Professional critics are quickly becoming obsolete in modern media. Things like this kind of show it.
So I watched part of it and it was very hard to do so I got part way through 4 episodes and had to put it down. I want to love this but it is way to slow and the dialogue is so bad. That said I don't think that the white washing is an accurate claim considering Iron Fist is a white character in his source material. It was a little off putting that a caucasian guy was the expert on these things but I don't think that was at all an important aspect to why I personally could not watch it. Maybe something happens after I stopped that fans loved but I did not experience it as far as I got.
Why the fuck is it off-putting when a person of any race is good at martial arts? Are you kidding me?
@Glyphwright It wasn't a real problem at all it was just odd at first. I had no context to how much he knew and how he learned it. It made more sense in the context of the show and character.
It goes
Daredevil 1
Luke Cage
Daredevil 2
Ironfist
JessicaJones
Iron Fist is not the best show ever, but it's way better than Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. If the critics gave consistently low scores to these three shows, I'd agree with them. If they gave consistently high scores, I'd roll my eyes but it would make sense. Demolishing IF while praising mediocre JJ and LC makes the critics look biased and their opinions - completely irrelevant.
I mean, critics have a problem with the shows Orientalism (portraying Asian and middle-eastern culture as exotic and other-worldly and with colonialist attitudes). The fact that this white dude is the chosen one for this group of Asian people and is amazing at kung fu (something as symbolic to China as bagpipes are to Scotland) is a problem to them and rightly so.
A white person going from western culture to an Asian culture presented in an other worldly fashion, who then immerses in that foreign until the point where he becomes a paragon and master of a symbol of it is a problem, as it comes to the point where that culture in the show is associated with ultimately, a white man.
It is a patronising representation to have, and it emphasises colonial/imperialist attitudes of white people being better at everything than anyone else
Ultimately Rotten Tomatoes is a score aggregation website and that 19% means only 19% of the critics who reviewed it liked it (so far 50 people). Those who didn't clearly have their reasons why, the summary of reviews says it has an 'absence of momentum and originality' and clearly that is a problem as mentioned in the video up top.
But critics watch a lot of stuff, and there is so much on TV right now that if it is not compelling or interesting from the get go, its not going to be worth their time. Therefore they aren't going to reccomend it to you either
Just curious. Is it because the actor is white or not Asian? I ask because I'm reminded of the Doctor Strange thing where people were outraged about the casting of the Ancient One, but no one batted an eye at Murdo being black for no reason. Why's one racist and the other isn't? Not trying to start anything, I'm legality curious.
sorry, didn't mean to flag that! misclick. I see your point. Yeah the whole ancient one controversy is kind of related and tbh i did feel weird that in Dr Strange it was a similar situation to Iron Fist with a white guy becoming master of this asian culture. I feel Mordo being black wasnt that much of a big deal because he was neither the centre of the storytelling, nor was the race swap anything to do with the culture, unlike that of the ancient one? Dr. Strange's story emphasises that he goes and re-finds himself in the himalayas thanks to ancient asian arts and learns from the master of their ways to become a master in his own right, whereas mordo is a fellow follower of this art turned bad.
Marvel have done plenty of race swapping in the past (Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury) and i feel that for the most part, its okay and it could easily be played by anyone regardless of race. however i feel that when characters have a certain level of cultural affiliation on the basis of race, such as The Ancient One or Iron Fist, it blurs that line a lot more and in my opinion, crosses it
I see the point. It just seems odd to me since by the argument I usually hear about this is that work is being taken away from an actor that's from a culture that's typically underrepresented in American movies, which should still apply given that he was a major character.
I mean the get more Asian actors in major roles is certainly a whole other side to the argument, and one i can sympathise with. Given some asian actors experience with martial arts, an asian actor may have actually brought more to the role with the fight scenes with this show. Finn Jones apparently only learnt the fighting choreography 15 minutes before shoots (http://metro.co.uk/2017/03/16/marvel-iron-fists-finn-jones-on-white-saviour-controversy-and-teaming-up-with-luke-cage-in-the-defenders-6513597/) and having seen only a few eps, the fights are nowhere near the same level as daredevil. An Asian actor, such as Lewis Tan who was actually up for the role and knows martial arts, could have arguably brought a lot more to the role and improved the show, but ultimately this is all coulda shoulda woulda
Im with the critics on this one. The choreography was cringy (characters blocking punches before the opponent started the swing); the characters were as confused about the plot line as i was for the first 11 episodes; and the writing was terrible. For instance, Danny said he learned to master his feelings but then repeatedly goes on raging tantrums. He also claimed he "mastered" the kung fu arts, but constantly gets beat up by mooks.
i struggled to find any reason to finish this slow-motion train wreck. Really, the only reason i kept going was because i liked the character development of Ward. I would have been sold if he was the main character.
Like Ashley suggested, its good to have playing in the background while you do something else with your time.
Ive watched all of Iron fist and its definitely the weakest one but still a solid show a 7/10 for me. A second season would definitely need more detailed writing as there were a few plot wholes and things that didnt make sense, but nothing awful.
To put it in perspective Id give Luke Cage a 8/10, Jessica Jones a 9/10 and average of both seasons of Daredevil a 9/10
I binge watched the show in a day and didnt have an issue doing it, the onyl thing i felt was poor in this show was long boring conversations about the rand company which slowed the show down pretty hard. other than that? it was just fine 7/10, though probably the weakest of the defenders imo
I think everyone is wrong. Iron Fist isn't an 18, and it certainly isn't an 85. I'd put it at a 49, which to me says it's not good or bad.
I've watched first 9 episodes and the show is pretty boring. Also, at times it's super stupid, like 80's Hollywood stupid. Truth serum to fix the problems! Shurikens made of folded aluminum foil, sure why not? Zombies? We've got them!
Iron Fist is just way more comic-booky than the other 3 Marvel TV Shows, with stupid tropes and deus ex machina. It was blatantly annoying.
I think it is okay overall but I admit it is pretty slow.
It's very good but sometimes it feels like the FX team was drunk on the job. I.E. when a certain character gets stabbed (no names = no spoiler) his blood pack is painfully visible. he went from tight T shirt on a 6 pack to peter griffon (for the single stab scene) then back to 6 pack. or when the show tries to convince us that folded aluminum foil can be easy through through steel plating. small details were an issue but over all a good show. i gave 4/5
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