TV Review--The Defenders

TV Review—The Defenders

Marvel’s had a good run lately, churning out one successful super-hero property after another.  Their one mis-step was Iron Fist, which got such poor reviews I took a pass on it even though it was technically free for streaming on Netflix.  It may be free, but as the saying goes, time is money.

So I wasn’t very enthusiastic to tackle the Marvel mash-up of The Defenders, which combines crusading blind lawyer Matt Murdock aka Daredevil (Charlie Cox), super-strong PI Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) and Luke Cage (Mike Colter) with the protagonist of Iron Fist, Danny Rand (Finn Jones).  I had also skipped Daredevil season 2, because as much as I admired the first season of Daredevil, a lot of that was due to the contribution of Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin, and without him in season 2 I thought it would be disappointing.

Of the Marvel/Netflix properties I thought Jessica Jones was the best, with a damaged hero, an intriguing villain who couldn’t be beaten by simply pummeling him and whose threat to the protagonist was more psychological than physical. Luke Cage started out promising, but then killed its antagonist off mid-way through the series and replaced him with a much less interesting villain (the first villain was played by subsequent Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, who was more captivating playing evil slightly understated than the second villain who chewed the scenery; sometimes less IS more).

So, I had not watched two of the five series that were prequels to The Defenders, but I decided to give it a try anyway.  At a trim eight episodes, the series accomplishes what it needs to and then does not overstay its welcome.  The same genius alchemy Joss Whedon used to create the super-team The Avengers is on display here, as a highly disparate group of heroes finds enough common ground to work together.

The most interesting aspect to me was the technique employed when the four of them fought together.  There are two distinct fighting styles at play; Daredevil and Iron Fist are straight out of every chop-socky film ever made, with lots of kicks, flips, leaps, and leg sweeps.  On the other hand, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones just stand around and wait for the opportunity to punch someone really hard.  The combination is effective, mostly because the evil ninjas don’t realize that Luke Cage’s skin is impervious to blades, or that Jessica Jones can hit a lot harder than the typical 115-pound woman.

A second dynamic that the show didn’t seem interested in pursuing was the fact that Luke Cage had slept with three of the woman in the series, namely Jessica Jones, police detective Misty Knight (Simone Missick), and nurse Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), who presence in each series knitted the various series together before the protagonists met.  His affairs with Jessica and Misty were sincere but casual, but supposedly Claire is something more special (it is clear when he gets out of prison at the start of The Defenders that Luke is REALLY happy to see Claire again).  Luke and Jessica have some casual flirtation towards the end, but by and large they act like they’ve barely met before, and romantic overtones are fairly muted in order to focus on the real threat.

That threat is The Hand, an evil organization that dates back centuries that is really, really evil and led by a woman named Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver).  They live forever thanks to some substance, but they used up that substance to resurrect Daredevil’s deceased girlfriend from season 2, Electra Natchios (Elodie Yung, mostly driving away all memories of Jennifer Gardner from the movie).  They plan to get more of the substance, but their plan to do so would result in untold destruction in New York City.

The Defenders does a good job of setting the pieces in place at the beginning, giving each of the four heroes (one can almost hear Jessica Jones’ eyes rolling at the word) a different path to get to the bad guys.  The four protagonists share one trait—they are all relentless when working on a problem, and this drives them to overcome major obstacles to arrive, almost together, at an executive board meeting of The Hand in episode three.

From then they form an uneasy alliance.  The show’s timeline is compressed; only a couple of days transpire over the eight episodes (or was it only one?).  Even though there are times for conversations and one Chinese dinner, most of the time the pressure on them from The Hand is relentless and the plot moves at a pace that seldom flags.  They get along despite their differences; ex-con and ex-cop Luke Cage finds he likes billionaire Danny Rand, while Daredevil, mostly operating as lawyer Matt Murdock, wears his heart on his sleeve while Jessica Jones sets a record for eye-rolling.

The acting is mostly first rate.  You expect that from pros like Weaver, but Charlie Cox struck me as much more affecting as Daredevil than I recall from season one, and Krysten Ritter inhabits Jessica Jones like a glove.  Mike Colter is not a great actor but projects a needed sincerity, and has the physical presence required to play Luke Cage.  Finn Jones does a nice job of portraying Danny Rand and basically a well-meaning dodo.  The one performance I thought was wasted was Scott Glenn as Daredevil’s blind sensei known as Stick; he seemed to sleepwalk through his line readings, although he might have been trying to show resignation or nonchalance. 

My biggest criticism of the entire project is their choice of the final shot of the series, which undercut a great deal of the drama that transpired at the end. But to say any more would be a spoiler. 

The Defenders not only lives up to expectations, but deserves a place alongside The Avengers in the pantheon of Marvel properties.  The melding of four Marvel heroes into one story could have been awkward or forced, but it was done with intelligence by creators Douglas Petrie and Marcos Ramirez.  I guess before we get a Defenders 2 we’ll have to wait until Jessica Jones 2 and Luke Cage 2; for some reason, I haven’t heard a clamor for Iron Fist 2.