Is anyone watching the Iron Fist?

I don’t know why I’m still hanging in there with this particular Netflix series, but I’ve watched seven episodes so far, and will probably continue and hope for the best. But my first impressions? It’s not good. In some critical ways, it’s actually bad, and it falls waaay short of previous Marvel shows like Luke Cage, Daredevil or Jessica Jones — my favorite of that bunch being Daredevil.

Never read the comic version as a kid, so I don’t know how closely it hews to the original, or what its comic fans think. But I can say that the fight scenes are generally unconvincing, sometimes outright silly, even when we suspend disbelief in the usual way for martial arts films with “mystical” trappings. This is primarily the fault, IMO, of the lead actor, Finn Jones (Loras, from GoT), who really just doesn’t have the physicality to pull any of this off. If I’m the director, I hire an actual martial arts expert for the role, and teach him how to act, instead of the other way around.

There is one exception, though, when it comes to the fighting: Jessica Henwick, who plays Colleen Wing, actually looks like she knows how to fight and has the requisite physicality.

Another major problem is the pacing. It’s too damn slow. And while this can work, if the acting, writing and direction are strong enough, that’s just not the case here. Finn Jones is a problem there, too, as he has all the charisma and fire of a sleepy Keanu Reeves. A kinda “surfer dude” vibe, with zero connection to that culture. And this is problematic especially when he talks in mystical accents, attempting to rise above the sleepiness. Most of the time it comes across as unintentionally funny, at least to me.

A shame. I like the possibilities of the story: Hero returns to New York after fifteen-year absence, thought long dead. Grows up in Himalayan monastery, where he masters Kung Fu. Mystical elements of “the chosen one,” in a fight against the evil Hand, etc. It really could have been pretty kewl escapist fare. Oh, well.