Screen Grab
A TV column by Jamie Hill
The things I do for you guys.
In order that I could review The Defenders before deadline I had to sit through the entire series in one weekend just to get it to you on time.
As a series it was definitely ambitious, probably one of the most ambitious undertakings that a television studio has ever carried out.
Using the Marvel model of introducing their ensemble piede with separate films to form the Avengers with Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Iron Man establishing their characters, they went all out on forming The Defenders with each of the four characters getting their own series first.
Daredevil came first and it was a triumph giving us something darker, more violent and gritty than we’ve come to expect from our brightly coloured superhero stories.
Then came the amazing psychological machinations of Jessica Jones, easily the most complex and enjoyable character out of the foursome.
That was followed by Luke Cage - a funkier but still dark series that, although it didn’t shine as brightly as the previous two was still pretty damn good.
A second series of Daredevil was slotted in before we came to the last character introduction of our quartet - Iron Fist and this is where the studio, for the first time, seriously dropped the ball. Personally, I quite enjoyed it and enjoyed the character but there seemed to be a lack of depth that we had come to love about these Netflix shows. Definitely the weakest of the bunch.
So what about The Defenders?
All the ingredients are there, the groundwork has been laid. We all know and love (or loathe if the internet reaction to Iron Fist was any judge) the characters.
But it still felt slightly flat.
Each character is given enough space to breathe but at times it felt like more of the same. Like a bit of a sub-Daredevil spin-off.
It just felt a bit samey.
Corridor fight-scenes. Check.
The main heroes facing off against each other. Check.
A bad guy or gal in this case with complex motivation. Check.
Dim lighting. Check.
Fight scenes underground. Check.
I suppose it is the world that these characters are shoved together into. We already know it. There’s nothing new.
But saying all of that. It’s still far and away better than most superhero output on television.
The fight scenes have great choreography and there are still a few surprises thrown into the mix. Definitely not a failure but I felt that they were playing it a bit safe.
Jessica Jones is still my favourite character though (although I warmed a lot more to Luke Cage in this series).
They need to change the formula up for future stories though as I’m definitely suffering from dimly lit fight exhaustion.
The Defenders can be found on Netflix.