Iron Fist punches below its weight
If your web connection seems sluggish while you’re watching Iron Fist, don’t blame your Internet provider. The problem is the listless pace of this new Netflix series.
But such languor isn’t the only failing of this latest offering from the Marvel factory, judging from critical pans and fan unrest since the 13-episode season was unveiled last week.
Any Marvel project (and this is Netflix’s fourth, following Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage) is breathlessly awaited by fans. Iron Fist was no different. But even before anybody saw it, it was already drawing accusations of “whitewashing.”
The series centres on Danny Rand, the scion of a corporate titan who returns to New York 15 years after he and his parents died in a plane crash over the Himalayas.
Well, actually, Danny didn’t die. He was rescued by a mysterious order of monks. And in this intervening period, he trained in martial arts and gained the mystical power of the Iron Fist. Now he returns to New York to reclaim the corporate empire that was hijacked by brother-and-sister baddies Ward and Joy Meachum.
Iron Fist stars Finn Jones, best known for playing Loras Tyrell on Game of Thrones. But casting him as Danny was a missed opportunity, according to disgruntled fans who argue that an Asian-American actor should have been chosen.
But that would seem to be the least of the ills plaguing Iron Fist.
“Not one element of this plodding piece works,” railed Variety, adding that the storyline “is about as exciting as a slice of Velveeta cheese left out in the sun too long.”
The New York Times complained about “the dawdling featureless” of the early episodes.
The Twitterverse has been no kinder, with one typical post calling it “a great show if you’re looking to sit back, relax and stare at your phone as it plays in the background.” Another tweet likened the series’ fight scenes to “an awkward junior high school dance.”
Even a forgiving Marvel neophyte who samples Iron Fist is likely to be put off. The conspicuous lack of action, at least in its early episodes, serves as a stark reminder of how lavish production values, unrelenting action and eyepopping visual effects are taken for granted by today’s audience — and jarring when they’re absent.
Granted, the epic failure of Iron Fist, now installed for eternity on the Netflix site, will register as just a blip on the Netflix/Marvel landscape. And since Netflix never discloses audience figures, no one will ever know how many viewers choose to avoid or abandon the series who might have watched a better Iron Fist faithfully.