Early Reviews for ‘Iron Fist’ Season 2 Are Mixed but Positive
This Friday, Iron Fist returns to Netflix for it’s second season, but does it deliver the promised improvements over a rocky first season? Based on today’s early reviews the answer seems to be yes, but there’s still room for more.
Firstly, the fight scenes are much better. We saw glimpses of this in the trailer, and the reviews all confirm it. According to ComicBook.com, not only are the actions scenes more frequent and better choreographed they also “are not just gimmicky fights: the fight sequences involving Danny, Colleen, Misty, Davos, etc. are firmly rooted in season 2’s larger gang war story arc … The stakes of each fight make the sequences more thrilling – especially since the visual effects are also much stronger”.
Forbes notes that “the action, acting and motivations of almost all the players involved are much cleaner this time around.”
However, Forbes goes on to say that, sadly, “the biggest problem with Iron Fist remains its eponymous protagonist. This really has less to do with Jones’ performance and more to do with how the character’s written.”
CNet agreed, saying “it’s weird to see Rand being played as a serious character. The Immortal Iron Fist from the first season was more naïve and innocent — sometimes even funny. We saw snippets of those traits when Jones guest starred in an episode of Luke Cage, but that personality seems to have been replaced with a sombre, boring robot of a hero.”
Nerd Reactor also agreed that the writers seemed to struggle with Danny’s character but went on to praise Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing and Simone Missick, calling their scenes together “some of the best parts of the series.”
Praise was also given to Alice Eve’s Typhoid Mary, with ComicBook.com calling her the standout character in the first six episodes with “the most compelling character arc early on in season 2.”
Reviewers were more mixed with this season’s major villains, Sacha Dhawan’s Davos and Jessica Stroup’s Joy Meachum. Nerd Reactor praised the series for exploring Joy’s motivations for working with Davos, and for developing Davos into a character your can sympathize with, “so much so, that in many moments, you’re actually rooting for him to obtain the Iron Fist power.” However, 411 Mania felt that the “Joy Meachum subplot leaves a lot to be desired … Metzner was unable to rectify one of the most flawed loose threads that was left dangling in the first season” whilst ComicBook.com felt their arc was too slow burn, though they did acknowledge that this could pay off in the second half of the season.
One thing everyone agrees on is that the pacing of the series has been improved significantly this season, and that change makes the second season a much easier watch than the first.
It’s important to keep to keep in mind that these early reviews are based on the first six episodes, not the full ten, so opinions could certainly change once reviewers get the opportunity to see the full story.
You can make up your own mind when Iron Fist season two hits Netflix this Friday.
Chris is a lifelong fan of Disney, Star Wars and super heroes who can’t quite believe this golden age of movies and TV we’re living in. Having written blogs dedicated to Disney’s Aladdin musical and Star Wars Celebration, Chris is excited to be part of the MNN team.
