Marvels The Defenders: Lightning Review

A quick review of Marvels The Defenders.

Ugh.

I don’t understand what Marvel is doing with these shows. There seems to be a steady decline in not only storytelling, but effects, casting and production. DareDevil started out strong and I was eager to see the advancement of storytelling and the handling of the complexity that is Superhero characters, their powers, and the money shot that is Superhero battles.

This did not happen.

You’re average TV or movie viewer is probably not aware of this but you just can’t do whatever you want when it comes to telling these types of stories. A Superhero universe has internal logic and rules and the characters abilities are supposed to be governed by these. This incorporates a host of elements that your average drama usually doesn’t have to factor in, like advanced physics and chemistry. For geeks it’s monitoring these elements and how the storyteller is implementing them that is a big part of the fun of watching a super-hero story. How will a person who can freeze objects fair against an individual who can manipulate physical matter? How will a super-fast individual handle a person who is virtually indestructible? This requires not only a solid understanding of the hard sciences but it also requires the ability to incorporate the actions of these individuals who possess distinct personalities.

It’s not easy. It’s not supposed to be.

When someone is telling a Superhero story who clearly doesn’t have a strong handle on the aforementioned subject matter…it shows.

I could spend days ( and perhaps someday I will ) going over the super-natural inconsistencies in this series. DareDevil is a prime example of someone whose powers in these shows has wildly varied depending on the needs of the script. If you are not smart enough to figure out how to get from point A to point B without changing the characters powers…you are not qualified to write for that character.

Random thoughts:

• The villains were generally poor matches for the heroes. (Sigourney Weaver’s character was a complete waste of her time and talent)
•  Madame Gao. There just isn’t any win here. Getting beat up by an 80yr old woman is bad optics. Beating up an 80yr old woman is bad optics. None of this should have happened.
• The only battles that made for a good match was when the good guys fought each other…this is not good. Bad guys should be powerful, interesting, and have deadly and terrifying abilities. All of which were absent here.
• Super Powered Black Sky Elektra…a horrible decision from the jump that just became worse and worse.
• The Hand is not a good villain for a Superhero team. Never pit people with swords against people who can toss around cars…not unless you are making a comedy.
• It was blazingly obvious the writers could not figure out what to do with Misty Knight. She walked around for 7 episodes and scowled at people…then they cut off her arm in the 8th.
• Iron-Fist’s martial arts was still abysmal…what are they doing here?
• Forget it, all the fight choreography is abysmal…did these people not see Captain America: The Winter Soldier??? Batman in BvS??? How can we possibly be backsliding here?

So many things wrong. Not enough time. Not enough time.

2 out of 5 stars.

For shame Marvel. For shame.