The Defenders (Late, I know) (Review)

So I know this review is like...2 weeks late, but I still felt I needed to do it just based on principal. So let’s get this out of the way first and foremost. This show, is far better than Netflix’s other Marvel show Iron Fist. Now when I saw Iron Fist, which I thought was lukewarm at best, I couldn’t tell if it was either bogged down by just bad writing, or if the actor wasn’t very good either. But I can say for sure it was mainly the writing. Now don’t get me wrong, dude isn’t any Tom Hanks, but he was FARRRRR better here, than he was during his own standalone. Sadly enough. Every other season/character was amazing, but Iron Fist was...bland and bad. While the others get 9′s and 10′s, no joke, and I wouldn’t give Iron Fist higher than a 6. But let’s highlight some of the good, and shine a light on some of the bad. The good? Sigourney Weaver was pretty great in this. Now I won’t get into spoilers here, but to me, SW was intimidating, while classy, and she took several scenes all by herself. The heroes? Well of course they were great together. From the arguing, to the combined fight scenes, to the sarcasm/jokes shot back and forth, it just melds together so well. Daredevil is really the one who is “at the forefront”, much like Iron Man is for the Avengers. So of course Charlie Cox stands out. He just doesn’t waste a scene. I love this man as Daredevil. But the others? Well like I said about Danny boy, he is much better, but Luke and Jessica were just as much fire as Daredevil. The chemistry just works. The fight scenes, well this is going to be in both the good, and the bad, but I’ll get to the bad in a second. Well the fight scenes were pretty good. There are two scenes in particular that stood out. The fight scene in Episode 3 and in 8. Both were awe inspiring. The humor, well we have to talk about that of course. They all play off each other of course, but really Daredevil and Jessica Jones, as well as Luke Cage with Iron Fist are what stand out. With LC and IF, it makes sense. You get the vibe that they are trying to get them down the path for a particular meet up called “Heroes For Hire” and they make several points to it through out this, as well as their own respective series. JJ on the other hand is always busting DD‘s balls and it’s great. Of course they all intertwine with each other ALMOST flawlessly, but let’s talk about the bad now.

The negative? Well the pacing was a bit off. Probably because it was only 8 episodes. I feel the series as a whole would have succeeded more if it was 10. Not much filler, but just a little more time to let the characters to breath just a little bit more. The bad fight scenes? Well there were far more good ones, the biggest issue in my book was the fact that there were a fair amount of scenes shot in some very dark settings. Making it so you couldn’t see shit. Granted I get that there were some older actors, and you wanted to make it believable, and not an obvious stunt double, but wound up making it obvious there was probably a stunt devil. Something that Daredevil does MUCH better, but yet again, older actors, and so I can kind of understand. Still disappointed.

The lack of a really compelling villain.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I love SW, but she isn’t the “main” villain, to be real, I don’t know if I’d say there is one. Just many antagonists. Where Daredevil Season One and Jessica Jones Season One get so much praise is the fact that they have REALLY compelling villains that just...bloom by the end. They are written so well. Yet with Iron Fist, and now this, the villains are a bit more...lackluster save for a few scenes or characters. Speaking of lacking, the side characters. They are usually great in their own series, but here, everyone besides Colleen Wing and Claire, everyone else feels slightly weak. Now, I know they can bring it, so I’ll chalk it up the fact that they had like...what? 6 or 7 side characters in as nearly as many episodes? So I look forward to seeing them all again in their separate series.

So, with that, I think I’ll call it a day, I know this review is fairly short, but I wanted to just put up some of the things I liked that I felt worked well, as well as a few shortcomings that I felt held it back from Daredevil or Jessica Jones Season 1 greatness. Final Grade? 8/10 Maybe not a "Shelf needed item" but still good enough for you to check it out.

It’s solid, it’s fun, but it is much farther from perfect like other series before it. I’d recommend giving it a try if you have Netflix, but this is far from the show that you should be getting Netflix for sadly. That is reserved for shows like the aforementioned Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and even others like Stranger Things. But for now, I have work to do with my Destiny 2 review, as well as couple of other little pieces I want to talk about. So til than, I’ll see you guys, On The Shelf.