Netflix's Iron Fist: not as good or bad as they said

So, thanks to Marvel and Netflix, we've got to see the four members of the DEFENDERS in action and got a little back story. And, after all the contrived controversy, Iron Fist stands tall on its on.

The fears of 'white washing' and 'appropriation' are faded into so much BS and we get a good origin of Danny Rand without the politically correct or SJ rewrites. The fact of the matter is, as spoken by Daniel Wu of INTO THE BADLANDS, the character of Danny Rand was white to begin with and the argument of cultural appropriation was nonsense unless you want to argue that only Asian people can do martial arts (which I think is rather racist in itself and Chuck Norris may have a word or two about that). No, Iron Fist was casted, written and produced exactly the way it should have been. End of story.

That didn't silence all the trolls and critics though, by any means. No, They ranted and raved about how bad it was for months on end. And, then, in answer, the 'True Believers' stepped in and did their own bit of raving about how it was the greatest Marvel Netflix creation yet! And, then, I finally finished the series. And I'm here to tell you their both wrong.

Now, to preface, I'm easy. I come from an era (the 70s) that was not known for their amazing production value and script writing. I grew up on the Incredible Hulk on tv which was the best writing of any of them and botches like the Captain America movie with the motorcycle helmet and the clear shield. So, once the 2000s rang in and started pumping out comic book related movies, I was in with both feet. So, I give movies that others rant about a pass at least. I dare to look back at media train wrecks like Daredevil, Green Lantern and X-Men Origins: Wolverine and glean what good I find. I mean, my favorite Batman movie (Batman Forever) starts wars wherever I go although I will NEVER defend Batman and Robin. It's one of the few movies I simply won't defend. Like I said, I'm easy.

So, I went in to Iron Fist knowing the controversy was bull and ready to soak in the greatness of Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist.

What I loved was Danny's absolute childlike innocence as he stumbled through the dark world he returned to. It was a perfect reading of the character who never really finished his childhood and had a 'Pollyana' outlook on life and people. You could tell he was someone who had never been lied to or betrayed. His teachers were transparent with him. But he also pushed his anger deep (later) and poured himself into his training. This also kept him from developing into the adult he needed to be to survive this brave new world.

POSITIVE: Davos is played well and perfectly sets up the villainous STEEL SERPENT to com!

His blind trust of the world around him also kept him from fully becoming the Iron Fist he needed to be. Everything was black and white, right and wrong. What he found and will continue to find is that there are shades of gray in all. Life isn't simply killing the villainous Hand. In his innocence, Danny found compassion and a clarity to do the right think always. No matter how the Meachums hated what he did, he always did the right thing. That clarity kept him from 'fulfilling his duties as the Iron Fist'. No, he is in the process of becoming something new and different.

I also enjoyed Joy Meachum's childlike faith of Danny and Ward Meachum's opposite nature: the Yin and Yang of the story. Harold Meachum was a great villain. He proves that not all villains are full frontal evil. Harold pulled strings, first Ward's and, then, Danny's. Once again Joy and Danny's innocence kept them from seeing his evil nature. Ward, of course, had suffered his father's oppression since his death for many years. For the Hand we had Madame Gao and Bakuto. But even both of these, although we knew they were of a dark shade of evil had qualities that made you doubt their sinful nature. At times, you thought one or the other were trying to help Danny. Although, in the end, we all knew better.

And speaking of gray, Coleen Wing was the perfect balance between the two worlds Danny had to traverse. Her connection with the hand mixed with her undying love for Danny, brought the drama in a big way.

So, those that said it was a horrible series are just plain wrong. It was a good series with an interesting story. But it also wasn't the runaway hit the True Believers said it was.

After watching Daredevil's fight sequences through two seasons, Danny's martial arts fell a little flat; although we were tempted to count the number of broken arms he dished out per episode. I'm tempted to say he didn't go through an episode without crushing someone's limb. But, even with the “OW, that's gotta hurt” moments, it seemed a bit draggy. Maybe it was the difference in styles. We've been used to the full frontal assault style of Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. Danny's was a more fluid and reserved style. Still, it lacked the dynamic, visual power we were used to.

POSITIVE: Wai Ching Ho as Madam Gao was amazing in all her scenes

I also had a harder time following the characters. Like stated before, I loved the innocent nature of Danny Rand. It was made clear that both he and Coleen responded to getting beat down with tremendous focus and power. However, emotional confusion blocked the Iron Fist. But if he got mad or feared restraint, the Fist came to life. Maybe all of this was mimicking the confusion that was building in Danny all along. That would make sense. But it was confusing at times.

The ending with Joy Meachum seems to have been built in error. Sorry, I just don't see Joy going from 'Yay! He's home' to 'Let's kill Danny!' I don't know. I liked her character all the way till that point and , suddenly, I found myself just shaking my head. And it wasn't the shock of a 'heel turn' if you will. No, the move just didn't seem to flow properly.

BUT, all in all, it was a good watch. The series said some important things that will help build to the Defenders. And I'm on board, if only for the chance to see Danny Rand and Luke Cage fight side by side, right? Yep, I'm that easy. But, hey, I warned you from the beginning. I am, after all, an unrepentant, old-school fanboy.