I'm not familiar with the source Marvel comic or title character but went back to this now cancelled show after watching Iron Fist Danny Rand fight alongside Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage in the eight-part Defenders series.
Let me say straight off that I'm not a great fan of the mystical and martial arts of eastern religion and combat, involving "getting your chi" on the one hand and fighting like a Ninja on the other. I never got into the "Kung Fu" TV series of the 70's and have only ever seen one Bruce Lee film, but I have to say I did enjoy this.
I think this was because the setting was mostly present-day New York with many exterior location shots and the fantastic Art Deco building used for the establishing and interior shots of Harold Meachum's office. Finn Jones is Danny Rand who at age ten is discovered in the Himalayas by a Holy Order of monks after the plane carrying his parents has inexplicably crashed, leaving him as the sole survivor. With surprisingly few re-enactments of his "Batman Begins"-type evolution and development at the magical city of K'un Lun, where we learn he has learned his zen philosophy, fighting skills and inherited the Iron Fist mantle, we catch up with the now adult Danny returned to New York, looking to discover who was behind the airplane crash which made him an orphan. There, he reaches out to his former childhood friends Ward and Joy Meachum, children of the supposedly deceased Harold, who was Danny's dad's partner in their now multi-million dollar Rand Corporation business but both in different ways spurn him. He's more successful however in making friends with a young female martial arts tutor and a streetwise female New York nurse.
Thirteen episodes of strong quality then follow as we see Danny's stop-start progression towards his own redemption, which involves a mixture of treachery, switched allegiances and of course love topped off naturally with lots of heroic action and explosive fighting, especially when he's able to fire up his Iron Fist.
Like I said, i enjoyed the New York cinematography, I liked the main characters and also the corporate intrigue to which Danny is introduced. I liked Finn Jones in the title role and there's strong support throughout the cast but arguably the best of them was Tom Pelphrey as "daddy's boy" drug-addict Ward, who for the most part acts as Danny's frenemy.
A good mix of action and business, I really enjoyed this run and will now happily move on to Series 2.
Let me say straight off that I'm not a great fan of the mystical and martial arts of eastern religion and combat, involving "getting your chi" on the one hand and fighting like a Ninja on the other. I never got into the "Kung Fu" TV series of the 70's and have only ever seen one Bruce Lee film, but I have to say I did enjoy this.
I think this was because the setting was mostly present-day New York with many exterior location shots and the fantastic Art Deco building used for the establishing and interior shots of Harold Meachum's office. Finn Jones is Danny Rand who at age ten is discovered in the Himalayas by a Holy Order of monks after the plane carrying his parents has inexplicably crashed, leaving him as the sole survivor. With surprisingly few re-enactments of his "Batman Begins"-type evolution and development at the magical city of K'un Lun, where we learn he has learned his zen philosophy, fighting skills and inherited the Iron Fist mantle, we catch up with the now adult Danny returned to New York, looking to discover who was behind the airplane crash which made him an orphan. There, he reaches out to his former childhood friends Ward and Joy Meachum, children of the supposedly deceased Harold, who was Danny's dad's partner in their now multi-million dollar Rand Corporation business but both in different ways spurn him. He's more successful however in making friends with a young female martial arts tutor and a streetwise female New York nurse.
Thirteen episodes of strong quality then follow as we see Danny's stop-start progression towards his own redemption, which involves a mixture of treachery, switched allegiances and of course love topped off naturally with lots of heroic action and explosive fighting, especially when he's able to fire up his Iron Fist.
Like I said, i enjoyed the New York cinematography, I liked the main characters and also the corporate intrigue to which Danny is introduced. I liked Finn Jones in the title role and there's strong support throughout the cast but arguably the best of them was Tom Pelphrey as "daddy's boy" drug-addict Ward, who for the most part acts as Danny's frenemy.
A good mix of action and business, I really enjoyed this run and will now happily move on to Series 2.
