene like this, just that takes place in a multiple-floored staircase). The martial art moves are beautiful to watch: they are raw, and harsh, and the fights end with a brutal result. Knives, metal pipes, chains, broken bones, bloddy mouths, open wounds and literal headloss…dark brutality at it’s best. (and we love it so much, yumm, yumm!)
But not just the action that’s great in the show. The dark tone is frequently at your face: drugdealing, weapon smuggling, kidnapping, violence, corruption, blackmailing. The filth and gore spills from every minute of the episodes, but it would not work at all, if there wouldn’t be great characters and great actors.
Charlie Cox as Daredevil is surprisingly good. Even though he can’t hit an Oscar or Emmy level, his personality is so compelling. His life is a double edged sword, which causes a big confusion between his lawyer-side, and his vigilante-side. The blindness of his character was introduced well, and it’s really interesting to see, when he just staring at nothing when some important, or emotional coversation is going on.
The side charaters are great, as well, Elden Henson, who plays Foggy, and the beautiful Karen, portayed by Deborah Ann Woll are doing their job above the expected. The friendship of these three characters is believable, and you can relate to them all.
The villain of the first season is the Kingpin, perfectly portrayed by Vincent D’onofrio. The bloke has frequent tantrums, he has some massive anger management issues, he is unpredictible and dangerous, but he also has a serene and slow-talking side, which strangely calms the viewer, and in the meantime, creeps the hell out of you. We see that, just a little thing can push him to the other side, which results in a head bashed in with a car door, but slowly, we find out why he is so unstable, and the show reaches a point, where the viewer literally feels sorry for him. The Kingpin in this show is one of the best MARVEL villains of all time, which is a pretty big thing, considering the many-many movies in the roster.
In the second season we are introduced to The Punisher, who starts as a potencial threat, but soon he transforms into an antihero of sorts. As a mentally broken ex-soldier, who lost his family, and swore revenge on the killers, he is a very strangely relatable guy, and John Bernthal plays his role perfectly. The cruel brutality as well as the personal drama is pitch perfect, and it’s a really great aspect that his fight continues, not just on the streets, but at the court, too. His are the greatest scenes of the show, but sadly his storyarc ends up quickly. Fortunately there’s a spin-off series with him in the lead role, and it’s fucking awesome (oh, yeah…another article on our “to do” list)
A second half of the second season introduces a bigger picture, with Elektra in the middle. Ninjas, a mysterious profecy, secret societies… I’m familiar with the concept from the comics, but here, the grounded, filthy and realistic worldviewing was so much better. It would’ve been greater, if this storyarc were got it’s own season, and the second season focused just on the Punisher. The Punisher’s, and Elektra’s story bits does not fit with each other, the back and forth between the two characters was so confusing, that this felt a bit rushed and scrambled.
Aside from this, there was one big thing, that bothered me. In the first season something happens with Karen, which I won’t spoil, that causes an interesting drama…or it would have caused, if the writers would not forgotten about it. There’s a slight mentioning of the “happening”, but there’s no big result, or compelling character development, which sucks.
It was good though, that Daredevil had an unfinished and rudimentary outfit, which was inspired by the Man Without Fear origin story comics. As in the comics’ last page, we only see the final outfit in the last episode of the first season, which has plenty of upgrades in the follow-up. Pretty fucking awesome!
If I mentioned “pretty fucking awesome” I should talk about the intro of the show, which is creepy and genious in the same time. The music takes you on this foreboding and eery journey through the a menacing visuals, where blood forms the shapes of the important motives of the story…Enough talk, have a look at it:
Jessica Jones (season 1)
A bottle of whiskey, and some ass-kicking. There’s nothing more that is needed for Jessica Jones, to have a successful day. The aforementioned lady is a private investigator at Alias Investigatons, and her job is to reveal the truth of the filthy slums of New York. If someone crosses her path, she just plays her secret weapons: her big mouth, and two hands (Hey! What kind of show is this??).
Jessica is a tired, burnt out alcoholic, whose greatest joy is some ice for her whiskey. Though, this self-destructive lifestyle wasn’t her choice: nightmares of the past haunts her, everywhere she goes. But one day the nightmares come alive again, and the person, who ruined her life, returns, to continue his little game, where he left off.
I have to say it now: Jessica Jones is freakin’ awesome! The grounded and raw style is here, just as in Daredevil, but here, there’s a bigger emphasis on the abilities of the gifted individuals. Jessica has superhuman strength, which se uses for good, and for bad reason, too. She doesn’t know where her abilities came from, and she curses the day, when they surfaced. Why? Because a mindcontroller, named Kilgrave took a hold of her, for his own sick intensions, and he made Jessica kill some innocents in the past. Now, that Kilgrave returns, her only goal is to have revenge, and kill Kilgrave.
Jessica Jones is not a so-called superhero story, more like a neo-noir crime-thriller. Just like in Daredevil, the setting is not too family-friendly: we will see a young, mindcontrolled women killing her own parents, but there are headshots and cut-off limbs, as well. The only thing that I felt lack of, is the spectecular fights. There were no well choreographed action scenes, but the truth is, that the focus was never intended to be on the action, more like on the characters.
Krysten Ritten is absolutely amazing in the role of the sarcastic, wisecracking, burnt-out, badass P.I., every moment of her is pure gold. The villain, Kilgrave, aka. Purple Man is played by David Tennant, who is simply astonishing. He is an evil, disgusting, filth of a human being, who ruins other lives without remorse. His ability is quite interesting: what he says, you’ll do it. If he’s asking you to let him in your home, you’ll do it. If he tells you to cook for him, you’ll do it. If he orders you to sleep with him, you’ll do it. If he demans you to jump on one leg, till you collapse, you’ll do it. Mindcontrol is an interesting concept on it’s own, and if we see through it, we can realize, that this is a real problem: opression, sexual violence, and everything that a cruel man forces on a tired, vulnerable and helpless person, is here in this show. It’s frightening, and in the same time entertaining to watch every moment of Kilgrave. Like in Daredevil, he is not a one-dimensional villain either. Through the season, there are many things came in to place from his past, and those thing’s makes him even more interesting and appealing. Villain-making 101, Grade A!
Of course there are many side-characters in the season as well, for example we get a cameo from Luke Cage. If those, who didn’t know, Luke and Jessica is a couple in the comics, they have a child, and they live together, but here, things are a bit more complicated. I won’t spoil the fun, but the shared screentime of these two was absolutely great.
There’s also Jessica’s friend, and half-sister, Trish, who is like a moral compass for Jess, but she can never convince the stubborn chick. Trish in the comics is also a superhero, called Hellcat, and in the show there’s a little nod and funny joke for this. The relationship of the two girls is fantastic, and thoughout the season, they teach each other the proper way of living, and acting. As a surprise, Trinity from The Matrix, or should I say Carrie-Anne Moss shows up too, as Jessica’s lesbian lawyer who struggles with a divorce for cheating on her wife, but the most likeable side-character is Jessica’s neighbour, the drug addict Malcolm, played by Eka Darville. That guy goes through the biggest character development. The actors play their roles perfectly, everybody has his/her own motivation and personality. The writers did a fantastic job…mostly
A couple of side-characters are plain boring and infuriating even, for example Robyn, played by Colby Minifie, or Will Simpson, portrayed by Wil Traval. The former is a high-pitched voiced crazy witch, th latter is a forced and boring mentally untable cop. I don’t want to spoil the story of these characters, but these bits felt unnecessary. As I said earlier, aside from these the only problem with J.J. is the action scenes which are without any creativity. All the important stuff happens off-screen, or the camera shifts away. It’s just lazy camerawork.
All in all, Jessica Jones is a near perfect piece of art, and now, that the second season is out, I can’t wait to see it. A couple of days and an article is definitely comes…
There are some great easter eggs in the series, not just for the MCU, but for Jessica’s comic book outfit, or Kilgrave’s original look. Jessica Jones has a interesting story, great characters, Netflix made a great risk to show a character that nobody knew, and hell, they knocked it out of the park. Jessica Jones is one of the best series, not just in the roster of MARVEL, but on Netflix.
As a closure, Iwant to talk about the shows into, which is just as perfect, as Daredevil’s. The noir feeling kicks you instantly and the strongly saturated, shifted, oilpainting-like visuals are disturbing, but eyecatching in the same time. And the tune…oh my god, the tune. Just watch:
Luke Cage (season 1)
Luke, after his affair with Jessica, lives reserved, he’s got two jobs in Harlem, trying to live a peaceful life and stay away from trouble. About his ability, the unbreakable skin, just few people knows, one of them is Pop, the owner of a local barber shop, who’s trying to convince Luke, not to waste his talents in the ghetto. The modest and humble Cage’s life quickly takes a 180, when one of his friend winds up in a weapon deal, and everything goes wrong. Luke tries to solve the problem peacefully, but in the mean time, he gets the attention of the local gang leader, Cornell Stokes, aka. Cottonmouth. Soon, Luke becomes the main suspect of detective Misty Knight, so Cage starts a crusade to clear his name, and help Harlem’s people, by confronting Cottonmouth and the underworld of Harlem
Luke Cage got me from the first moment. Not with the senseless action, or the overwhelming excitement, but with the endless charm that it’s got. They’ve menaged to show the black culture of Harlem very well, and it can stick you to the TV screens for the last moment. The camerawork is simply perfect, and there are many instances of the visual storytelling. It’s interesting to see a good-hearted, urban superhero, who, no matter his good intensions, fall in the middle of the shitstorm. I usually don’t like the forced, stereotypical build-up for a story, but it’s strangely works here. In the slums of the ghetto, streetkids mug elderly people, the loan sharks crash the family stores, while the rich jazz club owner drinks his champage with a big smile on his face. The atmosphere is great, black culture is not just intoduced well to us, but it’s really relatable, too.
Luke is a victim of the everydays. He can’t pay his rent, even with two jobs, he hides his true identity, because he thinks about it as a curse of his past. Mike Colter is great in the lead role, and it’s interesting to see, how his acting changes when the story jumps between the timelines. The other noticable perfomance belongs to Mahersala Ali, who plays Cottonmouth. I saw him in 4400, back in the day, and I really liked him, so it was good to see him after twelve years. He awesome in the role of the cocky, egomaniac, powerhungry gangster, and wow that evil laugh of his is amazing. It’s not the usual over-the-top villain laugh, just an honest, and loud laughter. He was simply great.
Rosario Dawnson returns after Daredevil, and I’m glad that she’s got a bigger role now, so we can get to know her character better. If I already talk about strong female perfomances, I should mention Simone Missick, in the role of Misty Knight. She has nearly superhuman observing and investigating skills, that makes her a maximalist and a perfectionist. We also have a suprising, familiar face from Pulp Fiction: Frank Whaley. Doesn’t ring a bell? What? (Say “what” again! I dare you, I double dare you, motherfucker!) I think this will help you remember, haha. Theo Rossi is also amazing, and he is a big surprise in the show. I mean not the actor, but the character arc, that he has. At first he is a sleazy smug bastard, who always wears his sunglasses, but later it’s revealed that he has a great and hidden moral code.
What I didn’t like, was the actual storytelling, and from that, the second half of the season. Without spoilers, I’ll just say that another villain appears, who’s not even half as interesting, as Cottonmouth, and even though he was a great deal in Cage’s past, his personality doesn’t delivers what we expect from him. He is a totally forgettable villain, even if they trid to make him as faithful to the comics, as they could.
If we ar jus look at the story, the second half was just poor exertsion, than a compelling story. Maybe it’s because the lack of patience and interest, but I’ve noticed many issues in the second half, and it felt like the creators payed less attention to details in the end.
But what’s got the attention, is the atmosphere. I mentioned the harlem ghetto’s visual representation before, but the music helps it to rise to the top. Jazz, blues, funk, soul, hip-hop, rap; from the 1950’s to the 2000’s, all kinds of great tunes hits our ears. Coleman Hawkins, Charles Bradley, Raphael Saadiq, Miike Snow, Wu Tang Clan, Ernie and the Top Notes, The Delfonics, but hey, there’s a cameo AND a freestyle rap about Luke from Method Man himself. Really amazing little detail that is many scenes, the music tells us, what is going on in the minds of the characters. Genious!
As in all MARVEL stuff, there are many easter eggs, and nods to the source material, for exampl I laughed out loud, when they make fun of Luke’s old comic book outfit, but there are tons of pop-culture references, like the Looney Tunes. Oh yeah, that’s not a little thing either that a big mystery from the first season of Jessica Jones is revealed too.
And now, what is mandatory, is mandatory: let’s salivate all over the intro! I just can’t imagine, how the hell they can make so fecking amazing intros for these shows. The sepia filter, the rythm of the music, the guitar riffs, the flashing streetsigns and city blocks in all, enriches us with a cool, but foreboding, deep and heavy visual narrative.
Iron Fist (season 1)
After 15 years, Danny Rand returns to New York, for everybody’s surprise, because they thought he was dead. As a child, he and his family suffered a plane crash, where he lost his parents and he’s been announced dead, as well. In truth, Danny was raised by monks, and he was trained in the mysterious city of K’un-Lun, to became the Iron Fist, protector of the holy city. The young boy returns to his home, but in New York, he can’t find his place. His mentality and behaviour are being made fun of, but in fact he is the heir of one of the city’s most influental and richest corporation. The co-propietors, the Meachum family doesn’t tolearate the sudden change, and the ancient Hand organizaton surfaces too, which the Iron Fist swore an oath, to stop, and eliminate.
The Iron Fist, at first, I was pretty hyped for, after I saw the success of the other shows. But when I read the first reviews, I was afraid that the hype would dissapoint me, as well. Is the situation that bad? Is the Iron Fist a big pile of dragonshit? No. The series, though can’t reach the level of the previous shows, and has many flaws, it’s a watchable and entertaining show. But hey, let’s see in-depth, what I’m talking about.
The main problem with Iron Fist is, that it does not have a proper focus. We saw a young boy returning to the long forgotten home, with a mysterious quest on his shoulders, and mastered skills of martial arts, the be successful in that mission, but on the other hand, there’s a corporate business bullshit, that no one cares about. It wouldn’t be bad, if this wouldn’t cover 70% of the show. Of course the plotpoints are intertwined, the Rand Corporation works with the Hand, in the intension of eliminating the new boss, and with that, the Iron Fist, but is feels so inappropriately forced, and out of place, that it becomes a meaningless ball of confusion, that we all want to kick away.
Fortunately the actors save the day, but the interesting part is, that Danny is the most underdeveloped character of all.
We are introduced to Coleen Wing, who’s a sensei of a downton dojo, and she trains young streetkids. But some occasions she drops this good girl’s attitude, and she participates in illegal underground cagefights. Jessica Henwick is really great in the role, and she is one of the most interesting character in th show.
The other gem is David Wenham, who played Faramir in The Lord of the Rings. Here, he is Harold Meachum, and he sweeps everybody away with his perfomance, you can see that he is the most talented from the cast. His moodchanges are frightening, he is the guy behing the scenes, he controls and uses everybody to reach his own goals. He has a dark secret, which is connected the Hand, and this things twist the whole story around. Faramir is by far a mere genius (Dude, please!).
It was a big surprise, that Madame Gao has returned too from Daredevil, but it’s for the better. Wai Ching Ho, even though she’s old, she did a very amazing job as a drug-baroness, who also has some dark and mysterious secrets and connections with the Hand organization.
As a recurring character, Rosario Dawson also appears in the role of Claire, and it’s funny that she’s also surprised that she meets so many “gifted individuals”. I like Rosario, but here, she had a bit more, than it’s suits her in my opinion.
The Iron Fist, compared the the other MARVEL-Netflix shows, is not that gritty. It spins around the Chinese culture, and it does not fail at it: the martial arts scenes are great, the coreography is top notch, there are many thai-chi stuff, and altough syntetic drugs are in the play, and many people dies, it’s not as exciting, as before. It’s a big dissapointment that in contrast of the title, we won’t see much Iron Fisting (Sorry, guys). There are just a couple of scenes where we see the glowing fist, but in the most instances Danny just whines: “I am the Iron Fist, this is my destiny…but I can’t summon the Iron Fist now”. It would’ve been better if this part was some twist in the story, but this fucking thing occurs in every second episode. His ability is awesome though, the glowing fist that can break through walls and metal doors, and whatnot…but there were too few of these scenes.
The character of Danny is pretty dissapointing, as well. The problem is not with the actor: Finn Jones is trying as hard as he can, but the script always ruins his chances to become a compelling dude. In the second half of the season he starts to become one, but then comes the end of the season…
I’m really sad, that the Iron Fist was so ambivalent, because I like the source material. I’m curious what will happen, because Netflix announced a second season, and Danny was in the Defenders already, as well. (Damn, you bastard, we have to write about that, too).
And now, it’s time for the intro. What else can I say about it, other than it was dissapointing and lackluster. It starts good, but in just a couple of seconds it becomes utterly boring. Visually it’s great, the animation is smooth, but the music is dull and there’s no context to it. All the previous MARVEL-Netflix intros had a hidden story to tell, and gave us the perfect mood for the upcoming show, but this…this fails. And it hurts.
I don’t like to close on a low note, but here I am. The start of the MARVEL-Netflix collaboration was amazing, but now, it seems that it got tired. But it’s not over yet: there will be a third season for Daredevil, and a second season for Luke Cage and Iron Fist. The Defenders is out, The Punisher too, and the second season of Jessica Jones is just came out a few days ago. Give me a wek, and an article will be here about it…but there’s the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Carter, The Inhumans, The Gifted, The Runaways…oh my god, this next months will be MARVELlous for the blog. (Stop…just stop!) (Don’t worry, it’s the end of the article, man) (OMG, I’m glad.)
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