“Iron Fist” stars Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, Finn Jones as Danny Rand and Rosario Dawson and Claire Temple. “Iron Fist” is the newest Marvel series to be released exclusively on Netflix.
‘Iron Fist’ — starring Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Tom Pelphrey
6 out of 10
By Sam Romero ’17
THE ROUNDUP
Netflix came out in March with a new installment to their superhero “Defenders” TV show roster “Iron Fist,” which turned out to be one of the worst failures for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Iron Fist” is about Danny Rand, played by Finn Jones, the heir to the multimillion dollar company Rand Enterprises, finally returning home 15 years after he is proclaimed dead in a plane crash.
He tries to reclaim his company and catch up with old friends, but is met with many challenges when he finds out the forces he has sworn to destroy have infiltrated his own company.
Throughout the series, flashbacks reveal that Rand survived a crash and landed in a mystical city called K’un Lun in the Himalayas that only appears on this earth once every 15 years.
After warrior monks teach Rand kung fu, he kills an immortal dragon, giving him the powers and title of the Iron Fist.
With a outstandingly low score of 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, almost all the critics have bashed “Iron Fist” for its slow plot and poor storytelling.
I do agree that “Iron Fist” is the weakest series that Netflix has put out with Marvel heroes, but I disagree on the reasons that most critics disparage the series.
Show creator Scott Buck does a great job at explaining who the Iron Fist is and all the mystical elements in play, even though the exposition dragged at times.
What really disappointed me about the series is that the city K’un Lun was never shown and there were no clips showing his training happening from the last 15 years.
K’un Lun is a huge part of the origin story but was left out for no apparent reason.
Rand talks about pulling the heart out of a dragon to gain his powers but this pivotal scene was never shown.
A fight between Rand and a dragon would have boosted the series intensity to whole new levels had the audience actually seen the fight.
The big problem was too much telling and not enough showing.
Iron Fist’s powers were very watered down compared to the comics, and his fighting skills were not as great as Daredevil’s in the Netflix show “Daredevil,” even though Rand had more training and magic for that matter.
Iron Fist is supposed to be a living weapon and the best hand-to-hand fighter on Earth, so it was very odd to see him beaten by ordinary security guards.
Jessica Henwick portrays Colleen Wing, a skilled fighter and sensei of her own dojo, beautifully and is my favorite character in the show on every level.
Her fight scenes were thrilling and her character development through the episodes was very well done.
One thing that “Iron Fist” did not have that all the other Marvel Netflix shows did was a set villain that the hero faces.
Instead, he faces many different henchmen and the antagonist always seemed to shift around from episode to episode.
Overall, I do not think they showed the important parts of Iron Fist’s origin and training, which made the show very dull and boring at times earning it a 6 out of 10.
