The Defenders Review – Spoiler Free 🙂
On August 18 in Australia, The Defenders finally was released on Netflix. The last few years of continuous build up in the MCU through films and TV have been leading to several major confrontations, The Infinity War is the most anticipated cinematic event in the MCU since The Avengers but for me it’s all about the street level heroes and Netflix has done an outstanding job so far of introducing each member of the Defenders to us since Daredevil season 1.
The series is probably impossible to follow without first having invested a good number of hours into watching the full 5 seasons of shows that the 4 heroes so far have too their names. Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are all great shows in their own right, with flaws of course, nothing is perfect, but The Defenders is as close as Netflix have yet to get in their Marvel shows.
Starting with a couple of episodes of their individual adventures, we get reintroduced to each character of importance in all the shows and slowly but with a decent amount of believability, they all come together. The pacing of the series is well done, with the buildup of tension and stakes taking place in the background for the first couple of episodes before things start to blow up in the faces of both sides of the fight.
Each cast member is fantastic, little needs to be said about them or the supporting cast since their ability is well established in the individual seasons of each hero. But someone new who shines brightly is Sigourney Weaver. Weaver plays the role of villain with a sense of poise and strength that few others could pull off with such a new character. While past villains in the Netflix Marvel shows have been excellent, David Tennant in Jessica Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil season 1, Mahershala Ali in Luke Cage and the recurring menace that is Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao, Weaver has been able to play a villain that to me was far more human because of her own story line than any of the others before her.
When it came to action, The Defenders do not disappoint. In each previous show leading up to this one, the action scenes have often been few and far between until the final battle of the last couple of episodes but The Defenders has a nice and large cast of super powered people in order to throw them into all sorts of situations they need to fight their way out of.
While some people may find the lack of character development and the increase in action to be a negative aspect of the show I think of it as a positive. I watched their developments and struggles in the previous shows. I watched the Defenders to see them team up and kick some ass. Not struggle with inner-demons. They can do that in their second seasons.
Overall, I enjoyed The Defenders. From the camera work to the acting and script. Almost every part of this show hit a positive note with me. I came to see a good action series with a bunch of awesome character I have spent two years getting to know, and that is exactly what I got.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_6J9BqgonU