"The Defenders" review

Dark Avengers time.

Uniting the heroes of the MCU’s 4 more adult oriented television shows to take down the ancient criminal organization known as The Hand, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones have to put aside their differences and to fight the threat looming over New York City while reconciling their own lives with their newfound status and sense of purpose granted to them by becoming heroes.

“The Defenders” has been billed as an “Avengers-esque” turning point for the MCU with regard to the scope of the television side of the franchise for obvious reasons.

As bizarre and difficult as I’d imagine it would be to do given the overall length of the series stretching into about 7 hours, I almost recommend watching the season in a single extended binging session as the pacing, story, and overall impact come across as something of a decompressed blockbuster movie.

All the things that would ordinarily be kept curt and tidy in favor of prioritizing precious screen time on a silver screen feature is stretched out to be explored in more depth than one would expect if the production was intended to be kept under 3 hours long and by no means is that a bad thing.

Much has been said about the allegedly slow pacing of the first half of the show but one of the major highlights of the series is the attention to detail paid towards replicating the unique styles of the world each of its primary stars inhabit. Sound design, camera work, editing and even the prevalent themes of the writing that characterize the previous shows is on full display as each perspective is followed, making it feel like not just a side story to their primary narratives but a fully fledged sequel season.

Matt Murdock struggles with returning to vigilante work after his irresponsible handling of secret keeping pushed away his loved ones similar to an addict fighting to kick a self destructive habit. Luke Cage, finally having his past fully squared away, tries to balance his new freedom between inspiring the community that he fought for and protected with the reality that he may occasionally have to get his hands dirty in the process.

Jessica Jones is forced to adapt to the feeling of success after having faced her personal demons head on and even Finn Jones manages a substantial improvement in portraying Danny Rand’s characterization, no doubt with the benefit of extra training and rehearsal time than was allotted for filming on “Iron Fist,” despite the character himself still clearly needing a lot of bugs ironed out in the writing room.

The buildup to the characters meeting and then subsequently having to work together creates a whirlwind of colliding and contrasting tones, production approaches and ideologies provide the best content that “The Defenders” has to offer.

The show isn’t just about characters meeting so much as it feels like entire worlds are coming together. The titular cast members bounce their differing personalities, histories and perspectives off of one another brilliantly and even their supporting casts intermingle in moments that make the setting itself feel more tangible than almost any individual MCU installment that has come before it.

Ultimately, “The Defenders” is smart enough to know that the thing its audience cares about above all else is the growth, trials and interactions of its heroes and it fortunately manages to put the best of its effort into those aspects specifically while featuring it front and center for a briskly paced and lean season of 8 episodes.

While the delivery on that front makes it a generally satisfying experience, the show unfortunately fall far short of greatness in key territories that will hopefully stay in the past of this franchise moving forward.

Leading the tip of “The Defenders’” spear of flaws dragging it down from the heights of previous seasons is The Hand themselves. I was forgiving of their previous appearances given their shroud of mystery in “Daredevil” and the overall state of “Iron Fist” being a garbage fire but at this point it’s undeniable that the central antagonizing force of the season that unites its heroes is a giant dud.

The grand revelation of exactly what their endgame is offers a glimpse of what the intention for them may have been that had potential but is flat out nonsensical in execution as their origin and motivations never actually explain their need to be so villainous or why New York City is at risk.

With so much focus, weight, and screen time given to them, their lack of a compelling narrative unfortunately robs the series of the gravitas that it so desperately hopes to achieve.

Sigourney Weaver does her damndest to bring a bit of class to the events but her performance is wasted on a character so underdeveloped that they’d have been better off shifting the focus to one of the members of the hand introduced in previous seasons and at this point it’s becoming embarrassingly evident that nobody knows what to do with Elektra. Without the few aspects that anchored her in “Daredevil,” her character becomes a glorified plot device, contributing primarily to a 3^rd act plot twist that basically clinches just how half baked these baddies really were.

The season is structurally sloppy in a lot of places but is generally saved by focus on its strengths and a shorter length that keep it from overstaying its welcome.

By the time “The Defenders” ended I was ecstatic to see what the follow up seasons of each hero, even “Iron Fist,” will bring. The final product is a fairly entertaining miniseries. Unfortunately, It’s just not a very polished one.

6 Fingers of The Hand out of 10