The Defenders RATE then REVIEW the Defenders!

[First Avenger]

8

Enjoyable. But nowhere near DD and JJ.

 

[TheVerbos]

I give it a 5. At my most generous, I'll give a 6 (but no more than that).

The villains were terrible. Terrible. Each time they were on screen I was waiting for them to say something intriguing or worthwhile and it never happened. They were never compelling. They were among the driest and most uninvolving characters I've ever seen in a Marvel product. The Hand as a collective were dreadful. Almost every bit of their dialog and depiction was a tired cliché. Alexandra was underwritten and dull. Sigourney Weaver couldn't save it.

The supporting casts of the respective shows (with perhaps the exception of Colleen) had nothing of interest or substance to do. The show sapped away all of Simone Missick's charm. Matt and Elektra's conflict was the same Matt and Elektra conflict we've always seen. (You're more than this! No I'm not! *Rinse repeat). I get that Jessica is Ms. "I'm Not A Superhero, Dad! Duh!" Nonetheless, her incessant foul pissy disposition was so off-putting that it evaporated most of my interest in ever seeing her again, which is a shame because I like Krysten Ritter and found Jessica to be tolerable on her own show. The fight scenes (with one exception) were uninspired and forgettable. I'm not quite sure why the series has regressed on this point, especially considering the fact that Iron Fist and Elektra are at the table. Daredevil S1 should've been the baseline, not the apex.

Speaking of Iron Fist, the series seems to have no idea what we're supposed to like about him. He doesn't connect. He's the Living Weapon and yet Stick dismisses him, his fellow Defenders are annoyed by him and he (despite being trained by super-monks for years) is not a better fighter than Daredevil. Why is this guy even here?

 

[dmcreif]

and he (despite being trained by super-monks for years) is not a better fighter than Daredevil.

Matt is more experienced than Danny due to the diversity of his experience. It's the difference between someone who has learned how to do something in theory, versus someone who has put it into practice many times. Danny did train in K'un-L'un for 15 years but these were sparring matches, and likely within a unified style. His experience actually fighting enemies trying to kill him is very limited. Matt on the other hand has shown proficiency in multiple styles and has been forced to put his abilities to the test in life and death situations multiple times.

Danny has trained longer than Matt, but just because someone has trained longer doesn't automatically mean they're going to be better than someone else who hasn't trained as long. It's entirely possible for a gifted person with 3 years experience to beat a person with average talent and 10 years experience. There's a reason why Stick called Matt one of the most gifted fighters he's ever seen. Matt was born to fight. While Danny is obviously a great fighter too, he simply might not have the raw talent that Matt has and therefore is still below his level despite his longer training.

 

[TheVerbos]

Matt is more experienced than Danny due to the diversity of his experience. It's the difference between someone who has learned how to do something in theory, versus someone who has put it into practice many times. Danny did train in K'un-L'un for 15 years but these were sparring matches, and likely within a unified style. His experience actually fighting enemies trying to kill him is very limited. Matt on the other hand has shown proficiency in multiple styles and has been forced to put his abilities to the test in life and death situations multiple times.

Danny has trained longer than Matt, but just because someone has trained longer doesn't automatically mean they're going to be better than someone else who hasn't trained as long. It's entirely possible for a gifted person with 3 years experience to beat a person with average talent and 10 years experience. There's a reason why Stick called Matt one of the most gifted fighters he's ever seen. Matt was born to fight. While Danny is obviously a great fighter too, he simply might not have the raw talent that Matt has and therefore is still below his level despite his longer training.

I get that and it makes sense. It's just that whenever you have characters with duplicative skillsets it's best to have one of them be the clear superior. Usually, the character with fewer other skills should be better than his counterpart in the skill that the two of them share. For instance, Superman and the Flash both have super-speed. Superman has a boatload of other powers that the Flash doesn't have. Yet, Flash has to stand out. Therefore, it helps his character for him to be faster than Superman.

I look at Matt and Danny the same way. Matt is smarter than Danny and has two interesting and powerful abilities (hyper-senses and a radar sense) that Danny doesn't have. It allows him to do all sorts of things that Danny can't. He can detect whether someone is lying. He identify people by scent. He can detect objects without touching them. You get the point. He's clearly more than just a highly skilled martial artist.

Danny, on the other hand, aside from momentary super-strength emanating from his glowing hand (which really isn't all that interesting or impressive and is certainly no radar sense), is just a martial artist. That's it. It's the trait that he shares with Murdock. Therefore, in order to make him pop as a character, why not make martial arts his thing, as in, he's clearly the best martial artist? Wouldn't that be more exciting? Right now, he's a guy who's trained for a dozen years who can be beaten by someone who's been instructed for one or two. Does that make you want to follow his character or Matt's character?

I don't know if he's better than DD in the comics. He may be just a little bit better or they may be equals. I'm not sure. Captain America got a power boost when he came into the MCU (perhaps in order to make him a more exciting and distinctive character who could also more credibly hold his own with the Avengers). Iron Fist should get the same treatment. He should clearly be the best martial artist among the Defenders. His background supports it and it would give his character an edge in distinctiveness.

That's my two cents.

 

[Mutant 77]

10.
Fantastic team effort. I loved it.
It was brilliant from start to finish.
I also liked that Danny/Iron Fist is slowly evolving into the (super)hero we all love.