Picking up right after their solo adventures, Daredevil/Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones & Iron Fist/Danny Rand join forces to stop criminal organization, The Hand from achieving their goal, immortality. “The Defenders” mini-series officially streamed in 2017 (same year Dunkirk came out) on Netflix. It received mostly post reviews from critics, fans and streamers alike. Daredevil’s third season immediately continues the aftermath of the mini-series with The Man Without Fear squaring off with The Kingpin/Wilson Fisk.
Anyway, Daredevil: Born Again’s second season is now streaming on Disney Plus. Before I gets chance to watch Seasons 1-2 featuring one of my favorite Marvel superheroes, I wanna share my opinion on The Defenders if it’s on the same level as The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Today’s review contains SPOILERS.
Mighty & Weak Aspects
Mighty: Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter & Finn Jones reprise their roles and they all did a splendid job for their respective performances.
Supporting Cast from other solo TV shows reprise their role and they all did a decent job for their respective performances.
Action Sequences are solid.
Random Thought: I never got a chance to review Jessica Jones, Luke Cage & Iron Fist’s solo TV shows. The former two are equally great. The latter however, is straight up plain boring.
John Paesano (Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man, Invincible) orchestrated the soundtrack.
Chemistry between the main leads serve as the main highlight.
Opening Credits are pretty good.
Weak: Cinematography can be janky at times.
Unlike solo TV shows, this one has a total of 8 episodes instead of 13. Not enough material.
Sixth episode felt like a slap in the face. Scroll down the reason why I loathe it.
Last episode’s final battle lacks lighting. I couldn’t tell what the heck’s going on.
Episode 1 – The H Word
We get reintroductions of the four leads on what they’re doing in the aftermath of their conflicts prior to banding together.
Danny & Colleen hunt down members of The Hand.
Grieving over Elektra, Matt retires as Daredevil.
Luke’s released from prison. Returns to Harlem.
Jessica takes on a new case.
Elektra makes an unexpected return.
Episode 2 – Mean Right Hook
Misty Knight investigates a crime scene. Meanwhile, our heroes do their own investigation.
A legit fight scene between Luke & Danny.
Matt’s mentor, Stick is kidnapped.
Episode 3 – Worst Behavior
An awesome hallway fight scene. A callback to Matt’s similar scene from Season 1. I consider the third episode’s hallway fight scene as my favorite part.
A flashback reveal Elektra’s resurrected. However, she acts nothing like herself working for Alexandra as a living weapon.
Stick escapes, but at the cost of cutting one of his hands.
Matt said, “Who are you people?” A possible Patrick Star quote.
Episode 4 – Royal Dragon
Our heroes hide in a Chinese restaurant.
The Hand intends to destroy The Big Apple.
A funny moment with Danny eating a lot of Chinese food. He justifies the reason he eats is in fact charge of his chi. Kinda like Goku eating a truckload of food in order to replenish his stamina.
Episode 5 – Take Shelter
The four leads try to hide their friends and loved ones from The Hand.
Luke captures a member of The Hand. Matt interrogates the guy for important info on the organization’s grandmaster plan.
Matt finally dons his Daredevil suit. Character Development at its finest. Come out of retirement to confront The Hand & Elektra.
Episode 6 – Ashes, Ashes
Clear: Elektra murders Stick and kidnaps Danny.
Matt & Jessica learn The Hand’s HQ is located underneath a tall building.
Cluttered: Alexandra was done dirty. Elektra kills. This episode wasted a golden opportunity for the former to combat our heroes.
Episode 7 – Fish in the Jailhouse
After Stick’s death, our heroes are taken in police custody. With time running out, they flee the place so they find and rescue Danny.
Our heroes duke it out with thugs.
Turns out The Hand wants to use Danny’s power to to open some kind of door to achieve immortality. This is some “Kingdom Hearts” level of mysticism.
An awesome shot of the camera pulling back to a dragon skeleton before the End Credits.
Episode 8 – The Defenders
Defense: Our heroes make a dangerous decision. Plant a time bomb underneath The Hand’s base of operations.
Everybody (minus Matt & Elektra) escapes the area. The tall building and HQ goes kaboom. Afterwards, they go there separate ways
Matt tries to convince Elektra to give up her evil ways.
Matt recovering and waking up from his injuries in a church sets up Daredevil’s third season.
Offense: Again, the lack of lighting ruined the final battle.
The Final Verdict: C, FOR CLOGGED ARTERIES!
I can’t believe I’m saying this. Unlike The Avengers & Guardians of the Galaxy, The Defenders isn’t quite on the same level as them. This one felt underwhelming. I really wanted The Defenders to succeed. Sadly, it didn’t meet my expectations. Hopefully, a proper follow-up could happen if Daredevil and his allies reunite for a difficult mission. Only time will tell.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 