User reviews

Cultural appropriation: a phrase that is never too far from a press review of Iron Fist. It's also what I'm focusing on here, rather than the questions about this show's pacing and editing (for the record, I think it's great).

Should a white man be playing the Iron Fist? That's the big question on the lips of many a film critic. And the answer, in my humble opinion, is 'Sure, why not?' After all, the character was white in the first place.

Is that 'cultural appropriation'? I guess so. But what's it's not is a problem, and I say that as a person of East Asian descent. There is simply nothing wrong with white people doing kung-fu, just as there's nothing wrong with a white person rapping or, indeed, a Chinese person wearing a baseball cap, while eating a Big Mac and singing Sweet Home Alabama.

Yet critics are making out that Iron Fist is like some kind of throwback to Yellow Peril characters like Fu Manchu, but it's nothing of the sort. There's a simple reason why that was offensive and why Iron Fist isn't.

Iron Fist features a white man playing a white man, whereas Fu Manchu was a Chinese man played by a white man, complete with 'slitty eye' makeup.

In spite of this obvious truth, a lot of people suggest that an Asian person would have been better suited to the role. Why? Another chop-socky Chinaman is not what the Asian community needs in terms of media representation. We need more Asian people just being people. An example that springs to mind is Glenn in The Walking Dead. He's great because he's just a regular guy, who also happens to be Asian.

But the critics continue to pile on the criticism when it comes to Iron Fist. I wonder, though, how many of those same critics heaped praise on Kill Bill, which is far more guilty of borrowing from East Asian culture than Iron Fist.

Call Iron Fist what you like. Say it's badly written or boring. That's fine. I disagree, but each to their own. Just stop getting offended about something that's not offensive - and if you aren't Asian, perhaps stop and think about what Asians actually care about.

I watched every episode. After a while, I kept count to see if Danny Rand always made the dumbest choices and decisions in every episode. He did. He was by far the dumbest character in every single episode.

His competition for stupidity award was triad goons, hatchet thugs, street criminals, drug dealers, and all of his family and friends. It seemed like in every episode, there would be some core decision that was up to Danny, and he always made by far the dumbest choice that was possible.

Another annoying point was that Danny would trust every person, even the ones that were obviously against him. It got old that every single person he trusted always betrayed Danny, and he always acted shocked.

After a while, this and the never-ending bad decisions made it look like Danny was just a really stupid, dumb-as-a-rock person. Finn Jones, the actor that played Danny, could not pull off "honest surprise" at the terrible results of his stupid decisions. He just looked like he was incapable of any basic growth or maturity as a person.

Every episode is about 95% teenage soap opera, drama, whining, sadness, and maybe 5 minutes of action. This is like modern Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where it is all about relationships. Danny Rand should have been created as a girl for this TV series. He spends more time being a sensitive girl than his girlfriend does.

Eventually Danny is totally emasculated and he becomes Ward's substitute sister. It is pretty sad and pathetic. Danny's girlfriend becomes the man of the relationship, and she takes over the sacred power of Iron Fist. The Power of the Iron Fist, which was so sacred, gets passed around to three characters thanks to Danny Rand being a moron.

Let me start out by saying: I'm an actor, so criticizing other actors is not my thing. Also, I understand that with a series like this, the choices that are made are made by several people not just the lead actor him/herself. I say all of this because I've seen some scathing comments directed at Finn Jones. I very much enjoyed the series, and I still standby the idea that everything Marvel/Netflix has done absolutely dwarfs the CW/DC series on television..makes DC look like a childs coloring book. Even Marvel/Netflix at their weakest episodes is still better.

The thing that leaves me slightly confused is simply: Why is every supporting character on Iron Fist so much more interesting, compelling and fleshed out THEN THE IRON FIST HIMSELF?!? I mean seriously it's bizarre, I've never seen anything like it. They could have made a show entirely based on Joy and Ward Meachum and it would've been more interesting then following Danny Rand. They could've made an entire show based around Colleen Wing..again..more interesting. Clare Temple. EVEN DAVOS who was only around for 3 eps! And so on and so forth.

Before everyone throws Finn Jones to the wolves lets remember SOMEONE made the call to cast him so if you don't like his look..welp! nothing he can do about that..someone way above him thought he was the guy, then someone else wrote his character a certain way...full of holes and honestly rather bratty and childish.

I get that Danny Rand, when we meet him, is in some way still the 10 year old kid from before the crash. Perhaps the thought process was that during that time in Kun Lin he didn't quite mature the same way Joy and Ward did...makes sense. But it's a fine line playing an imbecilic child and a grown man with deep vulnerabilities and fears. Danny's outbursts of anger were almost laughable..he looked like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Now compare that to the actor who played Davos. He had the same issue...these bursts of anger from residual issues. But when his burst forth, it wasn't funny, you knew something was deeply wrong here.

The point is, this is a solidly good show, but it's main character is the weakest and least fleshed out and thats excusing the pathetic and confusing excuse for a villain Harold Meachum. For everyone throwing darts at this series, I guarantee they like everything EXCEPT...The Iron Fist.

Overall iron fist wasn't too bad. I think I was a little more forgiving of it flaws than I normally would have been if I had expected it a masterpiece but I had already heard people say the worst thing about it so my expectations were in check.

So I'll be honest about Iron Fist - it's an extremely mixed bag. Season 1 is bad. Pretty damn bad, especially in contrast to the plethora of other so called "MCU" Netflix shows. I use the quote marks as nowadays there is barely any link between the Netflix shows and the movies, so I now rarely associate the two universes. Like a lot of the other Netflix Series, it struggles with the 13-episode season length, but also has some of the worst writing and show management I've ever seen. It's long, boring and sometimes frustrating to watch, with a lead character that's whiny and dull. The supporting characters are far more interesting, yet even their story arcs are convoluted and uninteresting (Ward's drug arc for example).

Season 2, however, is a vast improvement. The show acknowledges that Danny Rand, played by Finn Jones, is its weakest component. It therefore boosts a lot of the supporting characters in the story like the prior season, but this time their arcs feel more in place. The 10-episode season length is also a warm welcome, and the pacing of season 2 is far smoother, and doesn't always drag. The choreography is also slightly better, still not perfect, and the whole season feels a lot more rounded and polished.

It of course still has its problems, like clunky dialogue and the main character STILL not being sufficient enough to carry the show. The season 2 finale does suggest some solution to this, although it's unclear how this will pan out in season 3, if there is one. Without spoiling the finale, it has to be said how random the final 5 minutes occurs, and the so called "post-credits" scene should have been left out in favour of another ending that seems much more natural.

All-in-all, Iron Fist has the potential to have a solid 3rd season, and I am left with some intrigue for it. But, the absolutely dire first season is a horrible experience and if you want to be caught up for the second season, go watch some random recap video - it will spare you the pain.

I hoped the second season would fix the show, but instead, they added bad writing to make the show even worse than before. Generally speaking, if you are looking for an action Sci Fi with a good story, then Iron Fist is not the answer.

As a huge fan of Marvel I'm a little biased because I pretty much like everything they put out. My bias aside, Iron Fist is a pretty good show. It's definitely the weakest of all the Marvel shows but that doesn't mean it's bad. The other ones are just that good. I still think this a good show that's definitely worth watching! It's too bad that Netflix couldn't renew their contracts with Marvel and they had to stop making the Netflix Marvel shows because every single one of them was great! Now that they're on Disney they can bring these wonderful characters back. They already started to with Daredevil and Kingpin and just renewed Daredevil for another season. Now they have to do the same for The Punisher, Luke Cage amd Jessica Jones. While Iron Fist definitely won't get renewed because it was the weakest, they cam still bring some of these Iron Fist characters over to some of their other MCU shows. If you're a Marvel fan then this is a must watch!

Iron Fist is obviously not as good as the other Marvel Netflix shows (The Punisher, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Defenders), but it's still a pretty good show that's absolutely worth watching! I have to admit that I liked Iron Fist a lot more than some judging by some of these reviews but that's because most of the negative reviews are by people comparing it either to the other shows or the comic books. I don't understand why people get upset become a show or movie isn't exactly like the comic book! Stop being such a nerd and just enjoy it for what it is! Iron Fist starts a little slow but stay with it because it picks up and turns into a pretty good show.

Excellent productions values. Lead Actor is excellent. He is familiar and has been in many excellent projects but I don't have his name in my head yet

While I am not a big Martial Arts guy. The energy brought to the fight scenes along with a sense of humor make them work. These kind of scenes on a TV budget are hard to pull off but mostly they work.

If you want to binge watch something that will give you good feeling this is a nice choice.

Just want to comment on the review that appeared on the opening page.

It wasn't a review but a racist and misogynistic diatribe about people of colour and women taking white men's roles. Written by a coward who pretends to be from India but must be a delusional White guy who thinks White people are being discriminated against. I.m white and have it great, wish all could be so lucky. Sorry Carey MacLeod (Real Name)

To start with, I was not happy with the casting even before the show aired, still i hoped to be proved wrong once i watched it.... i wasn't.

Iron fist for those that are comic book fans , is supposed to be one of the most lethal martial artist on the planet, which serves as a good starting point to bring in an expert martial artist to fill the shoes. since that didn't happen the action scenes seem rehearsed and at times slow with no creative choreography. the lead character does not come off as a strong person rather a kid with parent issues that is so annoyingly naive. out of the similar series done by Netflix Iron fist ranks last on my list, with daredevil being first and Jessica Jones second. they really missed the mark on this one.

It is the weakest of the Netflix Super Hero series, the plot, the script, the fight choreography and the acting were very average. Each of the series before had some hallmark freshness to them, this time around felt Netflix went back a decade to old superhero series like Arrow, only more mediocre production budget. The pacing was terrible, there was not enough suspense or shock creation, some of the actors felt like noobs fresh out of collage but I think the biggest fault would goes with the direction. Still it is entertaining and I did binge watch it a day, just not to the standard I was expecting.

Ignore accusations of racism. They're misplaced and seem to lack an understanding of the source material.

Show is okay, but not ambitious like IF should be. It's got some seriously bad bits. Blame Scott Buck, Not identity politics.

It's not a great understanding of the character and the least of the Marvel Netflix shows but this isn't some great affront to television or culture like some suggest.

Iron Fist falls short of previous Netflix Marvel productions.

The writing was sometimes cringe-worthy and while some blame the actors, there's only so much that can be done with a poor script.

The direction was also lacking, with oddly constructed scenes and action. It felt like the actors had little feedback on their performances, which led to the repetitive silliness.

The fight choreography... well, I'm not entirely sure there was any. Unlike Daredevil (for example), where there was a genuine sense of reality in the fight scenes, in Iron Fist it felt like the scenes in Arrow. Unlimited energy, unrealistic combat, no real damage.

That said, it's not actually horrible, and makes for a good weekend binge-watch. Just imagine you're watching a 13-hour Saturday Kung-Fu movie marathon, and set your expectations appropriately.

How is the average episode about an 8.1 but the series is a 6.7?

I binge watched already the whole show since I'm sick at home. I was aware of all the bad critics, but I had nothing else to watch. I was pretty surprised, the show has an entertaining storytelling, good acting (I like Finn as the sometimes childlike but also wise Danny Rand), some humor, sometimes a little bit cheesy, good fight scenes (even though Daredevils hallway scene is unparalleled ). I would rate the show in line with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, Daredevil is better, but Iron Fist doesn't deserve the hate. It has also three strong, interesting female characters: Rosario Dawson has a comeback as the Night Nurse, but in stronger appearance than in Daredevil or Luke Cage. Also Jessica Henwick as Coleen Wing is a great female lead and Madame Gao is a wonderful fleshed out female villain. Give it a try.

It's no secret that Marvel's Iron Fist is the weak-link among the Netflix shows. From an uninspired lead hero, to poorly directed action and drama, season one was a major letdown, but held promise at times. While the writing is better, the villains stronger and the action kick-ass, Iron Fist is still struggling with inconsistencies in season two, but took the necessary steps in the right direction to be compelling enough. Let's start with the obvious improvements. The second season is a short 10 episodes. This seemed to benefit the show greatly, as there was little filler content to go around and time to tell an engaging story. The plot, while a little flimsy at first, really kicked in half-way, allowing for an ending that could rank among one of the best in Marvel's TV universe. The action is lightyears better than season one, but exactly at Daredevil's level (yet). Stunt coordinator Clayton Barber deserves credit for his stylish, visceral fights and while only a few really stuck out as unique or brutal, the programme became a lot more watchable with good action. The villains, Davos (Sacha Dhawan) and "Typhoid" Mary Walker (Alice Eve) all proved capable foils, Davos being a charismatic, twisted version of Danny (Finn Jones) and Mary an unpredictable force. Speaking of Danny Rand. While definitely more refined, he lacks the fight moves or conviction of Daredevil, the brains of Jessica Jones and the brawn of Luke Cage. Finn Jones does what he can, but Danny Rand isn't much more than a capable kung-fu fighter at this point. On the other hand, Jessica Henwick's Coleen Wing shines as a superhero girlfriend, pursuing her own agenda and generally moving the plot forward in a positive way with Simone Missick's Misty Knight as the Daughter's of the Dragon. So while Iron Fist cannot really redeem its titular hero or ditch an early slog, it builds on its faults well enough to be an entertaining, action-packed season. I honestly thought it was good and cannot wait to see more.

This TV show could have been so much better. It focused on Danny Rand's life in NYC, and showed practically nothing of K'un Lun, or his life prior to returning home. The actor played Danny Rand like a wide eyed farm-boy, innocent and full of the wonder of it all, at least until the 8th or 9th episode when some weird sort of PTSD came over him. I did not quite get that. But I gotta wonder, how good an Iron Fist show can you really have, if you show no more than ten minutes over 13 episodes of the Thunderer? Answer, not so much. This was a striking failure, especially when compared to the other "Defenders" shows that Netflix has put out. Maybe I am judging it too hard, because of the characters that Netflix has assembled, Iron Fist was always, far and away, my favorite. But this show just does not do his story justice. Shame.

Not bad as I thought . First of all writers didn't done a great job , writing was weak , subplots was meaningless , characterisation wise main character Danny Rand wasn't impressive , his character design was too weak , but other supporting characters had good arc . When it comes to Direction , Action sequence were poorly executed in first season , editing were too clumsy , in second season they did better in action . Series overall doesn't feels boring , some of the character arc will be interesting and action sequences in second season were good . Overall eventhough it has many flaws , it falls on decent category .