Was Iron Fist really that bad?

Q
Mar 27, 2017
4 min read

So... You may have watched Iron Fist by now, seeing as it premiered on March 15, 2017, in New York City, with the full season of 13 episodes released on Netflix on March 17, 2017.

I hadn't read any of the reviews on the show, before or after its premiere on Netflix, without seeing it with my own eyes, and I never listen to Rotten Tomatoes as a main source or "word of God" on whether or not I should see a blockbuster movie or series based solely on their ratings system. So I had pretty good (but not high) hopes for the show.

Then... I watched the series for myself. With time I know that I will never get back. I know that sounds bad, but it was painstakingly hard to watch. (And I know that that sounds even worst. Sorry, not sorry.) Out of all the Marvel Shows on Netflix I think Iron Fist is my least favorite. Which may or may not be a fully accurate statement, seeing as I couldn't get pasted the second episode of Jessica Jones to finish the series. I would have liked if the writers and producers would have elaborated more on the actually origin story in the first few episodes of the Rand family and Harold Meachum traveling, crashing and everything that transpired on the mountain before Daniel was saved by the Monks. With the exception of Harold losing his legs (for creative purposes.) And I would have also liked to see Danny's training with Monks at K'un L'un, and not flashbacks. The actual fight with Shou Lao the Undying, the dragon, would have been mind-blowing. Instead of some glowing red eyes in a cave.

And after all that being fleshed out, we follow Daniel's return home.

The List of things that bothered me

The missing Origin Story.

What happened to the plane trip that the Rand Family & Meachum took together to look for K'un L'un?
And Meachum murdering Danny's father?
And Danny's mother sacrificing herself to wolves to save him?
And the monks finding him?
And Meachum surviving and returning to civilization.
And so on and so on...

And what was up with the Mental Hospital plot?

Correct me if I am wrong, but after researching it, I couldn't find anything about him be confined to a mental institute.
This could have been added AFTER adding the origin and training plots. Or trashed all together.

The constant display of Daniel's immaturity was off putting.

I know that the creators are probably trying to have a starting point to show how he will mentally & physically progress through future series, but this just made me want to slap the taste out of his mouth, like the Batman Memes.
And just thinking to myself, "would he really be that naive or juvenile in his mental & emotion understanding, growing up with Holy, Mystical Monks. Did he learn nothing? What was he doing there if not learning how to center his inner turmoil... Or something like that.

The fight scenes were not timed right.

As someone that has trained in Brazilian Martial Arts (Capoeira) at a Fighters Gym for many years, and has friends that have multiple black belts; my eye just kept noticing how it looked as if the lead actor Finn Jones has moving as if he was afraid of being hit. The movements weren't completed, like a newbie fighter that knows the impact (whether defensive or offensive) is going to hurt like a motha-fucker, so they pull back.
And I know that reports say that Finn Jones trained countless hours, but the proof is not in the pudding.

What the hell was up with the appearance of the actual glowing “Iron Fist?” I mean his hands. He only used it a “handful” of times. Major let down.

Again, I know what the creators were “trying” to do… Progression of the Character. I get it. It was just disappointing, that’s all.

The love interest plot.

With all this show had missing and left to the imagination, was having a Love Interest for Iron Fist so soon in the series really needed or necessary?
I need to see him develop as man & hero before losing his virginity. “Sex to safe the show, to the rescue!

End Thoughts

Truly & honestly, I believe the creators need to shelf creative licencing or liberties at some point.

Fans are never going to be 100% satisfied with what Hollywood churns outs, but Hollywood should consider their creations longevity. If you keep disappointing your niche audience, you're going to loss them. And continue to get bad reviews. But hey, they don't care about that, so on to the next thing.

I feel that Netflix ran through production of this show so fast just to get it out there, so they could get on with the production of The Defenders and everything with that. Now knowing that Iron Fist aired March 17, 2017 and production for The Defenders ended around the same time.

I will say that my favorite characters were Madam Gao, The Drunken Master, and Claire Temple. Shout outs to Rosario Dawson for collecting on all of those Netflix checks!!!

I think Marvel TV & Netflix missed the mark on this one.

And I hate to add to all the other like minded write ups on Iron Fist, but the people have spoken.

But I will watch the second season to see where it goes from here. If there is one.

Check out the photo gallery for hilarious memes, origin & character illustrations, click below.