Worth The Wait?

Aside from the arguable quarrels that the superhero genre faces in this day and age, in relation to the genre conceivably saturating the cinematic industry with its vast array of films and how much monetary gain these features receive, one of the best things to come with the proliferation of superhero story-telling, across both cinema and television, is the growing complexity around heroism itself. From Christopher Nolan’s sombre yet realistic take of the caped-crusader in The Dark Knight to Marvel’s ever-expanding yet conflicted cinematic universe, the superhero genre isn’t merely the genre that essentially provides the blockbuster-escapism path that audiences crave for, it’s also a category of film that is ‘maturing’; sweeping away the predictable tropes of old for more intricate and idiosyncratic narratives. While it may adopt a predictable outcome near to its closing stages as well as implementing sequences that’s synonymous with the already mentioned genre, with highly-choreographed fight-sequences and superhero in-jokes, one of the things to take note of Marvel and Netflix’s latest series of The Defenders, a series which unties four Marvel/Netflix leads into one contained space, is how well it manages to evolve the ‘hero’ status by showcasing personalities that are subdued yet relatable in comparison to the silver-screen portrayals. However, from it being announced almost four years ago, does Netflix/Marvel’s culmination of these ‘misfits’ live-up to people’s expectations?…

Set a few months after the events that took place in the second season of Daredevil, and one month after the events of the first season of Iron Fist, Marvel’s The Defenders follows New York City’s vigilantes of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist; a quartet of singular heroes who all share one common goal, to defeat the Hand. This is the story of four solitary figures, burdened with their own personal challenges, who realise they just might be stronger when teamed together…

In similar vain to one of Marvel’s more prestigious commodities in Avengers Assembled, the longingly-anticipated series of The Defenders unites Netflix’s four Marvel misfits of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist into an eight episode miniseries that will fill the void for those who are longing and craving for a new and fresh mash-up of characters that are fighting in unison. However, unlike the immediacy of the preceding Avengers films that place multiple-personalities in tangent with each other instantaneously, due to the nature of cinematic run-time, what is paramount to perceive in watching The Defenders is how steadily the series begins. Rather than just seeing four uniquely gifted individuals fight from the the shows inception, what we’re displayed with instead is a super-heroic televised series that not only wisely depicts each of the four main characters doing their own thing, with Iron Fist trying to track down the Hand, Jessica Jones trying to track down a disappearance, Luke Cage helping those who need help in Harlem and Matthew Murdock purposefully avoiding his alter-ego of Daredevil, it gradually presents these four said individuals getting used to their own separate damaged life-styles, which is a necessity. Much of the series’ contextual crux, aside the main plot-line of the Hand, is grounded by the different relationships that these characters have with one another and how, over the eight episodes that are in display, they slowly get used to each others quirks which feels natural. Certainly, it would have been odd to straight away see these characters chumming with each other considering they all have their own detrimental persona’s that doesn’t make them shown to be the main hero archetype. What’s savouring to see from this, is how each one of the characters slowly accept the idea of being helped since in their own respective seasons, they’ve each done things on their own and in their own way which harkens back to this idea of the superhero role, in this day and age, shifting from the one-dimensional formalities. If there’s one aspect to praise about all of the Marvel/Netflix series that have come before, is how much it intricately delves into the main protagonists themselves and how they have to adapt to a different persona that other people have dubbed them by. For instance, while Jessica Jones, out of the main characters in The Defenders, is adamant that she doesn’t belong in the category of ‘hero’, there are others who deem her to be this said status such as Jones’ adoptive sister Trish Walker. With their being so much emphasis on this idea of accepting who you truly are, in relation to the four protagonists dismay of being classed as a ‘hero’, it gives the show at hand an added sense of grittiness to the narrative proceedings and certainly contrasts the formal light-hearted tone that superhero genre films and T.V. series tend to normally adopt. Indeed, the ‘humanity’ side of things really makes The Defenders a credible watch and most of that is down to the characterisation and how each one of the characters go about their business. Out of the four, it has to be said that one the biggest concerns going into this new series is the presentation of Danny Rand, portrayed by Finn Jones, since Iron Fists characterisation in his own series was exceedingly lacklustre in comparison to the other Netflix heroes. What was bothersome of Iron Fist in general was how one-dimensional all of the aspects were; particularly that of Danny Rand since the character himself lacked any real depth and wasn’t as complex or as charismatic in comparison to Daredevil and Jessica Jones. With his appearance in The Defenders, much of the same things just elaborated can be said again since his character doesn’t have anything to offer other than being a convenient and abrupt plot device near the concluding moments. As much as he’s the most giddy personality when it comes to the prospect of the superhero team-up mid-way through the season, it’s unfortunate to say that Iron Fist is indeed the weakest link in more ways than one; and that’s even without the monotonous corporate contextual angle that the said characters series willingly adopted. Despite the fact that The Defenders takes liberties in purposefully establishing each character early on, not necessarily recapping the full extent of their past adventures but instead setting-up the emotional state of themselves as well as those who matter most to them, there are notable sacrifices to witness with this slow-pacing in place. Not only does it arguably subdue the anticipated moments in which we see either Jessica Jones roll her eyes at Daredevil’s theatrics or Luke Cage and Iron Fist squabbling over the ethics of defeating their common enemy, it very much stagnates the over-arching plot-line which regrettably falls into one superhero story-telling cliche towards the end. With their being so much intrigue for this show from those who’ve devotedly watched all of the said characters T.V. series, the ultimate pay-off is somewhat inadequate and doesn’t display anything that’s new or refreshing to the proceedings. Yes, I understand that there will be much more elaboration in each of the characters seasons to come, but in many regards, The Defenders was always meant to present something that was new and surprising and the creators and writers of this T.V. universe have certainly missed a trick

As stated before-hand, while the character of Iron Fist within The Defenders doesn’t contribute to much of the eight episodes displayed and is ultimately seen to be a contextual necessity, the most paramount aspect that Netflix’s show has going for it is the characterisation itself and how each of these uniquely damaged yet gifted individuals interact with one another in relation to teaming-up and defeating a common-enemy. Alongside the main context of the series, one of the more notable features to notice of The Defenders that is captured within the eight episodes available is the main casts benefit of getting to play off each other with their own individualistic and unique personalities and ideals. Whether it’s the moments in which Jessica Jones cynically jokes about the Daredevil costume that Matt Murdock is wearing or when Luke Cage jokingly disregards Iron Fists past interaction with a dragon, it is these instances precisely that makes Netflix’s recent superhero outing a craving watch. Individually, Krysten Ritter’s enactment of the alcohol loving and ever-pessimistic Jessica Jones grabs the screen since the character not only evokes this sensibility of the ‘hero’ persona being more of a complexed model, but projects herself to be a character that inhabits a funny yet concerned nature; something which Iron Fist wholeheartedly lacks. By being apart of a show that too often devolves from enticing dialogue and plot-progression into tediously lengthy sequences filled with highly choreographed punching and kicking, it is down to Jessica Jones who provides the rather contrasting and verbally deft engagement and Ritter’s synchronisation into playing the loveable yet sarcastic said character is enjoyable to see. Much of the same can be said about Charlie Cox’s projection of Murdock/Daredevil since he’s playing a character that’s clearly perplexed from the events that took place in season two of Daredevil and is another individual, like Jones, who’s always taken care of things on his own and doesn’t want to get the people he loves the most involved with the vigilantism. It’s a convincing performance to say the least and the way in which we see Murdock within the beginning of the series is natural in relation to what’s happened to him in recent memory. While he isn’t as one-dimensional as Iron Fist who doesn’t extenuate any depth whatsoever, there is only so much development you can provide for a character such as Luke Cage since his solid yet stoic way of helping people can limit story possibilities. There’s no denying that Mike Colter as the said character is excellent in the role, but being that Luke adopts a passive nature with his unbreakable body, it doesn’t give the viewer a whole lot to work with. Sigourney Weaver’s inclusion as one of the other members of the Hand is a welcoming inclusion since she fills in the calm yet vindictive presence that Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk left-behind in the first season of Daredevil. 

If there’s one nitpick to be mentioned in relation to the formal aspects that The Defenders utilise within the entirety of the series, it’s the wonky and odd editing choices that ultimately pull you out of the experience. Unlike the first season of Daredevil which amalgamated highly-detailed cinematography with editing techniques that artistically portrayed the action set-pieces in an inviting manner, what is disturbingly noticeable of the way in which The Defenders is filmed is how some of the shots that match-up with the proceeding cuts. For instance, in an episode where we have our main heroes gathered in a police station, in which we’re greeted with low-angle close-up shots of the characters talking which occasionally changes into a medium shot where we can see the majority of the characters in a singular frame, it’s easy to distinguish the continuity errors on display which makes you less invested into the minimal plot-line. While there maybe a close-up of Murdock’s face who’s wearing his red-glasses that, at a specific moment, has a crack on one of the lenses, the proceeding medium shot will portray the same character to be wearing the same glasses that are intact, not damaged at all. As much as this is only a continuity error, there were a lot more examples of this that showed-up more times than it needed to and, in a way, it shows how limited and un-creative the film-makers are in constructing a particular scene. By no means was any of the highly-choreographed sequences, that was cinematically constructed, lacklustre or the production design insufficient; these formal aspects are what The Defenders excelled in.However, when you have an engageable property such as this that Netflix have made their own, you would expect to see the highest proportions of entertainment-value since the said online steaming company is synonymous is making highly-value concepts. In some cases, this isn’t what you see one hundred percent of the time when watching The Defenders since these continuity errors are blatantly evident to perceive.

To mention anymore in regards to the series’ plot specifics would be criminal on my end, but to summarise Netflix’s latest hot-property of The Defenders is intersting; considering how well it excels in presenting characters that are simply more than just the ‘hero’ archetype but also suffers from the rather uninspired and predictable story-line and outcome. As wise as it was for the film-makers to adopt a mini-series that patiently established each of the four main protagonists at the moment of inception where they slowly got acquainted with another, which in turn felt natural considering how complex these individuals have shown to be in their own series, there is much left to imagination since the predictability of the series’ outcome doesn’t conclusively resolve the predicament that’s presented. Despite this however, with The Defenders neatly borrowing the best aspects of the preceding Netflix/Marvel series, the enjoyment comes from watching the characters alone and how they all coincide and disregard one another. The biggest question to ask after seeing The Defenders is, was it worth it? From its announcement a few years ago now, is Netflix/Marvel’s T.V. version of the Avengers worth the wait? The answer is simply no, no it wasn’t. With their only being eight episodes and an over-arching plot-line that’s surely going to develop into other Netflix series to come in the near future, the first season of The Defenders will only be simply classed as a prelude for what’s to come…

On that note, it’s time for me to end this week’s T.V. Review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest T.V. Review of Netflix’s The Defenders and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read! 😉 If anyone has an opinion on either my review or on the T.V. series itself, feel free to drop a comment down below. For next week, I will try and bring you a film review of Andrés Muschietti’s It. Aside from that, thank you once again for reading this week’s Blog Post and I’ll be seeing you all next week! Have a nice day! Adieu! 😁✌

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte