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THE DEFENDERS

bionicbob

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SPOILER FREE REVIEW  ;)


After two years of set-up, some uneven entries, it all finally all pays off...

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldsKpwM7Yws[/video]

Binged the 8 episodes over two days, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment.  Like the previous series, it takes it time focusing more on character and story, but the pacing (unlike Luke Cage or Iron Fist) feels appropriate with no real filler or unneeded side plot.  And when the action does happen, Netflix brings it's A-game!  Solid fight choreography, excellent editing and strong direction.

The strength and charm of the series is of course seeing all our heroes together and interacting, and it does not disappoint.  Lots of nice moments, easter egg nods to their Marvel Comics relationships and potential set-ups for Netflix's PHASE II.

I don't know if someone who has not watched all four previous series would have a clear understanding of what is happening?  But if you have invested the time, you receive a very satisfying pay off with each of our heroes finding some sort resolution and renewed purpose after all the trials they have endured.

And villains....  The true purpose and all five fingers of THE HAND is finally revealed, bringing to close all the dangling plot threads from the various seasons.   Sigourney Weaver is excellent, bringing a layered and engaging performance to her Big Bad character of Alexandra.

All in all, for me, an excellent adventure that has renewed my faith in the Netflix Marvelverse and has made me very excited for Phase II.
Thumbs Up for me.  :D
 

addiesin

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I have also finished all 8 episodes and I thought it was pretty great, though not excellent.

Daredevil and Jessica Jones both had, to me, amazing/excellent first seasons. Not much to improve on, but hard to follow.

Daredevil season two started strong and finished weak. It really felt like two separate seasons: Daredevil vs Punisher, and Daredevil vs Elektra. The Punisher stuff was better. Overall I'd call it good, not great.

Luke Cage season one started strong as well. Once Cottonmouth is dealt with, the pace slows down to a crawl. The ending is satisfying enough but takes too long to get there and there's one twist in particular that felt hokey and unnecessary. This was overall also good, not great.

Iron Fist started with a boring character with infinite money, diagetically impressive martial arts skills, and superpowers. It also introduced the excellent Colleen Wing, and stretched Claire Temple to the edge of suspension of disbelief. It ended with these same characters basically unchanged. It was not good, IMO.

Now the Defenders does a lot of things right, but feels like it didn't have the budget to fully sell it, or maybe they didn't have enough talent behind the camera to hide the budget. I was hoping for a more filmic look to the cinematography specifically, and maybe a more cohesive score. The acting is as good as it always is in these Netflix shows, the writing is a little better than most, probably because they kept it to a brisk 8 episodes instead of stretching the story into a bloated 13 or a gluttonous 26. 

The story is pretty basic, all the characters get involved with investigating the Hand, either knowingly or unknowingly, and eventually come together to fight them and stop their evil plot, which will shake New York to it's destruction. That's the spoiler-free, trailer-friendly version. Also Elektra is back, but they already showed us that in Daredevil season 2. I actually do think new viewers could jump right in, or people who only watched one or two of the other shows. But as Bob said, it's acceptable payoff to what came before. The twists are satisfying and the setup for future shows doesn't impede on anything here.
Overall, pretty great.

-----------

For other Marvel tv shows, I'd say Agent Carter was good and Agents of Shield is a rollercoaster of quality but overall I personally find it to be great.

Scores go:
  • Excellent (2)
  • Great (2)
  • Good (3)
  • Not good (1)
  • Awful

Inhumans looks like it might be Not good or even Awful. A first, though not related to these series at all other than the MCU umbrella. Legion is excellent but that's not MCU.
 

Nic

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I got through it all in one day, and I pleasantly enjoyed myself...even if the novelty of it kind of wares off after around the halfway point (maybe after episode 5). The Hand as presented in the MCU are kinda lackluster, so when the plot starts to focus on them even more, I started to tuning out until it came to the protagonists. Storywise, The Defenders (obviously) resembles Avengers and (i.e., the main story/lesson seems to be how interaction with different people and making connections is important), but right from Sigourney Weaver's introduction, it's a different story entirely that doesn't tie in with the heroes in any meaningful way. And this extends to the protagonists too. Sometimes their individual threads weave seamlessly together, other times  it feels like I'm watching Daredevil 2.5 or Iron Fist 1.5.

Also, I won't be surprised if Iron Fist season 2 ends with Danny's powers somehow being passed to Colleen Wing.

Still, if you've been watching the rest of the MCU Netflix shows, no reason to skip out on this one. Hopefully future shows will take from this one and only be 8 episodes long instead of 13. Here's to the Punisher Netflix show. ;)
 

gazza

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I thought the defenders was good but im super excited to see the punisher series
 

Gaith

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I've just about decided to skip this... and from what I've read, I'm okay with that. Sounds as though even 8 hours was too much for the story at Hand (sorry). Wake me when S2 of Jessica Jones and The Punisher land? But even then, I'll check the reviews first. :p
 

addiesin

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Gaith said:
I've just about decided to skip this... and from what I've read, I'm okay with that. Sounds as though even 8 hours was too much for the story at Hand (sorry). Wake me when S2 of Jessica Jones and The Punisher land? But even then, I'll check the reviews first. :p

It's either for you or it's not. No big deal either way. If you don't like any of the MCU Netflix shows so far, this show isn't different enough to warrant watching. If you love them, you'll love this one.
 

Zamros

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I thought it was a pretty solid "meh". It didn't blow me away like DareDevil1+2(First Half), Jessica Jones and Luke Cage (First Half). But it wasn't insultingly bad like Luke Cage (Second Half) and Iron Fist.

There were two fight scenes in the film I would consider well-directed. The initial Defenders team up from all the trailers, and the very final oner (Which was overlaid with a tonally inconsistent Wu tang Clan song)

The rest of them were either "meh" or utter garbage. The fight scene in episode 7, specifically, was atrociously directed and edited. I had the geographical awareness of a lemming during that fight, I had no idea what was going on. Which is annoying, given how the entire show had been building to that showdown. 

The villains have a generic plan, with a confused motivation. Come on guys, these heroes are supposed to be grounded. Not fighting super ninjas that want to blow up a city. Sigourney Weaver was given absolutely nothing to work with, so is basically a non-entity through most of it. She's only the main villain because she says so.

The lead actors can all be commended, even Finn Jones this time. I think Iron Fist's character made more sense in this show, which makes it all the more obvious that Iron Fist was rushed out just to get to the Defenders. I also can't wait to see more of the Luke Cage and Iron Fist banter in the future.

The show starts strong, gets slow and naff in the middle, then ends just sort of ok. The best part of it was seeing the Punisher teaser afterwards.
 

matrixgrindhouse

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I had a good time with this one.  On the one hand, the sheer fun of seeing all these characters (and their supporting characters) interact with each other.  A lot of the cinematography is well done.  The use of color is excellent.  The action was inconsistent.  At times, it's great, but not quite up to par with, say, the long take fights from the Daredevil seasons.  The bottom falls out hard for the season finale, however.  The epic confrontation feels at times sloppy or lethargic.  Matt and Danny have a lot more to do, with Jessica and Luke mostly just along for the ride.  My biggest gripe is Finn Jones.  I enjoyed Iron Fist's first season, despite its flaws.  But, and I really hate to say it - I think both his acting and martial arts prowess have gotten worse since we last saw him.  He just doesn't come across as convincing in either capacity most of the time, and is overshadowed by his costars. 

All in all, fun.  I'm already looking forward to the inevitable reunion season (2019? Sooner?  Later?), and everyone's individual continuations.
 

revel911

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I liked it overall .... liked, not loved.

First, I have to say that unlike in his regular series I loved Iron Fist in this series. He had the same BS lines, but Cage and Jones were there to call out his bullshit, which was some of the most fun we have had.

Daredevil was my least favorite .... brood, brood, brood.

You could cut this down to a streamlined 6 episodes that would be killer.

1. Music was utter shit!
2. Transitions between scenes over relying on the quick city glances were also a full cop out. The editing timelines made no sense. Would show IF during day, then JJ at night, then back to IF in the day ..... same one as earlier.

If someone could trim LC, IF, and Def down by a few episodes, you could really correct many of the problems.
 

bionicbob

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Wasn't sure which thread to put this since Iron Fist didn't seem to generate enough interest his first season to earn his own thread LOL.

And now that Phase II of the various Netflix Marvelverse shows have ended with Iron Fist season two, this seemed like maybe the best place to discuss ALL the various series rather than individual threads...?

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvvWB0GwCek[/video]

Iron Fist Season Two, easily the Most Improved Series.   The fight choreography was 110% better.  New showrunner equalled better writing and better pacing.  Of all the season two shows, this one for me felt most like an actual superhero show and had the most satisfying story arc.   

Luke Cage Season Two, while season one was hailed by critics, I found it laborious to get through.  This season the pacing was much improved, and while I found the Godfather plot interesting, I was still bored at times and struggled to complete the season.  It is still the most gorgeous looking Marvel series.

Interestingly, my favourite episode was the team up of Luke and Danny.   And similarly, one of the best elements of Iron Fist season two was the dynamic between Coleen and Misty.   The producers should just blend both series together imo and embrace the Heroes For Hire concept.

Jessica Jones.... what happened?  Season one was riveting.  Near perfect pacing and plotting.   This season, not so much.  

Punisher Season One... this one was hard to get through.  They just did his origin in Daredevil and then they go do Origin 2.0 for season one.  While I applaud the story exploration of PSTD, the actual story dragged until the last 3 or 4 episodes for me.

Looking forward to Daredevil season three....
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRzkqE3SSy4[/video]
 

asterixsmeagol

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I'm about halfway through Iron Fist Season 2 right now and apparently I'm the only one who liked Season 1 better. Neither are great, and honestly neither is really that good, but I'm slightly more bored this time around.
 

bionicbob

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asterixsmeagol said:
 Neither are great, and honestly neither is really that good, but I'm slightly more bored this time around.

I know exactly what you mean.  It's how I feel about pretty much all of the Netflix Marvel shows this time around.  It was ponderous to work my way through all of them.  And it's not superhero fatigue.  I don't know what it is?  The shows are too character oriented?  Too grounded?  The shows skirt too much around their comic book genre rather than fully embracing it?  The story arcs are too long?  All of the above?  Something else?  I dunno.... maybe it simply comes down to the fact the shows lack a sense of "fun"?    ...shrug...  :blush:
 

Zamros

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bionicbob said:
I know exactly what you mean.  It's how I feel about pretty much all of the Netflix Marvel shows this time around.  It was ponderous to work my way through all of them.  And it's not superhero fatigue.  I don't know what it is?  The shows are too character oriented?  Too grounded?  The shows skirt too much around their comic book genre rather than fully embracing it?  The story arcs are too long?  All of the above?  Something else?  I dunno.... maybe it simply comes down to the fact the shows lack a sense of "fun"?    ...shrug...  :blush:

I usually put it down to Too Little Story, Too Many Episodes. The main shows have about 8 episodes of content stretched out over 13, the Defenders has enough content to fill a movie, not 8 episodes.

The shows are still among my favourite interpretations of comic books for television, but it's not hard to acknowledge they have a pacing problem. I feel like if each episode was written individually, instead of seasons being written like 13 hour long movies, it might be a bit better. I'd love to see a TV-movie edit of all of these, basically :p
 

Gaith

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bionicbob said:
The shows are too character oriented?

Myself, I just don't like the characters. Luke Cage is a decent bloke, I guess, but he's not as interesting as AoS' Mac, so when *that* character died halfway through S1, I had no reason to keep watching. JJ S1 was great, but Jessica herself is unlikable and off-putting, which absolutely worked for that story, but left me with no reason to return. Matt Murdock is... meh. Two seasons with him were enough, and the characters around him were even weaker. The Punisher made for a compelling antagonist at times, but not enough to follow as the protagonist of his own show. As for Iron Fist... yeah, I never bothered with that.

So: a bunch of dour, uninteresting characters, bloated story arcs, low budgets, and an inability to really shake things up due to the confines of the MCU (which it in no way benefits from)? Pass. ;)
 

addiesin

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Gaith said:
bionicbob said:
The shows are too character oriented?

Myself, I just don't like the characters. Luke Cage is a decent bloke, I guess, but he's not as interesting as AoS' Mac, so when *that* character died halfway through S1, I had no reason to keep watching. JJ S1 was great, but Jessica herself is unlikable and off-putting, which absolutely worked for that story, but left me with no reason to return. Matt Murdock is... meh. Two seasons with him were enough, and the characters around him were even weaker. The Punisher made for a compelling antagonist at times, but not enough to follow as the protagonist of his own show. As for Iron Fist... yeah, I never bothered with that.

So: a bunch of dour, uninteresting characters, bloated story arcs, low budgets, and an inability to really shake things up due to the confines of the MCU (which it in no way benefits from)? Pass. ;)

Luke Cage was compelling in Jessica Jones S1 because he meant well most of the time, but still got himself intro trouble anyway. In Luke Cage S1 he's the golden character and bad things happen to him at no fault of his own. He has no flaws to overcome as far as the plot is concerned, and while that's interesting for 90 minutes, it doesn't carry a show. He needed flaws, which he got in Luke Cage S2. Its an improvement. 

Jessica Jones being unlikeable worked in JJ S1 because everyone else was likeable. In S2 everyone is kinda jaded and even the villain is basically a less likable Jessica. Trailers for Iron First S2 look much better than S1 but I dunno if I'm up for it after S1 was such a show boring burn. Defenders was a huge let down.

What I'd like is for all this stuff to come out on disc (unless it's already all legally purchasable on some non Netflix service like iTunes or Amazon, might have to look into that) so someone can do proper movie edits for these characters, maybe under a Marvel Knights banner, and include Agent Carter, Shield, and (Lol) Inhumans movie edits into the mix.

The good ones if someone is looking for recommendations:
Daredevil season 1
Jessica Jones season 1
Luke Cage first half of season 1, stop when that character kicks the bucket.
Daredevil first half of season 2, stop when Punisher leaves before Elektra enters.
Luke Case season 2
Slip the rest of the Netflix stuff unless you're really into it after you watch the above.
Other MCU TV:
Inhumans, watch it all with beer (to laugh at).
Agents of Shield, watch the first episode to introduce the characters, then start right before the Winter Soldier tie in. Skip an episode when it feels slow, they have "previously on" segments
Agent Carter, watch season one or just watch the one shot.
 

stferguson78

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In the U.K. the series are out on blu Ray up to Iron Fist season one. Sadly there's no decent extras or deleted scenes included. I stopped buying after Luke Cage Season one as quality has dipped since then. Definitely think there's a good 90-120 movie in Defenders though
 

addiesin

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stferguson78 said:
In the U.K. the series are out on blu Ray up to Iron Fist season one. Sadly there's no decent extras or deleted scenes included. I stopped buying after Luke Cage Season one as quality has dipped since then. Definitely think there's a good 90-120 movie in Defenders though

Good to know. Thanks.
 

matrixgrindhouse

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asterixsmeagol said:
I'm about halfway through Iron Fist Season 2 right now and apparently I'm the only one who liked Season 1 better. Neither are great, and honestly neither is really that good, but I'm slightly more bored this time around.

Finished up Season 2 just now myself, and I concur.  Season 1 had some problems, but this was much, much worse.


Pros:

  • Finn Jones's acting is much improved.
  • The fight scenes are much better in terms of filming, editing, choreography.
  • No more boardroom scenes.
Cons:

  • The boardroom is gone, but the Meachums are still around, and not in a good way.
  • Tom Pelphrey's acting is abysmal.  He's like a combination of the worst qualities of David Carradine, Sylvester Stallone, and the full emotional range of Hayden Christensen.  His arc is complete filler, utterly disconnected from the plot in virtually every way. 
  • Joy's arc makes no sense to me at all, she seems like a completely different character.  In one scene, she lays out her goals.  Ward says he wants the same thing,  she responds with, "maybe someday I'll want that, too".  What?!?!
  • Until the very last stretch of episodes, the stakes are much lower, as is the scope.  The terms "divestment package" and "parlay" should not be frequently used phrases in a show about a martial arts master with a magic hand.
  • Although the fights are better, Danny doesn't participate nearly as often.  Iron Fist doesn't fight in every episode of Iron Fist.  Something is very wrong with this.
  • The very ending scene is complete nonsense. 
In their attempts to fix the issues with Season 1, they overcompensated, throwing out the baby with the bath water.  If we're fortunate enough to get a third season, they need to roll the dice again, get yet another show runner and writing staff onboard.
 

matrixgrindhouse

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Iron Fist is cancelled.    Disappointing, but not surprising.

"While the series on Netflix has ended, the Immortal Iron Fist will live on,” reps for Netflix and Marvel told IGN.

Hopefully that means Danny and Coleen will get the Bruce Banner treatment and show up in other shows every now and again.
 
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