If you push down all of the racial stuff embedded in Netflix’s Iron Fist you are left with one glaring deficiency: The titular character is simply not bad ass enough. After all, 30 seconds of AMC’s Into The Badlands is enough to make you put your Tony Jaa poster away. Yeah, the combat is that good. However, it isn’t good at all in Iron Fist, and that is the real tragedy.
Iron Fist is supposed to be the baddest fighter on the planet. While Netflix and Marvel collaborated to weaken this character into someone who gets stronger through the focus of being struck in combat, he still ought to be ‘dank-ass’ enough that hitting him one time is considered a holy achievement. If I want to see a well trained and super cool fighter get knocked around I can throw on season one of daredevil. Here is feels out of place and limiting.
In many ways this is actually a show about Colleen Wing finding herself. How do I know? Shows are about a character’s growth and she is the only one with a character arc. Halfway into the season nobody else has even changed or grown. Even her fight scenes evolve to reflect her growing bad assery (yes, it is MY word).
I’m not at the end, so this isn’t a whole review. I’m getting there and so far I don’t know how to feel about what I see.