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78% Avg. Tomatometer 100 Reviews 70% Avg. Audience Score 2,500+ Ratings Four of Marvel's biggest heroes are each working individually but have one common goal in mind -- to save New York City...
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78% Tomatometer 100 Reviews 70% Audience Score 2,500+ Ratings Four of Marvel's biggest heroes are each working individually but have one common goal in mind -- to save New York City. Burdened...
- (100)
- August 18, 2017
- Charlie Cox
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Aug 18, 2017 · 4 min read. "The Defenders" is the superhero power-group payoff we've been waiting for. Personal preference and style influence your favorite Netflix-Marvel show, but this one has...
Aug 18, 2017 · The Defenders is Marvel’s best Netflix show, hands down. The series shows off its swagger instantly and never lets up, making Iron Fist seem like more of a hero in the opening 13 seconds...
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- Verdict
By Daniel Krupa
Updated: Nov 17, 2017 6:40 pm
Posted: Aug 18, 2017 7:00 am
Before moving on to the full season review, below are links to the (spoiler-filled) reviews of all 8 episodes of Marvel's The Defenders.
The Defenders, Episode 1: The H Word
The Defenders, Episode 2: Mean Right Hook
There’s no denying, however, that there are some fun and exciting moments scattered across the show’s eight episodes. When they’re finally united on screen, the cast have great chemistry, with various interesting dynamics existing within the team. But ultimately they’re saddled with a badly-paced story and an ill-defined, confused and confusing antagonist in the form of The Hand.
Since the very beginning these characters have been pitched as Marvel’s street-level heroes – protecting their neighbourhoods from murderers and rapists, drug dealers and paedophiles – but here they end up pitted against a threat that is as fantastical as anything we’ve yet encountered in the MCU.
I’m not saying these Netflix shows can’t embrace the supernatural – The Purple Man in Jessica Jones is a great example of how the fantastical can be executed with realism and become even more effective – but not enough is done here to ground The Hand or their intentions. They never feel like a genuinely destructive or malignant force within New York.
This certainly isn’t aided by The Hand’s almost complete lack of personality. Sigourney Weavers ends up delivering a bland, anonymous villain in Alexandra. She suffers in isolation but especially when compared to the antagonists these heroes have already come up against – the brilliantly calculating yet rage-fuelled Kingpin or the manipulative and demented Purple Man. Even Luke Cage’s Cottonmouth, with his ties to Harlem, was a much more compelling villain.
The show remains unnecessarily coy about Alexandra’s identity for far too long. Similarly, the intentions of The Hand remain unclear until the very end. Initially, they seem intent of the arch-dismantling of New York, a project that has gestated over centuries. But in the end, the destruction of the city is the side-effect of a much more bizarre, mystical, and selfish plan.
Things improve slightly when The Fingers are introduced, giving this shady organisation more tangible avatars, and introducing conflict within the organisation, but this also soon forgotten about as the show marches towards its conclusion.
The chemistry between our heroes is excellent. It’s undeniably fun finally seeing them together, and the show is definitely at its best when they’re interacting, getting to know each other, questioning one another’s agendas and stance on being a hero, and of course, fighting alongside each other. But we get too little of each of those. Danny and Luke work particularly well together. (I hope instead of new seasons of Luke Cage and Iron Fist we just get Heroes for Hire.) Jessica, likewise, brilliantly undercuts the characters around her, especially Daredevil who stands out from the rest due to his secret identity. When it all pulls together, it’s really great. Arguably the highpoint of the season is when they’re all trapped in a Chinese restaurant and forced into getting to know each other.
Less effectively incorporated are the supporting characters. Foggy makes the odd logical appearance here and there, but as for the rest – well, they’re pretty much rounded-up and dumped in Harlem’s police department, when they spend the majority of the show, occasionally having an unnecessary scene together. It just feels forced.
The first season of The Defenders has its moments of excitement and fun, but these largely stem from simply seeing these characters come together and interact. It has little to do with the plot that unites them. Although Elektra adds bite, The Hand is a weirdly abstract enemy even with Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra serving as its leader. They feel r...
Aug 18, 2017 · 154 Images. Marvel's The Defenders: Season 1 Review. 6.5. Review scoring. okay. The Defenders has its moments but fails to draw together Marvel's street-level heroes in a satisfying way....
Aug 17, 2017 · Photo: Sarah Shatz/Netflix. Marvel’s The Defenders is a reasonably satisfying superhero team-up with a gritty undertone that’s characteristic of the comic studio’s previous Netflix shows. It ...
