Sooo, I've been thinking about doing a post about Iron Fist since I watched the show, especially with all the hate going out about it. First I have to say I have a friend who loves Jessica Jones but I didn't watch it because I knew just from the trailer and premise that I wouldn't enjoy it. I was told Luke Cage wasn't good at all by the friend who loves Jessica Jones and by my mom, along with several others. And practically everyone who loves the MCU adores Daredevil but to my chagrin I cannot seem to get into the show. I do like Matt Murdock and his alter-ego Daredevil, I like his character and his stories and I have tried several times but I just can't get into the show! It sort of drives me crazy that I can't like it.
But then they revealed the Iron Fist trailer and I was like oh ya! This is so going to be good! I know quite a bit about Danny Rand from just years of picking up odds and ends about him, plus (I know this isn't exactly a good source of information about him) but I had watched the Disney XD show Ultimate Spiderman and the character of Danny Rand in that show gave me a sneak peek at his world, his personality and his lore. I loved the magical, mythical element of his power and his world and just his cool, calm, naïve, sweet, demeanor. In the Netflix Original I was glad to see that they kept true to the cores of his character.
I think I'll start with all the things people are saying about the show. First everyone is bent out of shape about Danny Rand being played by a white actor, when they think he should have been played by a Japanese actor. I would have been very mad -- and I think many comic book, true Iron Fist lovers -- would have been livid as well. In the comics Danny Rand was a white, blond haired kid who was trained in K'un Lun in one of the Heavenly Realms. He was the son of two very wealthy white parents who owned Rand Industries. He also punched his fist into the heart of the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, transferring some of the dragon's power into Danny's fist, giving him the mystical Iron Fist. That all happened in the comics, and guess what? It happened in the show too! Wow, a show actually stayed true to the comics in nearly every detail and people are mad about it? A TV show actually kept a character the way they were written, white, male, named Danny Rand, staying true to the comics again and people are mad about it? Yet I'm not allowed to be mad that they changed Pietro Maximoff's (Quicksilver's) name to Peter Maximoff in the X-Men franchise and scrapped his twin sister all together? Oh, and I'm also not allowed to be mad at the complete failure of a reboot of Fantastic Four when they made all the characters young, attractive, and politically correct? Yeah that's not mixed up at all...
Another thing people find wrong with Iron Fist: It's slow. Legion's a huge hit this year in the superhero TV show world and that is incredibly slow! Not to mention deep and meaningful and takes a whole lot of thought to figure out. I mean, I can't think of a slower show than Legion (don't get me wrong, I adore that show but I'm simply making a point). I just don't see what's wrong with taking time to develop characters so thoroughly that you know them inside and out. Danny, Colleen, the Meachums, every character in Iron Fist was so well rounded, so finely crafted and fine tuned that even as I hated Mr. Meachum and Ward I loved them too. They were excellent, amazing antagonists. You felt for them, understood their perspectives, why they did what they did so thoroughly that they didn't even feel like the bad guys! And on any other show I would have wrinkled my nose at Joy because her type of character just has never been my favorite, but I actually really liked her. If that doesn't say something about the show I don't know what does? Her loyalty and love to her brother was really beautiful and I loved how Ward and her stood by each other's sides, fought together and sometimes with each other but there was still no doubt that they loved each other and would defend each other. And the heroes? The characters your supposed to like? By the end, you don't just like them, you love them. You adore them and are rooting for them. By the end, you feel like you know Danny and Colleen and even that character that came at the end that I won't mention because it's a spoiler.
And don't even get me started on Colleen and Danny's romance? I feel that it goes side by side with David and Syd's love for each other in Legion. No matter the choices they make, bad or good, they never stop loving each other. They may argue and disagree and even side with the wrong people but they still fight for each other and love each other and try to understand each other. We've gotten so used to TV shows and books, popular culture, portraying surface relationships that are either fluffy and adorable or heated and all physical that we've forgotten what true love is. Deciding that you are going to go all in and accept this person for all their amazing traits and worst downfalls. Deciding that you guys are sticking together even in the worst of storms, even if you can't stand being around each other or are so opposite in agreement with each other you still make the effort to understand their perspective and try to find a common ground because you love that person so much that you can't stand not being with them. To me, that is Colleen and Danny by the end and that is David and Syd in Legion. It's truly beautiful and I was so pleasantly surprised to find that in Iron Fist.
What's another thing people complain about when it comes to Iron Fist? Oh yeah! The fight scenes. Whether you're reading a comic or novel or watching a TV show, if there are superheroes in it you expect epic, awesome fight scenes. I, personally, wasn't disappointed when I watched Iron Fist's action packed sequences. No, they were not like the typical superhero battles. No, it wasn't like the bloody, graphic, hardcore action scenes in Daredevil, Luke Cage, or Jessica Jones. No, the action sequences were nothing like the gritty action of Arrow (I do love every fight scene in Arrow because Oliver Queen knows how to kick butt) or the epic yet comic-like fight scenes in the Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, or Supergirl. But again, I feel the need to compare Iron Fist to Legion. If you watched Legion then you know what I'm talking about. The fight scenes were the typical fight scenes one would find in one of the Netflix Marvel shows or in CW's DC shows. The fight scenes were most of the time slow motion, calculated and well thought out and precise. They were different and elegant and unique. I loved it. And I was, again, delighted to find the same sort of thing in Iron Fist. Danny Rand was trained in K'un Lun, which means he would have a very martial arts, unique fighting style from any other of the MCU's Netflix heroes. I love watching martial arts, I think they were elegant and unique and precise, and that was how Danny Rand fought. He was controlled, withdrawn, well in control of his abilities as a fighter (much like Colleen) with swift, quick movements that rendered his opponents either dead or unconscious. The fight scenes were wholly epic, and wholly unique, something that people should be praising, not berating. The writers of Iron Fist and Legion are breaking boundaries in the wildly popular superhero genre of TV and they should be praised for being original and different and not sticking to the status quo. You can go here to see what I think of writers/directors and the entire cast and crew who work on groundbreaking shows like Legion and Iron Fist.
Now, these are the main problems people had with the show. I'm sure there are more but I felt that these were the big ones that needed addressing. There's just one more thing I have to say. I don't think people are used to sensitive, trusting, beautifully honest characters like Danny Rand, men like Danny Rand. They're used to the brooding, dark, and dangerous male and female heroes like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Daredevil along with Oliver Queen and Barry Allen is getting pretty close to that category on this season of The Flash. And yes, I'll be the first to admit that Danny Rand did his fare share of brooding an self-sacrificial scenes but in his core, where personality is concerned he is his own breed of hero and protagonist. Again... with the comparisons to Legion. What made David unique was his mental illness, his sort of twisty, skewered view of the world because of his power, the thing inside of him and his mental illness and his genuine, honest personality. He never pretended to be something he wasn't. What made Danny Rand unique was his kindness, generosity, cool and calm demeanor, the way he trusts so easily that makes him almost naïve and just makes me love him so much. He is a special kind of person. One who has a pure heart of gold. Sort of like the slightly naïve, positive perspective Barry Allen in the first season of The Flash. Just adorable and cute and genuinely a good person down to their core. Danny Rand went through a lot of crap and a lot of darkness but unlike some, he didn't let that stop him from trusting others, being positive and kind. And his ability to trust so easily was what got him into so much trouble at the end and was what changed him as a person by the end of the first season.
I guess I just really love heroes that are wholly original and unique. David Haller and Danny Rand have become the two characters that I admire the most and as a writer, I strive to create content as deep and meaningful and thoroughly well done and well rounded in my books. Iron Fist and Legion made me realize that breaking rules in the TV industry and in the book industry is a very good idea and they've become the two stories that I look to for inspiration. I point at Iron Fist and Legion and say that, that is what I want to accomplish one day, that is why I write, so that I can create a story just like that.
So, if you haven't watched Iron Fist I suggest you give it a try. Just try it and I totally get it if it's not your cup of tea. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil aren't my thing but maybe they're your. I'll be the first to say that shows like Iron Fist and Legion are an acquired taste and either you love them or dislike them straight off the bat. Watch the first episode of Iron Fist and just see what you think. Just... don't listen to bad reviews by the critics. Critics don't know what their talking about when it comes to most things (another post for another time). Even if a show or book is getting horrible reviews by critics read it and watch it and see what you think for yourself. So, my advise to you is to just watch the pilot of Iron Fist, even just half of it and if you can't stand it turn it off but at least you can say you didn't just see that critics say it was bad, you can say you tried it and came to the conclusion on your own.
There you go. That is my slightly sarcastic, kind of aggressive, awed review of Iron Fist and strangely, Legion too... I wasn't expecting for Legion to become such a big part of this review but there you go. Enjoy.
But then they revealed the Iron Fist trailer and I was like oh ya! This is so going to be good! I know quite a bit about Danny Rand from just years of picking up odds and ends about him, plus (I know this isn't exactly a good source of information about him) but I had watched the Disney XD show Ultimate Spiderman and the character of Danny Rand in that show gave me a sneak peek at his world, his personality and his lore. I loved the magical, mythical element of his power and his world and just his cool, calm, naïve, sweet, demeanor. In the Netflix Original I was glad to see that they kept true to the cores of his character.
I think I'll start with all the things people are saying about the show. First everyone is bent out of shape about Danny Rand being played by a white actor, when they think he should have been played by a Japanese actor. I would have been very mad -- and I think many comic book, true Iron Fist lovers -- would have been livid as well. In the comics Danny Rand was a white, blond haired kid who was trained in K'un Lun in one of the Heavenly Realms. He was the son of two very wealthy white parents who owned Rand Industries. He also punched his fist into the heart of the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, transferring some of the dragon's power into Danny's fist, giving him the mystical Iron Fist. That all happened in the comics, and guess what? It happened in the show too! Wow, a show actually stayed true to the comics in nearly every detail and people are mad about it? A TV show actually kept a character the way they were written, white, male, named Danny Rand, staying true to the comics again and people are mad about it? Yet I'm not allowed to be mad that they changed Pietro Maximoff's (Quicksilver's) name to Peter Maximoff in the X-Men franchise and scrapped his twin sister all together? Oh, and I'm also not allowed to be mad at the complete failure of a reboot of Fantastic Four when they made all the characters young, attractive, and politically correct? Yeah that's not mixed up at all...
Another thing people find wrong with Iron Fist: It's slow. Legion's a huge hit this year in the superhero TV show world and that is incredibly slow! Not to mention deep and meaningful and takes a whole lot of thought to figure out. I mean, I can't think of a slower show than Legion (don't get me wrong, I adore that show but I'm simply making a point). I just don't see what's wrong with taking time to develop characters so thoroughly that you know them inside and out. Danny, Colleen, the Meachums, every character in Iron Fist was so well rounded, so finely crafted and fine tuned that even as I hated Mr. Meachum and Ward I loved them too. They were excellent, amazing antagonists. You felt for them, understood their perspectives, why they did what they did so thoroughly that they didn't even feel like the bad guys! And on any other show I would have wrinkled my nose at Joy because her type of character just has never been my favorite, but I actually really liked her. If that doesn't say something about the show I don't know what does? Her loyalty and love to her brother was really beautiful and I loved how Ward and her stood by each other's sides, fought together and sometimes with each other but there was still no doubt that they loved each other and would defend each other. And the heroes? The characters your supposed to like? By the end, you don't just like them, you love them. You adore them and are rooting for them. By the end, you feel like you know Danny and Colleen and even that character that came at the end that I won't mention because it's a spoiler.
And don't even get me started on Colleen and Danny's romance? I feel that it goes side by side with David and Syd's love for each other in Legion. No matter the choices they make, bad or good, they never stop loving each other. They may argue and disagree and even side with the wrong people but they still fight for each other and love each other and try to understand each other. We've gotten so used to TV shows and books, popular culture, portraying surface relationships that are either fluffy and adorable or heated and all physical that we've forgotten what true love is. Deciding that you are going to go all in and accept this person for all their amazing traits and worst downfalls. Deciding that you guys are sticking together even in the worst of storms, even if you can't stand being around each other or are so opposite in agreement with each other you still make the effort to understand their perspective and try to find a common ground because you love that person so much that you can't stand not being with them. To me, that is Colleen and Danny by the end and that is David and Syd in Legion. It's truly beautiful and I was so pleasantly surprised to find that in Iron Fist.
What's another thing people complain about when it comes to Iron Fist? Oh yeah! The fight scenes. Whether you're reading a comic or novel or watching a TV show, if there are superheroes in it you expect epic, awesome fight scenes. I, personally, wasn't disappointed when I watched Iron Fist's action packed sequences. No, they were not like the typical superhero battles. No, it wasn't like the bloody, graphic, hardcore action scenes in Daredevil, Luke Cage, or Jessica Jones. No, the action sequences were nothing like the gritty action of Arrow (I do love every fight scene in Arrow because Oliver Queen knows how to kick butt) or the epic yet comic-like fight scenes in the Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, or Supergirl. But again, I feel the need to compare Iron Fist to Legion. If you watched Legion then you know what I'm talking about. The fight scenes were the typical fight scenes one would find in one of the Netflix Marvel shows or in CW's DC shows. The fight scenes were most of the time slow motion, calculated and well thought out and precise. They were different and elegant and unique. I loved it. And I was, again, delighted to find the same sort of thing in Iron Fist. Danny Rand was trained in K'un Lun, which means he would have a very martial arts, unique fighting style from any other of the MCU's Netflix heroes. I love watching martial arts, I think they were elegant and unique and precise, and that was how Danny Rand fought. He was controlled, withdrawn, well in control of his abilities as a fighter (much like Colleen) with swift, quick movements that rendered his opponents either dead or unconscious. The fight scenes were wholly epic, and wholly unique, something that people should be praising, not berating. The writers of Iron Fist and Legion are breaking boundaries in the wildly popular superhero genre of TV and they should be praised for being original and different and not sticking to the status quo. You can go here to see what I think of writers/directors and the entire cast and crew who work on groundbreaking shows like Legion and Iron Fist.
Now, these are the main problems people had with the show. I'm sure there are more but I felt that these were the big ones that needed addressing. There's just one more thing I have to say. I don't think people are used to sensitive, trusting, beautifully honest characters like Danny Rand, men like Danny Rand. They're used to the brooding, dark, and dangerous male and female heroes like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Daredevil along with Oliver Queen and Barry Allen is getting pretty close to that category on this season of The Flash. And yes, I'll be the first to admit that Danny Rand did his fare share of brooding an self-sacrificial scenes but in his core, where personality is concerned he is his own breed of hero and protagonist. Again... with the comparisons to Legion. What made David unique was his mental illness, his sort of twisty, skewered view of the world because of his power, the thing inside of him and his mental illness and his genuine, honest personality. He never pretended to be something he wasn't. What made Danny Rand unique was his kindness, generosity, cool and calm demeanor, the way he trusts so easily that makes him almost naïve and just makes me love him so much. He is a special kind of person. One who has a pure heart of gold. Sort of like the slightly naïve, positive perspective Barry Allen in the first season of The Flash. Just adorable and cute and genuinely a good person down to their core. Danny Rand went through a lot of crap and a lot of darkness but unlike some, he didn't let that stop him from trusting others, being positive and kind. And his ability to trust so easily was what got him into so much trouble at the end and was what changed him as a person by the end of the first season.
I guess I just really love heroes that are wholly original and unique. David Haller and Danny Rand have become the two characters that I admire the most and as a writer, I strive to create content as deep and meaningful and thoroughly well done and well rounded in my books. Iron Fist and Legion made me realize that breaking rules in the TV industry and in the book industry is a very good idea and they've become the two stories that I look to for inspiration. I point at Iron Fist and Legion and say that, that is what I want to accomplish one day, that is why I write, so that I can create a story just like that.
So, if you haven't watched Iron Fist I suggest you give it a try. Just try it and I totally get it if it's not your cup of tea. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil aren't my thing but maybe they're your. I'll be the first to say that shows like Iron Fist and Legion are an acquired taste and either you love them or dislike them straight off the bat. Watch the first episode of Iron Fist and just see what you think. Just... don't listen to bad reviews by the critics. Critics don't know what their talking about when it comes to most things (another post for another time). Even if a show or book is getting horrible reviews by critics read it and watch it and see what you think for yourself. So, my advise to you is to just watch the pilot of Iron Fist, even just half of it and if you can't stand it turn it off but at least you can say you didn't just see that critics say it was bad, you can say you tried it and came to the conclusion on your own.
There you go. That is my slightly sarcastic, kind of aggressive, awed review of Iron Fist and strangely, Legion too... I wasn't expecting for Legion to become such a big part of this review but there you go. Enjoy.
Have a great weekend everyone!!
What did you think of Iron Fist? Do you disagree or agree with my review? I'd love to hear from you down in the comments!
Comments
Post a Comment