Something kept going through my head as I bogarted my way through The Defenders (2017) on Netflix over the past 20 some odd hours. Actually, a name. And that name was Sandy Frank. See, back in ye olden days Sandy Frank bought up a bunch of goofy Japanese TV shows, chopped them up, and then spliced some of the pieces together into a semi-coherent narrative and got them released on the matinee circuit or sold off to TV syndication domestically as a feature.
And perhaps heeding some advice from the masses, The Defenders was reduced to only eight episodes instead of the usual 13, and yet, it still felt like there was a lot of fat. I have no doubt that someone could take those eight episodes and make a pretty stellar 2 hour movie out of its parts like good old Sandy Frank and not really lose a thing. And perhaps in future team-up installments, Marvel and Netflix might be wise to just skip that and make the inevitable Defenders II an original stand alone movie.
Having said all of that, I did enjoy the series quite a bit despite the repetitiveness of it (-- this is not something to marathon, this is something that was designed more for episodic weekly consumption), and a climax that could be best described as kinda clumsy. Everyone acquits themselves -- even Danny Rand's perpetual petulant twerp act is growing on me; and nice to see all the second bananas pitch in; but once again Krysten Ritter is the standout and I really look forward to another season dedicated to Jessica Jones, followed closely by Charlie Cox's devil of Hell's Kitchen, which has me itching to revisit both their solo series. And, HOLY CRAP, Scott Glenn. Also, SLIGHT SPOILERS, was kinda hoping for at least a cameo by Frank Castle but, alas!
Beyond that, overall, pretty good. Could've been better. Could've been A LOT worse.
2 comments:
Let me know when Valkyrie joins the team.
She's finally showing up in the next Thor movie. Bout damned time. Not quite the classic Brunhillda but I'll take it.
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