I have to hand it to Marvel. Nobody has quite done this cinematic universe thing the way that they have. Their successes on Netflix is a realisation of something many struggled with for years. Creating a set of superhero stories about reluctant heroes, which are ground in reality. It creates a nice shift in tone from the Marvel studios films and I'm here for it. But The Defenders doesn't have its feet as firmly in reality as the shows of the intersecting heroes.
The Defenders leaves off right where Daredevil and Iron fist left off. An organisation of ethnic folk with a thirst for power and an army of ninjas known as The Hand wanna run New York and use it as a hub and a network for their fuckery. Because, why not?! However, the twist is that The Hand is not run by some Yakuza looking ass man, but Ripley from Alien. The other twist is that Elektra, Daredevil's old side piece who died, has been brought back to life. Although this isn't really a twist, because we knew this would be the case when we saw ninjas throw her into some Jesus looking resurrection tomb. If this all sounds stupid, it's because it is. The Defenders is just stupid. Everything about it stupid. The only thing that saves it is that its the most binge-able of the Marvel / Netflix shows (only 8 episodes) and that we finally get to see the semi-reluctant heroes of New York share a screen together.
Let me kick this off by telling you what I like about this show, before I start hating on the whole damn thing. Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. These are the only two heroes out of the four who are continually level headed and likeable. Luke doesn't really do much. But he's so friendly and has a moral compass which is as bulletproof as his skin, that it's just nice to have him around amongst a cast of back stabbing, ulterior motivated sons of bitches who are difficult to really like. Jessica is just the same ol' Jessica. She is the voice of the viewer in literally every occasion. She's never ceases to be amazed by how stupid the whole situation she's wound up in is and takes every opportunity to voice it. But she goes along with it for the sole purpose of solving her case, once she realises the involvement that The Hand has in it. What makes Luke and Jessica the saviours of this show is that they kinda sit on the sidelines of things and never truly get caught up in the way Danny and Matt do. Danny and Matt make some bad calls, say some stupid shit and do some dumb ass nonsense. Luke and Jessica are the ones to call them out, cool their hot heads down and make them realise there's more at stake than their personal vendettas and their egos. Luke and Jessica say what you think about ALL dis shit. They're about as close as you get to a third wall break without it actually being broken. If they could look into the camera and say 'Yo, do you believe this shit?' they would.
Danny Rand is a complete dickhead and Matt Murdock is plain unlikable. Danny is still the spoilt, whiny idiot he was in Iron fist. Danny's idiotic actions impulsed by his selfishness are what trigger everything at the start and what cause everything to go south at the end. He is still on his whole 'I am the iron first', 'They killed my parents' nonsense that he was on throughout his own show. Despite season 2 of Iron fist getting a new show-runner, I have no desire to watch that mess when it's clear in The Defenders that his character still hasn't evolved. There are selected moments that he shares with Luke Cage where he is not such a cunt and exhibits more of the Danny that is tolerable and in line with his character in the comics. But even in these moments, you know that he's one mention of The Hand away from saying or doing something stupid. The only atonement for this character is watching Luke call out his selfishness and read him to filth over his white privilege, and that he and Jessica both regularly bust his chops over his glowing hand and so-mythical-it-can't-possibly-be-real upbringing.
Matt Murdock is an arsehole. He shows a greater reluctance to work as a team than the self-proclaimed loner that is Jessica, and his keeping of secrets is what almost gets the group killed and has them going into situations...blind *Rimshot*. He loses his cool on numerous occasions and shows no remorse for the fact that he's put other people's lives in danger. Matt is just a sour ass blind motherfucker. I don't know why Foggy or that blonde chick who always looks like she has a cold bother with this ass. Out of all of The Defenders, Matt is the one whose character feels linear and hollow, despite him being the only character with 2 seasons behind him and a story arc within the story of The Defenders of which he plays a key part in.
The story in The Defenders is about as weak as Finn Jones' acting in Iron fist. Mainly because the whole thing feels like an Iron fist 1.5 x Daredevil 2.5 crossover story. For all of the action, the death and the stakes seeming high, nothing really happens. New York never feels like it's in any danger here. There is nothing in this story which pushes the narrative of any of these characters forward. If anything, it drags them back. Any absolution that Matt, Jessica, Luke and Danny had found by the end of their own shows is unravelled. Very little of what goes down in each of their individuals shows influences the story here. Which answers the question: Do I need to have watched any of these shows to understand what's happening in The Defenders? No. You don't.
It's the supporting cast who bear the repercussions of The Defenders' actions the most. Colleen and Misty wind up in a situation which changes both of their lives. Foggy is made to carry the weight of literally ushering Matt back into assuming the life of Daredevil with dire consequences. Trish realises that whilst Jessica is reluctant to be a hero, that she needs to always be there to remind Jessica that she's so much more than she allows herself to be. But this all transpires separately from The Defenders themselves to the point where they may as well have had their own spin-off show 'Friends of The Defenders'.
Luke and Jessica aren't anchored into the story arc as heavily as Danny or Matt. The only thing that they bring is perspective, as prior to what unfolds, they had no idea who The Hand were or of its existence. Their reasoning for getting involved is because innocent lives of people they know are entangled in the mess which is ensuing. But the story never feels like it needs either of them. Write them out and the events would more or less unfold the same way. It would just make things slightly rockier, because neither of them would be there to barricade doors, punch them in, take bullets and find stuff out through either professional snooping or hitting up Misty at the NYPD. Luke and Jessica don't carry any of the plot forward, yet they are the highlights of the show because they are the most real, honest and relate-able characters. They don't get many scenes alone together, but the two they do get made me wish that season 2 of Jessica Jones would hurry the fuck up and that they were still together.
I found it difficult to truly care for any of the characters in this show because they either, never feel like they're in any danger (Jessica and Luke), get very little screen time (Karen and Foggy), or their characters are one note joy-killers who are completely linearised despite being so nuanced in previous shows (Claire and Misty).
The lack of empathy towards Danny and Matt due to them coming off as such pieces of shit is what negates any emotional payoff involving either of them. It's what renders many of their pivotal moments mute for me, because I just didn't care about anything concerning them. No amount of sensationalising of either character in the show was enough to make me care.
Sigourney Weaver plays the main villain, Alexandra. But as is the case with every Marvel villain, she's rubbish. You never truly hate her because she never really does anything to warrant any hate or dislike. Despite being the head of organisation that effectively killed the loves of Danny and Matt's lives, you never attribute much of what has happened to her because you had no idea she had existed until now. She seems so distant from everything despite being connected to it all. You don't hate Alexandra or despise her the way you did / do Madame Gao, who has featured as a prominent antagonist in both Daredevil and Iron fist. She feels much more villainous than Alexandra does, because you know first hand as an avid viewer the evil things she's been directly responsible for. Alexandra feels almost nice and reasonable by comparison. Without going into too much detail, her character gets done the same way as Cottonmouth in Luke Cage. A villain with so much potential and episodes worth of investment, just written out in the blink of an eye.
It also feels strange how a 'master-plan' so simple seems so difficult to pull off for a woman with Alexandra's resources and intelligence. Sigourney Weaver plays Alexandra brilliantly with what little she's given. But she is given very little. Alexandra is just a fashion show and nothing more, because her outfits be stealing scenes and doing the most work. Shout-outs to that coat in episode 1. That shit was the real MVP for that whole entire hour.
Elektra makes a return from Daredevil. I hated her character in Daredevil, so I was not here for her being all up in The Defenders. Coming back from the dead seems to have given Elektra super human strength, which is never really explained. She gets run over with a car and just gets up like it ain't shit. Takes punches from Jessica Jones and doesn't so much as flinch. Manages to knock out Luke Cage with a single kick, when he was able to get up from a punch to the face from a powered up iron fist. The top figures of The Hand aren't even as impenetrable as Elektra is and they have K'un Lun training and centuries of battle experience behind them. Yet Elektra is out here deflecting beatings like she's Colossus. Elektra's outfit looks great and the whole bad ass murder assassin thing was cool for an episode or two. But by the end of the show, her character unravels in a really stupid way which gets about as much explanation as her superhuman strength (there is no explanation). There is also very little chemistry between Élodie Yung, the actress who plays her and Charlie Cox who plays Matt / Daredevil. So any moment they share on-screen together falls flat.
I'll say it again. I couldn't stand Elektra in Daredevil and she's equally as bad here. You'd think her pussy was vejazzled with infinity stones and the entrance to K'un Lun for Alexandra to have brought it back from the dead and for Matt to risk everything for it.
Visually the show doesn't deviate from any of the other Marvel Netflix series'. In fact, for the first three episodes before Danny, Matt, Luke and Jessica agree to work together, each of their scenes is shot as though they are lifted from their respective shows. This is further highlighted by the colour grading and lighting in each of these scenes. Every Jessica Jones scene is shot cold and blue. All of Luke Cage's scenes are shot in the warmth of yellow. Matt Murdock's scenes are shot in ominous tones of red. Whilst Danny's scenes are shot in the richness of green. It's stark, but it's a really nice touch, which culminates when the heroes all come together at a Chinese restaurant, which has neon lights in all of the heroes' colours, and an interior to match. This thematic style of shooting is lost in the last half of the series though. It could be to represent their worlds all coming together as one. But the sudden lack of colour grading for character referencing feels so sudden, given that it was a strong visual trait of the first few episodes.
The fighting scenes are a mixed bag. Some of the fight scenes are amazing. Others, not so much. The best of the fight scenes feature long continuous shots which pan around an area showing all four heroes slug it out against Alexandra's henchmen. The worst of the fight scenes feature jerky, Go Pro style camera movements and are chopped up so much that its difficult to make out what is actually happening. The inconsistency is real. The use of a stunt double for Danny is also glaringly obvious. In his first major fight scene there are long takes a stunt double and the camera gets in hella close to his face, so you can clearly see it isn't Finn Jones. I don't understand how this didn't end up on the cutting room floor or why Finn Jones couldn't have done the scene, as it didn't feature any move that seemed extra or high risk. It adds fuel to the fire of Finn Jones not looking convincing as a kung-fu master, something which plagued the Iron fist show itself. But technically, the fight scenes are always big in scale and are of blockbuster movie proportions in terms of how much goes on and also the length of the scenes.
It's cool seeing 4 superheroes fight in the same space, but there is very little variety in their fighting styles, because Danny and Matt are both serving kung-fu whilst Jessica and Luke just clothesline and throw people around. You also never feel that they are in any true danger, because if somebody steps in with a gun, Luke can just stand there and take the shots. If somebody locks a door in an attempt tp trap them, Jessica can kick it through. And if it all goes south, Danny can just make his fist glow and punch the floor. It would have been nice for each of the heroes to have their fighting styles be a bit more nuanced and individual, and to also see them take more of a beating. I couldn't quite get behind Jessica making it out of every fight unscathed, when she's not a trained fighter and unlike Luke, she can be hurt. And Daredevil literally comes across as invincible, save for when he goes one on one with Elektra. This dude can fight two highly trained assassins with swords and an old woman with ultimate palm fist skills without taking a hit, but he can't fight some ho with one of Raphael's weapons from the Turtles and amnesia. No.
The Defenders makes for a good binge, but I couldn't help but feel that there wasn't really a need to bring these characters together at this point, if all it was going to be was an extension of the previoud seasons of Iron fist and Daredevil. The Hand, Elektra and K'un Lun are constants throughout this show, making it a vehicle for Danny and Matt. Jessica and Luke are just...there. Their stories aren't really told because the two of them are just doing what they always do and neither of them are in any real danger. Not just because of their super strength, but because they don't have the stake and connection to The Hand that Danny and Matt have. They just provide comic relief and lightness to what would otherwise be a pretty dark, boring and meandering story that got told across a season of Daredevil and Iron fist.
It was cool to see the worlds of Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron fist converge, but the best moments often came when there was either no fighting or characters were paired off to find shit out. The truly gold moments were when supporting characters met those close to The Defenders themselves. Misty and Colleen share a couple of moments, which fans will will get giddy about, given that they become good friends and form Daughters of the dragon in the comics. Karen and Trish share a nice moment when they come to the realisation that they can't fix or try to change the heroes that they love, being each others' friend who understands in a way nobody else would.
When The Defenders focuses on the heart of the characters, it really works. But the second it goes off into the mythical world of The Hand and Kun L'un, it gets too ridiculous. This is why I liked Luke Cage and Jessica Jones not only as characters, but their shows as well. They felt much more grounded in reality. With Iron fist, it was always K'un Lun this, K'un Lun that. The series spent so much time referencing a location that you don't even get to see in details. The same goes for The Defenders. There's so much mention of the peril of New York, but you don't see much of New York and it doesn't feel as much of a character in this show as it did it Luke Cage, Jessica Jones or Daredevil.
I'm also pretty miffed that Claire, played by Rosario 'I be cashing hella Marvel cheques' Dawson didn't play a bigger role in this. Claire has a deep relationship with each of the Defenders, but her character hits the same beats it did in Iron fist, so she spends most of her time chilling with Colleen. She has no interactions with Matthew or Jessica; which seems strange given that she is dating Jessica's ex-boyfriend (for whom he still appears to care deeply for) and she pretty much saved Matt's life. There is so much fluff, even within a short 8 episode span, that this could have been shed to truly intertwine the lives of these characters. Especially one who has been a constant thread throughout all of these character's stories from the beginning. Rosario Dawson still plays Claire awesomely. But she no longer feels like the voice of reason here. Claire was the one who helped Matt, Luke and Danny realise their destinies and was always the one to put them in check and remind them of their mortality. Yet, in a situation where you have four heroes who are reluctant to work with each other and a woman who knows them all of, and whom they all trust, Claire is nowhere to be seen. This baffled me. Colleen says all of the things to Claire which reflect how we all see her. But we don't see Claire's actions to justify these words. So if you come into The Defenders cold having not watched any of the other Marvel / Netflix series, you would never know the importance that Claire has played in each of these guys' lives. She's as much of a Defender as they are and the show should have done a better job of highlighting that.
The Defenders didn't feel necessary to me. It felt more like an attempt at mimicking the cross over which has happened in the Marvel films. The Defenders is just a set-up for season 3 of Daredevil and a ground work lay for season 2 of Iron fist. Nothing more. It's a ride which has some fun moments, but it's not the big explosive event that I thought it would be and that I hoped it would be. There is nothing that really defines The Defenders. Daredevil was noted for its grit, tone and great fight scenes. Jessica Jones was noted for Krysten Ritter's performance and featuring a core plot-line concerning rape, which is far from the go-to plot-line in a superhero story. Luke Cage was noted for being a series of its time for featuring a bulletproof black man. Iron fist was noted for being really shit. The Defenders is just...whatever.
Have all of these characters pop-up in each others shows for cameos and arcs by all means. But don't give me a second season of The Defenders unless it feels wholly justified and the story is strong. And for the love of God Marvel, give me a good villain!
Verdict: A bit rubbish
The whole is definitely not greater than the sum of its parts.Watch it. But be prepared to come away without remembering much of what happened.
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