Iron Fist is actually NOT bad

When I first saw the critical swarm of negative reviews, crushing ratings, and terrible receptions I feared the worst for Danny Rand. Though I'm not that big a fan of the character I had high hopes for a martial arts based Netflix series that I hoped would take a lighter tone than Daredevil or Jessica Jones. As I began to read reviews I began to note how so much of it was not centered around the fact that the show was bad. Rather, they just seemed to really hate the fact Danny was white. "White savior" and "cultural appropriation" popped up a few times, and there was surprise that an Asian wasn't cast for the role (even though Danny has always been white). This doesn't really matter to me in the least though as I don't really care if Danny is Asian or white and they could've made him aboriginal for all I care. Regardless, I held merit to these reviews that perhaps the show was just truly bad, the SJW of today just hated it a little more than I would for racial reasons.

To my pleasant surprise, granted I'm only 9 episodes in, it's worth the watch. No it's not as good the first season of Daredevil, and maybe it doesn't pact the cultural commentary punch of Luke Cage, but it's still a good binge. I enjoyed the fact the show was just a fun story. It isn't some deep commentary like Luke Cage, doesn't have the messages on addiction like Jones, and is not the brutal crime noir of Daredevil. Iron Fist is what Iron Fist should be...fun. I will admit it has it's flaws. Danny at times can be a bit boring, the dialogue drawn out, and a few fight scenes are poorly choreographed. But overall I encourage everyone to give the show a watch and if you liked it like I did, leave a positive review somewhere to encourage others.

I'd really love to see a Heroes for Hire show on Netflix after watching this show. So here's to hoping those of you that enjoyed it will leave enough positive reviews for Netflix and Marvel to have faith in that sort of project.

It's actually pretty damn good

I like it more than Luke Cage.

It's not that great either.

I like it more than Luke Cage.

@superkryptonian:

I have also read a few reviews. From what I read, and what I have seen as I have watched, the problem is more about the actor's ability than his ethnicity.

From The Hollywood Reporter: "Jones is far too placid a leading man to give any sense of Danny's internal torment. He's not placid in a Zen way, just tepid like room temperature. Rather than being a man who found enlightenment through tragedy and disassociation from his upbringing, Danny comes across like a spoiled frat boy who took a comparative religion class and spends a few months picking up coeds by telling them he's totally into meditation and tai chi now."

I agree with what you said about the fight choreography and the dialogue, and I also agree with the criticisms of Jones. Having said that, I also believe that Iron fist is worth watching.

The show is actually really good.. I like it better than cage. It's not quite as good as Jessica Jones or daredevil season one but it's still a solid 8.

I think it's great so far.

It's a bit slow so far, the main villain is interesting but not as compelling as Cottomouth, right now I like Daredevil and Luke Cage more, but the more I watch the more I like it, my main issue with it is the pacing

100% agreed.

yup. Its not tremendous but I think its at least worth watching.

It's not nearly as bad as the critics said but Finn Jones is awful as Danny Rand and I'm not to fond of Collen either.

I had a feeling. Just like Batman v. Superman, critics sometimes get carried away.

yeah, only 8 episodes in, so I've seen more than the critics, and they blew any flaws way out of proportion

Im on the last episode and ive loved every bit of it

KNEW IT! Can't watch it now cuz i got finals but boys am I excited!

Watched 4 episodes and seems to be around Luke Cage level... So far the critical opposition between both of this shows may really rely in the skin color of the protagonist, and that is very disappointing and very worrying... By most of female Thor reviews i already knew that this mindset was very present in some of the fictional mediums, but i wonder how it will evolve...

Also regarding the weak choreography claims in some reviews, they just don't seem to understand the character and the disciplined amount of force that he uses to subjugate his opponents...

@gokuss4z: The writing is cringeworthy, especially for those two.

Also how does this show have the worst choreagraphy so far? I mean really.

It's great. It starts off slow but once you get to ep 6 or 7, it really picks up. It's better than Luke Cage for sure, especially since Luke Cage went on the decline after Cottonmouth was gone. I'd also say it was better than Jessica Jones, but that's mostly because JJ was boring

I am struggling with the first episode. It's just so tedious.

Just finished watching the series. It's pretty good.

I have to what I heard from an Asian reviewer on youtube as far as the controversy goes, "Iron Fist would have been fine as any race other than Asian because he's meant to be an outsider to Asian culture."

its a 6...

its not particularly great, its not particularly bad either

That's true to an extent, however, his dynamic with Luke Cage only works with him being a blond haired, blue eyed, privileged, rich, extremely naive well-meaning sheltered white kid and Cage being an older, more experienced, poor, black ex-con.

I don't know. I think it's not a good show and have trouble even calling it okay. I watched the whole series already and I have trouble with the idea of sitting through it again. I don't feel like there are a lot of positives to the show and the flaws far outweigh it.

@jonny_anonymous: Personally I wouldn't have been upset over a race swap but I don't understand the claims of white washing. I understand the cultural appropriation arguments, I don't necessarily agree with them completely but I understand them.

@warlockmage said:

@joshmightbe: I have ideas on how they could have made it whilst skipping over the problems but also keeping in with comic book canon if you are interested? I understand why people are upset by the lack of representation with the main character (I say the main only because the show is pretty diverse) and I empathise but the idea of this being appropriation doesn't sit right with me. Yes, Danny Rand was born in the US, but he was raised in Asia. He is effectively an immigrant and saying he is appropriating Asian culture is saying that immigrants are wrong for integrating into their adopted homeland.

It suffers from "reverse Netflix problem." The Netflix shows usually either sag in the middle or peters off towards the end but Iron Fist kind of does the opposite by starting very slow and getting better as it goes on.

I agree, the fight scenes start to get better around episode 6, and the story starts to get better at 7.

I know. I'm 2 episodes in, and I love it so far. It's already my second favorite Marvel-Netflix series, right behind Daredevil.

@superkryptonian:

Yep, I think where Netflix went wrong is that they did not make Danny Rand gay. First you got the actor who would absolutely do gay scenes in Loras, second he stayed at an all male monastery , that is more homo erotica hints if anything. I mean they really forced the whole JOy thing and the whole wing thing. Wing should have been able to take are of herself, Joy is powerful in the business world. The whole Joy and Danny subplot could have been a great too to a friendship like Will and Grace.

So it is a pity they shoehorn the whole Collen Wing in, I felt more tension between him and Ward. Of course when I see Loras on screen I automatically think he's a gay character.

I will say the kung fu is bad, like on the level of Kung Fu the T.V series. Is it really hard to get some chinese choreographer?

My only thing I really hate about the show is what they did to to the Bride of Nine Spiders.

By God...

Agreed.

It was the weakest of the Marvel Netflix shows and was ok at best.

I haven't gotten that far into the show yet but imo she wasn't much of a character in the comics either so doubt I'll be too disappointed.

I'm only on episode 7 and my only complaint is that Finn Jones isn't muscular enough. He's just too scrawny for the role and needs to beef up, but I think he plays the role fine and is a decent actor.

Its funny how some of the posters are saying they are loving a tv show that has 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. Lol

Seems like the MCU fans will love anything that comes out. Even if half of the show is terrible. 1-6 are down right criminal, and they should be charged.

This. IF is absolutely great.

Too few fights that are unimpressive. Too much business politics.

The weakest is Jessica Jones.

Back to topic, another reason why I like IF..Colleen's booty. I find it to be a legitimate reason

@emperorxhadesx420 Rotten Tomatoes is overrated..It amazes me that people still take that site seriously. Marvel's worst is still better than DC's best on TV. I'll take IF episodes 1-6 over DC's CW romance nonsense that dominates Flash and Arrow

That's by critics, the actual user base has it at 87% mean while IMDB has it at a 8.3. It definitely has it's faults (too grounded and not mystic enough) but it's a decent show. I think quite a few people went into it with a negative mindset because of all the backlash of a white person being casted for a white role. One of the critics gave it a rotten because they were offended that a white boy was teaching an asian about channeling her internal energy. I mean c'mon...

If you don't like it.. that's fine. Not everyone is going to like every show, hopefully you like the next one.

I liked, it's very flawed, but so are the other netflix shows, relavtive to other MCU shows, it does pretty ok, DD season 2 part 2 was A LOT WORSE than this, And all the diamondback part of luke cage was similarly bad, compared to that, this is a master piece. Now compared to DD season 1, I agree it's weak, but not terrible.

"so much of it was not centered around the fact that the show was bad. Rather, they just seemed to really hate the fact Danny was white. "White savior" and "cultural appropriation" popped up a few times, and there was surprise that an Asian wasn't cast for the role"

On the other hand, all I've heard from fans is "come on. It isn't as bad as the critics say it is." No one has yet to explain why they actually think it's good.

It's average

Just watching so I can discuss how bad it is