Discuss Marvel's Iron Fist
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The most bizarre critical response I've ever seen
posted by A to ZSTAFFMOD on March 19, 2017 at 5:39 PM
So far it has 44 reviews on rotten tomatoes. 7 are "fresh" but if you read the reviews, not a single one is positive. It has 19 reviews on Metacritic. Not *a single one positive.
It is pretty unprecedented for a TV series or movie to get not a single positive review. Even Fantastic 4 managed it.
Iron Fist is currently at 8.2 on IMDB after 10,000 votes. Amongst the top 1000 voters, who tend rate similarly to critics, it has 7.6.
Luke Cage had an 8.0 after about 30,000 votes. It looks like it will end up with a similar rating. Luke cage as a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now I understand that there are a lot of critics giving it bad ratings because they are racist. But the fact that *not a single one has given it a positive review strikes me as bizarre. Surely not all critics are SJWs?
Reply by domremy
on March 19, 2017 at 8:55 PM
I haven't watched the show yet but I am interested to know what you meanby critics being racist? Because of Colleen?
Reply by Jodie
on March 20, 2017 at 12:41 AM
I think it's strange that in most the conversations going on here (amongst the fans) I've only seen 2 people bring up the race issue...😐
I'm judging the show based off what I saw. The critics talked about more than just his race. When talk about the pacing problems in the show, they are totally right, the pacing is a bit off. The fights are unremarkable and badly directed.
I'm glad people are speaking up about what's wrong with the show in a more constructive manner online (excluding the critics) it gives the creators a chance to see what people think and work towards an even better season 2. I have hope that season 2 will be amazing and the fans will get a more mature Danny Rand.
Collider RT a review that wasn't bad. They basically said it's not bad, but it could be better. It's enjoyable. That's better than some of the other reviews I've seen.
Reply by lantzn
on March 20, 2017 at 4:23 AM
It must have been Indica.
Reply by lantzn
on March 20, 2017 at 4:27 AM
I have seen it yet. I REALLY liked DD and JJ and enjoyed LC. Where would you put it in comparison too?
Reply by D-magic
on March 20, 2017 at 6:43 AM
Lol. Otherwise you can't explain how it was better for him than Jessica Jones.
Reply by ShinyNZ
on March 20, 2017 at 7:03 AM
I'd put it dead last to be frank. JJ, LC and DD were superior (in my opinion). This had me so bored in some parts that I had to 'rewind' chunks because I found myself zoning out. I almost quit watching. Just my opinion. Feeling pretty low after seeing it. Let down. Will have to binge watch the others soon to get my enthusiasm back, in the meantime, I'm going to chill here with a cup of tea and the All-New Ghost Rider.
Reply by ShinyNZ
on March 20, 2017 at 7:05 AM
Feel like that must've been some awesome weed. Maybe if I rewatch this is the way to do it ;)
Reply by danflorian1984
on March 20, 2017 at 12:13 PM
I have read a lot of negative reviews by people that admitted that they didn't know anything about the source material, and a couple that they didn't even seen the show. All of them started the reviews claiming that Danny should have been played by an asian actor. Also most of them managed to insert the term White privilege in their reviews. The comments were even more interesting, a bunch a people HAPPY that the show had bad review, once again most of them haven't even seen it. This Show never had a chance of good press or reviews and it's quality or lack of it had nothing to do with it. And pretty much the opposite was with Luke Cage, where the racial undertones and the almost entire black cast caused great reviews for a mostly mediocre show. ( I must admit though that even if I, being a huge Marvel fan, tried a couple a times to rewatch Luke Cage I quit it after 6 episodes, so maybe the show really picked himself up after that. I wouldn't want to commit the same sins as those "critics" that reviewed something they didn't even bothered seeing). Anyway my take on the series is: I loved S1 of Daredevil, liked Jessica Jones, loved S2 of Daredevil (more for Elektra than Punisher), didn't finished Luke Cage and I liked Iron Fist, mostly because for me it felt the most as a comic book based show if that makes sense. Sorry for the wall of text, I used Opera on RemixOS and for some reason it doesn't accept spacing.
Reply by in_the_crease
on March 20, 2017 at 12:54 PM
The people upset with this show due to what they perceive to be the race "issue" are nearsighted--and rightfully so. What they don't know (and what Defenders may or may not show) is that other than Colleen Wing, Danny's inner circle of people--in fact, his family--consists of BFF Luke Cage and love-of-his-life Misty Knight. I think that's what is interesting about the Danny Rand character, and why changing him from a rich white guy is problematic. Despite being a rich, white, privileged kid from a billionaire corporation, he hangs out with Asians, African Americans, and even paled around with Hispanic superhero White Tiger for awhile. Jeryn Hogarth is the only white person Danny trusts.
Essentially, you'd think SJWs would love the very thing they have a problem with. Danny's white, but, in some ways, he's very much not.
At any rate, delving into that would mean looking at the character and looking beyond the show. As a critic of the show, we can't fault them for that. They're just doing their jobs.
But the show itself...
I've seen some criticisms that were valid. Namely, the writing. The occasional over-the-top melodrama was excusable, but it's the cliche and predictable dialogue that I noticed most. None of the characters said anything surprising. No one subverted my expectations. Perhaps the mystic angles concerned Netflix who had built its corner of the MCU on more realistic and grounded superheroes. To compensate, they took no risks with characterization and dialogue. Iron Fist was written in an almost paint-by-numbers fashion, which in of itself isn't necessarily horrible, becomes hugely problematic when the stale, flat and predictable dialogue is delivered by a horribly weak cast. Jessica Stroup and Finn Jones both turned in amateur performances filled with awkward pauses and chuckles that were so noticeable due to being so unnatural, that it took me out of the story more than once. Ramon Rodriguez was so bad, it ruined some of the credibility of the Colleen Wing character. He had one style of acting: total sleaze. How Colleen couldn't see beyond that is beyond me.
Really, with the exception of Henwick (who turned in a decent performance despite having such a horribly-written and inconsistent character to work with) and Rosario Dawson (who was the true anchor of this series) the acting overall was abysmal.
But this notion that the pacing was bad? That the show was slow and boring? That, I don't agree with. Of all the Netflix series, Iron Fist is the most like a comic book brought to life. I found it fast and flashy and it has the highest rewatch value of Netflix's offerings. It has more in common with Daredevil's season two than with season one. And that's not a bad thing. It doesn't take itself too seriously, bogging itself down by stopping in its tracks to make a social observation or two; it's not preachy. It puts its foot on the gas in episode one and doesn't let up until the end.
It is, without a doubt, the weakest of the four Netflix Marvel shows. But, it's one of the more entertaining ones. But some critics are saying it is the worst super hero show ever. That's absolutely ridiculous.
Reply by ShinyNZ
on March 20, 2017 at 8:36 PM
Really agree with the assessment that Dawson's character feels like the anchor to the series - I read another opinion piece somewhere that suggested that Defenders should focus on Nurse as central character. I feel like that would be amazing if done right.
Apparently Iron Fist was directed by the same guy responsible for the last two seasons of Dexter (does anyone know if this is true offhand? Otherwise, I'll do some googling to verify). If this is the case, this might explain why some people thought it was a let down and other people quite liked it. I agree that I'll need to give IF a rewatch, with some time to let things settle. There certainly are very 'comic booky' moments in it - but there definitely were stretches where it lost my interest and I had to actively refocus on it.
Reply by lantzn
on March 21, 2017 at 1:46 AM
What does SJW stand for?
Reply by Jessica Drew
on March 21, 2017 at 11:27 AM
Iron Fist is clearly inferior to Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. Now that we have that out of the way we must also accept another paradoxical truth.
Iron Fist must have a second season.
In an odd way, it's my favorite Marvel/Netflix show because of its mix of the modern and ancient and its classical hero-on-a-quest structure.
Reply by in_the_crease
on March 21, 2017 at 11:35 AM
Social Justice Warrior
Reply by MrRadical
on March 21, 2017 at 2:47 PM
That's like your opinion, for me Iron Fist shares second place behind Daredevil with Luke Cage while Jessica Jones is a distant 4th place.
Reply by ShinyNZ
on March 22, 2017 at 3:36 AM
OK - I get why some people aren't in love with Jessica Jones (though personally, I think it was a beautiful tribute to the Alias series - and I think David Tennant was the most chilling and most nuanced villain we've had so far) - but Luke Cage? Where do you think Iron Fist did better than Luke Cage? No judgement here - all opinions are valid - just curious because I think Cage was one of the most innovative, unique, fascinating adaptations I've seen in a long time. Not to mention the acting. My God. That cast was freaking brilliant.