It's unfortunate, but it felt like the writing was on the wall. Cottonmouth isn't Fisk. He's a lot more human and has a lot more flaws which would've ended him either by Shades or DiamondBack. Good thing he was ended by Black Mariah... I don't think I'd ever see that coming even if I were to rewatch this.
Pramit Bhowmick Eh. Kind of felt like the Wire in that sense where the villains are just drug dealers and the drug dealers's motivations play off one another.
GothaBillsAndDeath No, they're not just villains, they're actual villains. People like Black Mariah exist in real life, Diamondback was a bit over the top but It worked for this show. And you understand where Diamondback is coming from and why he wants to kill Luke so bad. Too many villains is a problem in a movie, but in a show with 13 episodes you get more time to flesh them out and give them enough screen time.
SPOILER WARNING!!!!! LEAVE NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHOW!!!!! I was so mad when they killed Cottonmouth. It felt like they were about to take his character even further, but then they just get rid of him. I just hope he comes back like he did in the comics.
I agree with this so much! but in a way, I kinda have to applaud the writers, directors, and actors, because the narrative still continued to stay and get more and more interesting in spite of losing such a complex, interesting character as Cottonmouth
I feel like these Marvel Netflix shows all suffer from the same issue. They try and fill out a full 13 episode season but the last 4 episodes feel really stretched out. Like they could just do it in 1 extra long episode but instead write it out in 4. It's annoying and only makes for a slow paced conclusion to fast paced shows.
yeah i agree with you its always those last few that feel like a chore but man was the first 10 episodes so good just from a character standing point which were all so compelling specially shades 😎
toro0695 maybe they can learn to make 13 work. It's always the last few episodes as you said. It can't be to difficult to find a way to make those work. Of you can make the first 10 good, can't be too hard to make the last 3 good either.
If the majority of viewers binge watch all 13 episodes as a single film, it can feel anticlimactic by a weak ending. On the plus side, as Struckmann said the characters are well developed so you care about them continuing to the next season.
I don't care what anyone says I FREAKIN LOVE Shades! He has powers through tech in the comics so I was waiting for him to flip out but he didn't and I still bought that he could
Michael Jazz lol honestly i loved killgrave, he was so charismatic and charming while also being just a deplorable person and i actually liked shades until i saw the final episode.............................................. cancdace was too cute to die
My only complaint with the show was the fight choreography could have been better. His powers were a little inconsistent at some parts but I get its hard to do on screen. Loved it though overall
I can kinda excuse the choreography. In pretty much all of the fight scenes Luke is holding back. Instead of punching, which would kill someone, he'll just slap or throw instead
Like...bushmaster who is similar to cage...but used a basic metal bat to beat on him with. I guess the writers forgot that objects he picks up aren't enhanced. Bushmaster swinjng the bat had an effect no different than any basic character swinging it
======Mild Spoilers====== I think that Diamond-Back was way more over the top than Cottonmouth. Cottonmouth was very grounded in reality and we got more of his back story from flashbacks, which was a nice touch :)
I agree about Diamondback. Luke Cage was going in the direction of a more realistic interpretation of a comic superhero, and then Diamondback went full comic bad guy at the end. They could have done a bit better job with Diamondback's uniform, because it looked more like he bought at a Salvation Army sale. Cottonmouth, as a bad guy, was well done. Too bad he got killed off too soon.
Jay Jinn Ye, I think they should have kept Cottonmouth a little longer, would have been interesting to see where his character could go :/ They probably killed him of to have a "big" twist.
All these people complaining and whining about the show and I'm here just happy that Luke Cage and Iron Fist are gonna be together on a live action TV show. I'm hyped!
You''re a special little snowflake aren't you? All these people blindly praising this series, fanboy-ing over it before it even comes out, and I'm here holding these shows to a higher standard.
Out of all the Netflix Marvel shows, I liked this one the least. [SPOILER ALERT] Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth was such a great villain, and they needlessly killed him. I guess that's what Chris is referring to when he mentions the "great twist" in the middle, but I felt it left the show directionless. Diamondback was supposed to be this big, looming menace in the background, but his introduction onto the screen feels very abrupt and underwhelming. And don't get me started on the climactic battle when everyone starts to chant "Luke! Luke! Luke!" That was just cheesy and poorly executed. I wanted this show to be great, but it never got better than "good". Here's hoping Iron Fist can top all the other shows we got so far.
they had no chemistry at all . claire role felt forced. i liked her in other shows but i could stand her and that stupid scientist guy in this show. they had all the good parts for cottonmouth i loved his character.. sad they abruptly ended his role like that. such a waste of talent.
redhidus And the reason she and Matt didn't work out was because she didn't like his vigilantism! Then she goes to another part of town to get in the business of nursing super heroes and gets with ANOTHER super hero!
i waited for the turning moment for cottonmouth, to make him somewhat close to how great kingpin was. he had the personality, he really could've been a great villian. but nope, he stayed pathetic till the end. a really missed opportunity if you ask me.
It happened a lot of time before in the MCU. For example: Odin's Father and Finn Cooley from Daredevil Season 2 are played by the same actor. The actor that played Daniel Sousa from Agent Carter made a cameo in The Avengers as a cop. Kenneth Choi, who played Jim Morita in CA: FA, will play Spider-Man's school director (altough i heard they'll say that this character is Morita's grandson).
Outside of The Captain America films by the Russo Brothers, the Netflix shows are the best superhero content hands down right now. Flash comes close and so do certain episodes of Gotham but not close enough. I wish they would give a bigger budget to whoever is running these shows because they are amazing...I mean Daredevil feels like its right off the page.
It has improved in consistency for sure. It's more comic booky but it doesn't try to take itself so seriously. Give it a try, and if the first few episodes don't work for you personally, then don't bother with the rest of it
+jeremy roberts i really like gotham even session one could never figure out why people don't like it. but session two is better than session one. but the CW is turning flash into a drama like they did arrow.
Gotham has gotten alot better, the Villains have improved dramatically despite the me hating them minimizing Falcone after Season 1. I would put it on par with Flash because there are def filler episodes and still some cheesyness left in the show but its way too fun not to watch at this point. The maniacs were lots of fun to watch and when they arent backtracking, Fish Mooney and The Penguin are great.
I would just start with Season 2 of Gotham and give it 3 or 4 episodes as a tryout. Also if you havent seen it Flash Seasons 1 and 2 are pretty awesome, Reverse Flash is a great villain and Zoom may be the best live action Villain outside of Heath Ledger when you take his whole ark into perspective. However the Netflix shows (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage) are still a step above these in my opinion because of their grounded, character driven narratives. I really like the girl who plays Supergirl and I used to love Arrow but those shows just dont have it sadly.
Diamondback was a complete joke, and cottonmouth was the most entertaining character in the show for me, so that pretty much tells you how I feel about the narrative. The last few episodes of the show were tainted because of Diamondback for me. I think I do need more action in my comic book adaptations as well. DD is great because you have deep characterizations and seemingly non stop bad ass action. Like every episode has an "oh shit" moment that makes you want to binge the next ep. Cage and Jones never had that for me, and it's why DD 1 & 2 are above LC and JJ. I still like them all, but DD takes the top spot so far. I am hoping there is a heroes for hire series though.
@@rickycollins7723 Cottonmouth wasnt a pawn. He handled the dark side and she handled the light side. One hand washed the other. It was perfect. The show is pretty dark and a tradegy.
Yeah, Shades has you believing Diamondback is this genius puppetmaster. Then you finally see him... and his big plan is to walk around punching cops yelling "I'M LUKE CAGE!" ... WTF?!?!
Sergio Garcia agree I'd rather they kept diamondback for season 2 and he actually was scary, his bible obsessed character was rather a disappointment after shades setup
And that's great! i'm glad you enjoyed it, i just had my expectations too high and it really wasn't the show for me, its the first time i had to force myself to finish a series.
Actually Daredevil felt more localized than Luke Cage. Sure they repeated "Harlem" every two seconds, but Luke isn't originally from there and neither is Diamondback. Luke's origin episode place in Seagate and there's a whole episode where he goes to Georgia or something. Hell's Kitchen while it seems bigger than Harlem, Daredevil's show and it's characters are more adhered to that area.
In Luke Cage the normal civilians were constantly interacted with which gives it a more localised feel than the others. It as if Harlem was it's own character living and breathing.
I *really* didn't like Misty's character in the show!! Sure the actress was good, and she said some cool stuff, But she didn't do anything impactful. For the first 5 or 6 episodes she didn't do or solve ANYTHING, and when she finally did something (catch Perez) then arrest Cottonmouth, he walks free a few hours later and Perez is never mentioned again! She's constantly talking about how she "sees everything", how she's a visualist, always praised by others as being the best and someone even says to her that she's too good for Harlem. Well, guess what?? She didn't see her long time partner being dirty, and almost didn't notice the second one. She never solved anything! Even when she was SO sure of Luke's innocence when he was framed, she immediately changes her opinion and tries to arrest him when she gets a call saying "they found a bloody glove at his place" which is the most obvious frame job, then easily loses her gun to a criminal and gets knocked out. After that she spends a whole episode(maybe two) talking about how terribly traumatized she was (even though she's been on the job for 15 YEARS). Then, she tells her captain that she'll bring in Luke because "she's someone he trusts"...... F*cking seriously??? She used him as a one night stand and lied to him about her job and TRIED TO ARREST HIM! Oh, can't forget she let a key witness die because she DROPPED HER PHONE!
Shijir D ikr. I thought she was going to end up being the love interest but she's not. When she gave those monologues in the last few episodes, it was so boring. Why did the show focus on her almost as much as Luke?
1drake1231 Gummi Bear Yes!! She was supposed to be the main female lead, but she never does anything "lead character" worthy. Clare's introduction to the show, where she chases and takes down a thief who stole her bag is more badass and memorable than anything Misty does.
I love Misty and I liked her in the show but you're so right I wish she could've done something more impactful like I was hoping maybe something would've happened to her arm just maybe.
mizzypink8 Yeah! A lot of people, including Chris, keep saying how much they liked her, but the only they're referring to is Simone Missick's acting, nothing else.
Galen Marek I felt like it drags for like the last few episodes. When the camera wasn't on Luke, it got so boring. It's just a bunch of conversations that don't matter
Marvel/Netflix TV Shows: 1 - Daredevil Season 1 (10/10) 2 - Daredevil Season 2 (9/10) 3 - Jessica Jones Season 1 (9/10) 4 - Luke Cage Season 1 (8.5/10) All are great, but Luke Cage, despite some really awesome moments and good villains (the last one with a really stupid suit of armor), has some flaws, especially in the last few episodes. While all the other Netflix shows were more consistent in quality.
Glad you talked about the music, Chris. That was one thing I loved too. I loved Cottonmouth. They did a lot in the first few episodes to really draw him up. That shot where they basically place the crown from the portrait on his head was beautifully done.
shady is the worst character. this guy is always around and never did anything. I just wish he went away. he is not being paid, so why are the bad guys letting him walk amongst them? he doesn't do shit for them. I thought he was going to run the club and did last long before diamond took over it. shade is a bitch
Shades would be excellent at CinemaSins. Shades: "You know, Cottonmouth, you could just sell the club to pay your debts and forget all about Luke Cage." Shades: "You know, Mariah, you could take over Cottonmouth's businesses and forget all about Luke Cage." Shades: "You know, Diamondback, you could just let the police arrest Cage for the murder you framed him for. You don't have to fight him hand to hand in the street and ruin your own plan. Forget about Luke Cage."
The first half of the show, episodes 2 through 7, were incredible. The second half, 8 through 13, were increasingly tough to get through. It was almost as if the writers just tossed all of the substance and interesting material from the first half out of the window and started spitballing ideas at the ceiling with a rolled-up peashooter...
Luke Cage was an absolutely amazing series *BUT* it feels like the 2nd half sof the show suffered from the same problem Daredevil Season 2 had; Over complicating by bringing unnecessary story arcs and characters. Netflix Marvel shows work best when it only have few characters to work with, which is what made King Pin and Killgrave so good and memorable. Cottonmouth was already turning in to a very multi dimensional and intimidating but also a _REAL_ and relatable character, and Diamondback himself would have worked as a mysterious shadow figure who orchestrates things behind the scene. They ruined both points by killing off Cottonmouth, and making Diamondback in to comical, one dimensional 'evil brother' cliche`. The whole series could have been perfect if Cottonmouth, Mariah and Shades were the villains and Diamondback was the 'Thanos'-like character hinted for the next season.
For killing of Cottonmouth, I think the creators were afraid he was going to turn into a 'Kingpin Vr. 2'. I'm not sure if I agree with that assessment, but I can see the similarities.
Villains make a show for me, Killgrave made that show. And he's THE best marvel villain to date. Second best is Kingpin, which is why it's second on my list.
+Amanda Reynolds-Gregg I thought Misty Knight was a nicely-layered character in the series excellently portrayed by Simone Missick. Her character made the story more complex. She was one of the my favorite characters in the series. I don't personally compare the Marvel series' to each other because I expect each show I watch to be different. I take each series for what it is on its own and the story it is trying to tell. To me, DD and JJ are two completely different types of stories and both great in their own rights. I enjoyed Luke Cage. I found it a refreshing departure from standard Marvel fare, it definitely had a more down to Earth flavor, which I appreciated. I thought the storyline went downhill after the death of Cottonmouth, but all in all, I still liked the series alot and l look forward to the second season.
I too would be incompetent enough to decline WB's offer if I was already "busy" with Marvel. Netflix has the same condition as I do, we are both allergic to money. What is next? Netflix is too busy for another Marvel series because they are working on Stranger Things? Please tell me you are just kidding, or maybe you are a delusional fanboy. That being said, I doubt WB would offer; otherwise, it would have already happened. No idea why they are so obsessed with the CW or whatever.
I had to force-binge it, like going to an all-you-can-eat restaurant with questionable food. Especially the last 6-7 episodes. It felt more like a chore than entertainment. And it never recovered from the peak of Cottonmouth.
It's definetely the weakest of the Netflix/Marvel shows so far. The good:great acting from M.Kolter,Mah.Ali and Al.Woodard,cool soundtrack,they tackled some social issues,like racism,police brutality etc. and I liked that they did their own thing,it's basically a gritty crime drama,with some 70's blacksploitation for good measure.I also loved all the references to other Marvel stuff and black culture and history. Sadly,it lacks in many areas.First,the producers ignored the rule of ''power balance''.When you have an all powerful hero,you need to put him/her against an equaly or even better,a more powerful antagonist,otherwise it gets boring.That's exactly what happened here,90% of the show,Luke has to deal with some common thugs,who oppose no thread to him.There's also almost no memorable action in it.You got the scene from the trailer,where Luke storms that community center,that Cottonmouth uses as his ''bank'' and the final beatdown with Diaondback,which was pretty corny,mainly due to that cheap battlesuit,that Diamondback wears,who looked straight out of ''Meteor Man''.That's pretty much there is,the rest is just Luke ocasionally bitchslapping some thugs .I wasn't expecting elaborate fights,like in DD but common man,that's Powerman here! -----SPOILER ALERT----- Killing off,Cottonmouth,in the middle of the season and replacing him with Diamondback,was a huge mistake.The guy was like a Sunday morning cartoon villain.Theo Rossi as Shades was also,corny as hell.Also,there are lots of plotholes and the story was really dragged out,8-10 episodes would have been better.But what really made me angry,was the ending.After all the shit that went down,Mariah and Shades get to walk free,while Luke gets shipped back to prison,only because Misty make a dumb mistake,that not even a rookie would make.I just wished,The Punisher would show up,clean house and give Luke and Misty his ''you're halfmeasures''-speech. I would give it a 6,5/10
Yeah I was thinking everytime that I see those two that Punisher will show up and kill everybody, actually, it wouldn't feel force beacuse if you watched daredevil you know that punisher was free and ready to kill some thugs.
One last thing,I forgot and bothered me,was Luke´s defeatist attitude."Oh,I never wanted superpowers,I just want to be left alone,I´m no hero" yadah yadah... In the comics,he´s a dynamic,guy,who enjoys having powers and doesn´t take shit from nobody.The comic Luke would have walked right into Cottonmouth´s club,tear the whole place down & beat the everliving shit out Cottonmouth and his entire gang.But then again,the show would be over in a couple of episodes.
doubleP I completely agree you hit it right on but I though Theo Rossi was good as shades they just didn't show enough of him or give him good enough scenes.
So, after nearing the last 3 episodes, here's my review so far: This show is bad. The writers of the show were so focused on the characters making tough speeches, they forgot to add depth and motivation to them. I still don't understand Luke Cage. Sometimes he goes out of his way to throw people around and other times he does nothing, or bails at the smallest hint of a challenge. Like when Cottonmouth found out who he was. We only really find out more about Cottonmouth in the same episode in which he's killed. By his cousin. The one that still doesn't have much depth, but a lot of tough speeches. The episodes before that barely spend any time on Cottonmouth's character. Instead we saw him overlooking his club, listening to music which took up way too much time and hear him laugh. A lot. Every single day someone in his club gets killed, there are shots, something gets broken, but somehow the people still go there. The people of Harlem are stupid. Criminals and police a like. We spend an exceptional amount of time with the dreadfully boring and judgmental hypocrite known as Misty Knight. A policewoman who knows it all by looking at pictures. Like Cottonmouth, she too spends most of her time in one place only. She stands in her office and looks at pictures of people. That's 90% of her screen time. She obsessed with Luke Cage and when other police start to focus on Luke Cage, she says that the focus should be on someone else. Lady, you spend the majority of the season chasing a vigilante who did good, while the city was sucked dry by Cottonmouth. You never found out who killed Pops. She usually also always shows up where she should be, asking questions that she couldn't know, because ... well how would she? Where and when exactly did she find out that the top crime bosses disappeared? Did she ask her photographs? While on the subject of plot holes and oddities, here are a few: In one scene Cottonmouth argues with his Cousin that money is more important than respect. Then why didn't he sell the club when he needed the money? Why did he rob rich people? His people didn't wear any masks. You can't do that without consequences. No one was put in jail for that. What is the police doing? The traitorous Hispanic police officer was never mentioned again after Misty arrested him. Why didn't Luke Cage just give the girl her ring back? Why did he have to awkwardly include it in his underwhelming speech? Mariah Dillard's solution to police violence is to motivate them to buy more brutal weapons and Harlem agrees. Why does anyone listen to her when she calls for a meeting of the gang bosses? How is she making demands and why is the Hispanic gangster even listening to her in the first place? Why is no one just rolling over her territory the moment they heard that Cottonmouth is dead? Why does Shades even care for any of those fools? Why not just take the club for himself? Why didn't Misty tell anyone that facial recognition identified Striker as her attacker? This is the guy who attacked a police officer. Kind of important, don't you think? Why didn't Luke punch Cottonmouth in the face when he just fought his henchmen in his club? This guy is responsible for Pop's death. Why does Luke believe Cottonmouth that he wasn't responsible for Pop's death? And if he didn't, why didn't he punch him in the face? Why not punch Shades as well? The fights are exceptionally boring. Stop throwing people and start throwing punches. WHY IS MISTY STILL AFTER LUKE CAGE, EVEN THOUGH SHE FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD AN ALIBI!? WHY IS SHE NOT INFORMING ANYONE?! All in all: A waste of potential. I recommend the writers sit down and understand the meaning of the words "Show, don't tell."
"as the people of Harlem clearly don't want a criminal to represent this cause" Do they? So why are they on the side of the one woman who works with her criminal cousin? They all know the facts. They know Cottonmouth stored all that money in her office. Harlem doesn't care. "hey, that Carl Lucas guy survived and is a superhero now! Why don't we try to continue the experiments and replicate this success." That's an assumption more than anything else. Also, before the episode with the Doc, we never see any glimpse of Luke even caring about that. He just didn't want to go back to prison. "the overall personality and world views of the character are blatantly clear at this point." It's clear, but it's shallow and ultimately pointless to spend so much time on this character, when all he is just another boring gangster. Kingpin had depth. "covered up in such a way that anyone who may have witnessed it would be dead anyway." Assumption. He threw a guy off a roof. A car was destroyed. People could've witnessed that. The owner of the car could've asked why his car was smashed. You can't hide that. Who is supposed to hide that? Zip? All of Cottonmouth's Crew has shown to be stupid as hell. When Kingpin killed people, it was actually in secret. In locations no one could see you. We had several situations in which people were shot and/or killed when the club wasn't open. BUT YOU CAN HEAR THAT SHIT. His Walls are not sound-proof. No mention the fact that Cottonmouth shot a police officer in broad daylight. "Have you ever heard of a thing called a missing person report?" Again, assumptions. Instead of wasting the viewers time by showing her look at walls, the series could've spend at least a second showing how she gathered the info. But we never really see any of that. She's supposed to be the smart one. But we never see her do smart things. It's the best example of how not to write. You show, you don't tell. All this show does, is tell. "After all, he's witnessed and been a part of several horrific murders in the vein of protecting the club and it's business." Exactly and he hated it. We know that much from the episode in which he was killed. So why keep it? The only reason I see is the music, but he can do that somewhere else. "Did you miss all the times that Cottonmouth said that he has half the police on payroll" AGAIN; SHOW DON'T TELL. What the fuck is it with you people? Are you just happy with a tv series telling you shit, instead of showing it? We only saw two police officers doing corrupt shit. One of which had no motivation at all to be corrupt. We never saw the police do anything else that would imply that they work for Cottonmouth. Are you just going to eat everything up that the show tells you? "but he sends a message to Luke Cage saying that any more attempts to put his business down could have repercussions on the people he cares about." Well that didn't work out, did it? He took that money back in a heartbeat. So no repercussions for the people. Cottonmouth knows that he can't shoot Cage, but he still tried again and again. His Cousin was smart enough to ask him if he can be drowned, or poisoned, but does the show do something with that? No. The best villains are the ones that attack the biggest weaknesses of a hero. Luke Cage can't be shot, so naturally a smart guy like Cottonmouth will continue to shoot him. Take the Joker for example. In Dark Knight it was not about killing, or even beating Batman. It was about the Soul of Gotham. The Joker would've won if one of the boats were to blow up. Because it would show Batman and the rest of the world that Gotham is not worth saving. Batman would still be alive, but the Joker would've won. Luke Cage doesn't even attempt to try something like this. The producer of this show compared it to the Wire. This is the biggest blasphemous statement I've ever read. It's a series for dumb people.
I loved the cinematography in this show. A lot of the colors were yellow and green. Whether it was on a stained glass window, or the walls, there were always colors in the shots that reflected LUKE cage's traditional costume colors.
I thought it was alright. Not as good as a lot of people are hyping it up to be - but also not horrible. I liked it more than Jessica Jones, not as much as Daredevil. The fight scenes fell a little flat, except for a couple. Most of all - I thought the show could have been done in about 9 episodes. It felt really dragged out in certain parts.
This might not be the best Netflix MCU series, but it is one of the most needed. With all the shit happening with police shooting African Americans, a character whos a bulletproof African American is very much interesting. I think the directors did a great job with making sure that this problem is properly addressed. I know some white bigots r gonna hate this comment, but the metaphors and symbolism are astounding, seriously artistic and outstanding. A genuinely good piece of art.
Im half way through the series. Im a bit disappointed with the villain (granted he's played very well) but he's a far cry from Kingpin and especially Kilgrave
Marvel = DC with most comics. Dc > marvel with the BEST stories each of them have. Cough cough watchmen. Marvel > DC in movies. Marvel > DC in lowkey comic book stories. DC > marvel with LARGE SCALE comic book stories. Make sense?
I love your Shades impression XD Also, with the amount of times a lawyer was mentioned, I would have loved there to have been a cameo for Matt Murdoch at the end...
i love how MCU is referencing the movies in there shows to keep it all tied together. like i love how they referenced hammer weapons. we havnt heard about hammer in a movie in forever.
My review: Better than Jessica Jones (8/10), not as good as Daredevil (9.5/10). So yeah, I would say a 9/10. Loved it, the cast is great, story is great and the soundtrack is amazing! :)
Daredevil season 1: Bad ass and awesome Jessica Jones: Cool Daredevil season 2: Not as bad ass as season 1 but cool too. Luke Cage: kinda cool but awesome in the same time.
nabhan qureshi Yeah, for only four episodes and the final moment with the drug dealer(forgot his name, he's the former military officer) and the final episode moment. The rest were all law and order which I never found interesting in my opinion.
Glad you enjoyed the show! As someone who lives in Tennessee, if you're near Knoxville, check out the Pinnacle theater. Great IMAX screens there. The independent theater there I used to work in if you want to see something more original. Enjoy your time in Tennessee, Chris!
Spaatacus it's supposed to be a lil silly not every show needs to be like dd and have sympathetic villains. DB was great for for his role really simply because he was out of his mind
I liked DareDevil season 1 mainly because Wilson Fisk was so great. Jessica Jones had me interested enough to see it through even tho I think I fell asleep a bunch near the end and never went back to see what I missed... Luke Cage just Sucked, everything about it was very corny or unsatisfying. Lost interest completely and couldnt care less how the story plays out.
had the same problem with it tbh...i loved daredevil and really really enjoyed JJ, but this show was just kinda ok in my opinion, still watched all 13 episodes, but im kinda happy that its over :/
Yeah, I kinda feel that it was 'ok' I honestly wasn't into the Harlem Gansta cliche and that didn't appeal to me from the start. As for the vilains... Meh. Cottonmouth was a fairly weak vilain if you compare him to Kingpin and even Killgrave. 1) he did not have Pin's range of financial and man power control 2) No scary super powers like Grave At the end of the day, just a regular thug and owner of a night club. As for shades... He was not to bad. Overall, very average show. I enjoyed it for what it is, but would not watch it a second time and I can't say that It got me pumped for a season 2.
I'm noticing a pattern with the Marvel Netflix shows, which I'm really hoping they will break by the time Defenders comes along: the endings to the seasons tend to be underwhelming. I haven't yet finished Luke Cage, but in terms of the others: Daredevil season 1 probably had the best ending of the bunch, but even that had some mildly bizarre choices thrown in here and there, almost like they had to rush it a bit. Jessica Jones' ending made sense, but the final conflict was really predictable and not as satisfying as it could have been. Daredevil season 2's ending was really questionable in spots and easily the weakest. I hope Luke Cage's ending at least tops that.
***** I liked it because it left us in such a bad place. I wanted Luke to hook up with Claire. I wanted Diamondback to be crippled. Still, I'll take what we got.
Thanks for another great review, Chris. Your points are always well thought out and exceptionally helpful in my decision on whether I want to spend my time and money watching something. Your channel is my go to review site before any other.
Thank you for your review Chris Stuckmann. I pretty much concur with everything you said. One point that bears emphasizing is the fact that the Luke Cage pilot episode was more of a slow build in terms of a careful examination of the emotional backdrop to the emergence of the Luke Cage character. I appreciated it though, because as you pointed out, the show's focus is more on emotional aspects of Cage's persona than his superhuman abilities.
My wife said people were complaint that it's to black???? I'm not really sure WTF kinda of trolls are out there but really? Im assuming it's people not familiar with the comics. It's almost 2017 right? Was wondering if this is true?
Honestly I thought Diamondback was every bit as intimidating as Cottenmouth, at least right up to that ridiculous fight at the end. I thought the showdown between him and Luke in the theatre would have been a much better end to the series.
I don't know. What you considered over-the-top acting from Theo Rossi, I considered a quietly powerful performance of a calm and measured character. I couldn't help but like and root for him, pulling the strings whilst willingly remaining a supporting figure.
Gotta disagree with you Chris. I was super disappointed with Luke Cage. The acting was mostly sub-par and dry. The cinematography was either very poor, or super ham fisted (Cottonmouth crown shot). The choreography was hilariously bad at times, it all felt so stiff and wooden. One of my biggest problems was how characters reacted to things. Only way I can describe it is by saying it reminded me of a Bethesda game (Fallout/Elder Scrolls) when characters would react to seeing crazy stuff happen and just blow it off. "Oh you just stopped bullets with your chest? Meh." Overall, I'd have given it a C+ at best. It's the only Netflix original that I couldn't binge watch. I had to force myself to keep watching after episode 4 and I still only made it through 2 more episodes.
***** Yeah, sure, the Avengers. But Luke Cage isn't an Avenger. He appears to be a normal dude to the people in the TV show. They even keep it a secret for him. People should still be shocked when things happen that are extraordinary.
Some people had problem with a lack of positive Caucasian roles in the show. They have to remember, they are not watching Captain America, they are not watching the Falcon- even if they give Falcon the Shield- that is not the correct analogy. Frankly, they should ask themselves why there are no white people in a Kung-Fu movie set in Tokyo, Japan!
I don’t care about the race or gender of a character as long as it’s well written. But there are obviously more white people in the largest American city than the Japanese capital.
Jessica jones had trish...... she was fine, luke cage had misty.................However the luke cage was portrayed better as a non hero better than Jessica. for sure and not holding back luke cage is my favorite Netflix hero hands down. sorry daredevil get a vibranium suit
Luke cage is basically a good dude who just keeps getting shit on. He's already a hero. Jessica Jones is a way more broken character, and a lot more complex and interesting imo. It helps to have a well defined antagonist which both Daredevil and Jessica Jones had for their first seasons. Luke's main antagonist is the system by and large and while interesting it takes the air out of the sails from a narrative stand point.
no your not only one but I like diamondback or the dude that played diamondback for me when diamondback came on the show that's when the action picks up I luv his shit talking although his situation was petty
***** I agree man. His motivations were weak, his backstory didn't have much substance, his mother was reduced to whore, and there was no redeeming quality about him. I liked the idea of Mariah going crazy due to the reemergence of her past and the extra push from Cottonmouth but I would have rather them fleshed that out more and left Cottonmouth severely wounded and not dead. That time in the show would've been great time to reintroduce Fisk in someway and use Harlem as the jumping off platform for him to regain control of New York. The show could've ended the same exact way (with Cage going to jail and criminals getting away) and I think everyone would've been happy.
I was really disapointed in it. Shades was the best villian, Misty was the best character, Dimondback was bad, and Mariah Dillard was well writen but had a TERRIBLE performance. Why get an actress from another marvel property (she played the mother of Charlie in Cilvil War) when she is a terrible actress. Cottonmouth was the opiste. Great performance, poor writing. The whole thing with him being a musical prodigy was done so poorly. He was playing basic shit. I'm a musican, and acting like he's great is a lie. He's mediocre at best. But the middle made me want to stick my dick in a toaster. I felt like I didn't understand Luke Cage for multiple episodes. I almost forgot to mention how terribe Dimondback was. He had NO motivation. He was mad because Luke was his brother? And I know he wanted to sell judas bullets, but come on. He was way too over the top for me. 1. Daredevil Season 1 10/10 2. Daredevil Season 2 8/10 3. Jessica Jones 9/10 (I know it was better than season 2 of daredevil, but I'm a daredevil fan boy.) 4. Luke Cage 6/10 First Netflix show that isn't as good as the Flash or Arrow (before season 4)
How was she terrible? She portrayed the average politician, who when confronted with shady shit, lies, manipulates, and does whatever they can to avoid losing favor with the people. As for his musical talent, it's pretty fucked up that you use his skill against his character. I can honestly see him not having time, or losing touch with his music because of what he had to do when running the streets. Like he said, he could have went to schools to better improve his skill, but he didn't have the option. Diamondback hates Luke because for 2 years, Diamondback had a father. When Luke was born, that all went away, and he had no father, only by name. He hates Luke because Luke was what he couldn't be. Even after all the events he set in place to fuck Luke over, Luke still came out on top, even gaining superpowers. I would be pretty fucking angry over failing to get revenge on someone.
Wallace Bogan like I said, the character was well written, but the performance was poor. It was laughable at times. And a music prodigy is far different from normal people. Buddy Rich was making money as a musician for his family at like 3. Prodigies have something more. And I don't remember anything from when I was 2, do you? I lived in Cuba when I was 2, some pretty big shit went down when I was 2. Only reason I know it happens is because my family told me. He was just so over the top that I couldn't sympathize with him. If they had more flashbacks to when they were teenagers, or even kids, it would've made it SOOOOOOO much better. That's another problem I had, there wasn't enough background to some of the characters. Mariah and Cottonmouth got that, Misty had a past that she discussed after Pops died. Luke didn't have that. I felt like I didn't understand the character for a long time.
I'm only up to episode 4, but so far I've been very bored. Dare Devil season 2 was a pretty mixed bag for me too, but it was able to get my interest in the first few episode. I'm still waiting for something to happen in this show that can make me want to watch more. I think one of the biggest problems for me is that this shows strong points you pointed out are the things I dislike the most. For me there is too much drama and corny over the top characters, I hate jazz, and the action has been super sparse and pretty dull so far. There are also no characters I care about. This is something that hurt Dare Devil in my eyes. I felt like every time Dare Devil wasn't being Dare Devil the show would grind to a halt, especially with Karen and Elektra. I'll give the show another episode or 2, but if it doesn't pick up then I have to move on. I have too little time and too many other things I'd rather try than forcing myself to endure a weak show. On the other hand, West World is every bit as fantastic as I was hoping from episode 1. I'm super pumped for more of that.
i agree (except for the jazz part) but it doesnt get much better, so you probably should move on...im waiting till every episode of westworld is released to binge watch this show :D
They are all Gritty in my opinion. Daredevil is Action/Adventure. Jessica Jones is a Psychological-Thriller. Luke Cage is a Urban/Crime-Thriller. Personally enjoyed Daredevil more especially Season 2, then Jessica Jones really brought a more darker demented touch to the MCU and Luke Cage gave us that Fight-For-Your-Community aspect.
Can we talk about Luke Cage's hook up record? He's on a pretty good streak at the moment.
Kasino80 yeah with daredevil's ex, iron fist's future girlfriend and Jessica jones, and all characters will probably be in the defenders ;)
Yep; all three are going to be in The Defenders. So excited to be a Marvel fan right now :)
+Skyebright1 iron fists future girlfriend???
Gerald Boulin Misty Knight
+Skyebright1 daredevil's ex? which one?
The funniest thing about this show is when the guy at the end calls Diamondback a Pimp Storm Trooper. LOL
Battle Rifle no I'm the Angel of death!
That line was epic.
The fact that his amazingly ugly costume was made by Hammer Industries just made it funnier.
that was fucking hilarious
If he was a Stormtrooper, he'd be the best. He wouldn't need a gun...
On a non related matter, have you watched the movie Kimi no na wa?
Spoilers!
It kinda sucks that they killed Cottonmouth, he was such a good character. And a great bad guy.
It's unfortunate, but it felt like the writing was on the wall. Cottonmouth isn't Fisk. He's a lot more human and has a lot more flaws which would've ended him either by Shades or DiamondBack. Good thing he was ended by Black Mariah... I don't think I'd ever see that coming even if I were to rewatch this.
I didn't see that coming at all...but I gotta admit this season is a lot about villains. Too much things were going on in between them.
Pramit Bhowmick Eh. Kind of felt like the Wire in that sense where the villains are just drug dealers and the drug dealers's motivations play off one another.
GothaBillsAndDeath No, they're not just villains, they're actual villains. People like Black Mariah exist in real life, Diamondback was a bit over the top but It worked for this show. And you understand where Diamondback is coming from and why he wants to kill Luke so bad. Too many villains is a problem in a movie, but in a show with 13 episodes you get more time to flesh them out and give them enough screen time.
Yeah they killed him off way too early. He was good. Diamondback was alright too though just not as good as cottonmouth.
Stryker had to be the funniest nigga ever lmao. If you get most of his references, he'll have you dying..
swear, especially those bible scriptures when he quoted them at the right time
or when he actually said "bye falecia" lmao
He also ruined the lat like 7 episodes from the show. With being so extra.
Henry truuue
When he said bye felicia i laughed out loud, love when serious shows have good humor
SPOILER WARNING!!!!! LEAVE NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHOW!!!!!
I was so mad when they killed Cottonmouth. It felt like they were about to take his character even further, but then they just get rid of him. I just hope he comes back like he did in the comics.
***** Deadass bro. It felt like they were really about to take him somewhere.
I agree with you so much on this. Just when I thought Cottonmouth was gonna literally rain Hell on Luke they killed him off kmt.
truuust me it pissed me off.
I agree with this so much! but in a way, I kinda have to applaud the writers, directors, and actors, because the narrative still continued to stay and get more and more interesting in spite of losing such a complex, interesting character as Cottonmouth
He was a lot more interesting than Diamondback.
I feel like these Marvel Netflix shows all suffer from the same issue. They try and fill out a full 13 episode season but the last 4 episodes feel really stretched out. Like they could just do it in 1 extra long episode but instead write it out in 4. It's annoying and only makes for a slow paced conclusion to fast paced shows.
They should lower the episodes to 10. Maybe 8. Defenders is gonna be only 8 episodes like Stranger Things.
yeah i agree with you its always those last few that feel like a chore but man was the first 10 episodes so good just from a character standing point which were all so compelling specially shades 😎
toro0695 maybe they can learn to make 13 work. It's always the last few episodes as you said. It can't be to difficult to find a way to make those work. Of you can make the first 10 good, can't be too hard to make the last 3 good either.
If the majority of viewers binge watch all 13 episodes as a single film, it can feel anticlimactic by a weak ending. On the plus side, as Struckmann said the characters are well developed so you care about them continuing to the next season.
I think Daredevil season 1 didn't have that problem but beyond that I agree with you
I LOVED this show, honest to god. The song "Bulletproof Love" that was sung by Method Man? PERFECTION!
Out of all the great ones in this series, that song was probably my favorite. I wouldn't have minded if it was the opening.
It needs to be the opening for season 2
Yes that song and the song in the pilot episode when the guy sang angle while the heist was going on.
Sung Ra Good idea! :)
Yess
I don't care what anyone says I FREAKIN LOVE Shades! He has powers through tech in the comics so I was waiting for him to flip out but he didn't and I still bought that he could
Michael Jazz agree I hope he gets his visor that shoots beams later on, Shades was really cool ;)
I wouldn't be surprised if it's Hammer tech in the series.
What were his tech powers? sounds really interesting
i want to kill shades, if i ever meet the guy who plays him i might just "accidentally" punch him
Michael Jazz lol honestly i loved killgrave, he was so charismatic and charming while also being just a deplorable person
and i actually liked shades until i saw the final episode.............................................. cancdace was too cute to die
My only complaint with the show was the fight choreography could have been better. His powers were a little inconsistent at some parts but I get its hard to do on screen. Loved it though overall
what im wondering is does the cop have some kind of power?
I can kinda excuse the choreography. In pretty much all of the fight scenes Luke is holding back. Instead of punching, which would kill someone, he'll just slap or throw instead
Like...bushmaster who is similar to cage...but used a basic metal bat to beat on him with. I guess the writers forgot that objects he picks up aren't enhanced. Bushmaster swinjng the bat had an effect no different than any basic character swinging it
Music was the best on this show. Diamond Back was over the top and cartoonish and I think they focused to much on Misty. Besides that it was awesome
======Mild Spoilers======
I think that Diamond-Back was way more over the top than Cottonmouth. Cottonmouth was very grounded in reality and we got more of his back story from flashbacks, which was a nice touch :)
I agree about Diamondback. Luke Cage was going in the direction of a more realistic interpretation of a comic superhero, and then Diamondback went full comic bad guy at the end. They could have done a bit better job with Diamondback's uniform, because it looked more like he bought at a Salvation Army sale.
Cottonmouth, as a bad guy, was well done. Too bad he got killed off too soon.
Jay Jinn
Ye, I think they should have kept Cottonmouth a little longer, would have been interesting to see where his character could go :/ They probably killed him of to have a "big" twist.
All these people complaining and whining about the show and I'm here just happy that Luke Cage and Iron Fist are gonna be together on a live action TV show. I'm hyped!
You''re a special little snowflake aren't you?
All these people blindly praising this series, fanboy-ing over it before it even comes out, and I'm here holding these shows to a higher standard.
Yeah, you said it King! Why do all the white guys have to be bad!! :(
Lets put an end to this perpetuation! ;)
Shijir D, I'm in the same boat....
You are going to have to wait another year for that to happen in defenders
821lancevance we finally get a great black hero on screen and I am happy. End of story.
Out of all the Netflix Marvel shows, I liked this one the least. [SPOILER ALERT] Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth was such a great villain, and they needlessly killed him. I guess that's what Chris is referring to when he mentions the "great twist" in the middle, but I felt it left the show directionless. Diamondback was supposed to be this big, looming menace in the background, but his introduction onto the screen feels very abrupt and underwhelming.
And don't get me started on the climactic battle when everyone starts to chant "Luke! Luke! Luke!" That was just cheesy and poorly executed. I wanted this show to be great, but it never got better than "good". Here's hoping Iron Fist can top all the other shows we got so far.
Don't forget, before the chanting Clare says to him: Remember who you are!!
I was like: WHAT KIND OF CHEESY DISNEY SHIT DID THIS TURN IN TO?
they had no chemistry at all . claire role felt forced. i liked her in other shows but i could stand her and that stupid scientist guy in this show. they had all the good parts for cottonmouth i loved his character.. sad they abruptly ended his role like that. such a waste of talent.
redhidus And the reason she and Matt didn't work out was because she didn't like his vigilantism!
Then she goes to another part of town to get in the business of nursing super heroes and gets with ANOTHER super hero!
i waited for the turning moment for cottonmouth, to make him somewhat close to how great kingpin was. he had the personality, he really could've been a great villian. but nope, he stayed pathetic till the end. a really missed opportunity if you ask me.
Agreed. What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck?
Finally someone pointing out the actress is also in Civil War. Kind of annoying but she's great so who cares.
I like to think of them as 2 separate characters just with similar faces.
Yeah it doesn't really matter but it did kinda weird me out at first watching Luke Cage
MusgoHBA Me too, I was like *haven't I seen you somewhere before?* then I realised she was the woman that lost her son in civil war.
It happened a lot of time before in the MCU.
For example: Odin's Father and Finn Cooley from Daredevil Season 2 are played by the same actor.
The actor that played Daniel Sousa from Agent Carter made a cameo in The Avengers as a cop.
Kenneth Choi, who played Jim Morita in CA: FA, will play Spider-Man's school director (altough i heard they'll say that this character is Morita's grandson).
Sadly, you're right. The chances of a crossover look pretty slim.
Outside of The Captain America films by the Russo Brothers, the Netflix shows are the best superhero content hands down right now. Flash comes close and so do certain episodes of Gotham but not close enough. I wish they would give a bigger budget to whoever is running these shows because they are amazing...I mean Daredevil feels like its right off the page.
has gotham improved at all? I watched the first season but I fell off after that cus it felt way too cheesy to me at times
It has improved in consistency for sure. It's more comic booky but it doesn't try to take itself so seriously. Give it a try, and if the first few episodes don't work for you personally, then don't bother with the rest of it
+jeremy roberts i really like gotham even session one could never figure out why people don't like it. but session two is better than session one. but the CW is turning flash into a drama like they did arrow.
Gotham has gotten alot better, the Villains have improved dramatically despite the me hating them minimizing Falcone after Season 1. I would put it on par with Flash because there are def filler episodes and still some cheesyness left in the show but its way too fun not to watch at this point. The maniacs were lots of fun to watch and when they arent backtracking, Fish Mooney and The Penguin are great.
I would just start with Season 2 of Gotham and give it 3 or 4 episodes as a tryout. Also if you havent seen it Flash Seasons 1 and 2 are pretty awesome, Reverse Flash is a great villain and Zoom may be the best live action Villain outside of Heath Ledger when you take his whole ark into perspective. However the Netflix shows (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage) are still a step above these in my opinion because of their grounded, character driven narratives. I really like the girl who plays Supergirl and I used to love Arrow but those shows just dont have it sadly.
Diamondback was a complete joke, and cottonmouth was the most entertaining character in the show for me, so that pretty much tells you how I feel about the narrative. The last few episodes of the show were tainted because of Diamondback for me. I think I do need more action in my comic book adaptations as well. DD is great because you have deep characterizations and seemingly non stop bad ass action. Like every episode has an "oh shit" moment that makes you want to binge the next ep. Cage and Jones never had that for me, and it's why DD 1 & 2 are above LC and JJ.
I still like them all, but DD takes the top spot so far. I am hoping there is a heroes for hire series though.
Agreed... wish they would have formed the first season around Cottonmouth vs Luke Cage.
Avocado I was just thinking the whole time, just fucking punch him, Luke coulda just one punched his ass
@@rickycollins7723 Cottonmouth wasnt a pawn. He handled the dark side and she handled the light side. One hand washed the other. It was perfect. The show is pretty dark and a tradegy.
"What are you? some kinda Pimp Stormtrooper?"
Luke Duke no I'm the Angel of death ;)
After episode 7 the show went from "amazeballs" to "I' guess this is ok". Really, why no one told Diamondback to turn it down a notch is beyond me.
diamond back was shit
Yeah, Shades has you believing Diamondback is this genius puppetmaster. Then you finally see him... and his big plan is to walk around punching cops yelling "I'M LUKE CAGE!" ... WTF?!?!
Sergio Garcia I guess shades tried and got ignored
Sergio Garcia agree I'd rather they kept diamondback for season 2 and he actually was scary, his bible obsessed character was rather a disappointment after shades setup
LOLOLOL!!!!! i was thinking the same thing!
NEVER CLICKED ON A NOTIFICATION SO FAST
Dude please...
Sorry what?
me too
Zyker ***** It was because I had been waiting for a Luke Cage review from Chris all weekend and now it's Tuesday night where I am so I was excited.
lol
Wouldve been better if they saved Diamondback for season 2 instead of just killing off Cottomouth therefore pulling a Mandarin on us.
I Didn't hate Luke Cage, but i definitely thought Jessica Jones and Dare Devil were a lot better.
luke cage is better
And that's great! i'm glad you enjoyed it, i just had my expectations too high and it really wasn't the show for me, its the first time i had to force myself to finish a series.
I didn’t like Jessica Jones and daredevil was quite boring for me
I really loved the localised vibe of the show, and the music was great too. Looking forward to the Halloween Special.
Actually Daredevil felt more localized than Luke Cage. Sure they repeated "Harlem" every two seconds, but Luke isn't originally from there and neither is Diamondback.
Luke's origin episode place in Seagate and there's a whole episode where he goes to Georgia or something.
Hell's Kitchen while it seems bigger than Harlem, Daredevil's show and it's characters are more adhered to that area.
In Luke Cage the normal civilians were constantly interacted with which gives it a more localised feel than the others. It as if Harlem was it's own character living and breathing.
Am I the only one who thought that this was a better Superman and Lex Luthor story than the one we got recently in theaters?
justin riley agree
all the way agree
Indeed.
Absolutely. I was thinking the same thing watching this.
Yep, thought that exact thing watching it. Luke was a much better "Man of Steel."
I *really* didn't like Misty's character in the show!! Sure the actress was good, and she said some cool stuff, But she didn't do anything impactful.
For the first 5 or 6 episodes she didn't do or solve ANYTHING, and when she finally did something (catch Perez) then arrest Cottonmouth, he walks free a few hours later and Perez is never mentioned again!
She's constantly talking about how she "sees everything", how she's a visualist, always praised by others as being the best and someone even says to her that she's too good for Harlem.
Well, guess what?? She didn't see her long time partner being dirty, and almost didn't notice the second one. She never solved anything! Even when she was SO sure of Luke's innocence when he was framed, she immediately changes her opinion and tries to arrest him when she gets a call saying "they found a bloody glove at his place" which is the most obvious frame job, then easily loses her gun to a criminal and gets knocked out. After that she spends a whole episode(maybe two) talking about how terribly traumatized she was (even though she's been on the job for 15 YEARS).
Then, she tells her captain that she'll bring in Luke because "she's someone he trusts"...... F*cking seriously??? She used him as a one night stand and lied to him about her job and TRIED TO ARREST HIM!
Oh, can't forget she let a key witness die because she DROPPED HER PHONE!
Yep, hated the character and hated how much they stuck with her and "tried" to build her. She never did anything that made her useful.
Shijir D ikr. I thought she was going to end up being the love interest but she's not. When she gave those monologues in the last few episodes, it was so boring. Why did the show focus on her almost as much as Luke?
1drake1231 Gummi Bear Yes!! She was supposed to be the main female lead, but she never does anything "lead character" worthy.
Clare's introduction to the show, where she chases and takes down a thief who stole her bag is more badass and memorable than anything Misty does.
I love Misty and I liked her in the show but you're so right I wish she could've done something more impactful like I was hoping maybe something would've happened to her arm just maybe.
mizzypink8 Yeah! A lot of people, including Chris, keep saying how much they liked her, but the only they're referring to is Simone Missick's acting, nothing else.
Theo Rossi was awesome and the heart of Sons of Anarchy too
* awesome in
Hey Chris, they're also doing a Punisher show that's filming right now
Old news
+gtactwit it filming right now is new news
+gtactwit *New News.
+gtactwit new news
Yeah but what the hell kinda news is that. We knew it was coming, and now it's just we know they're busy making it come.
Who thinks The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow would all do better as netflix shows?
if only dc didnt do them in a seprate universe
I don't get it why would be a better idea to put the series in the same universe?
DC shows are lame, too much dimensions. really confuse for those not into comic
Lay Jeno Yeah if only they could apply those dimensions to their characters......
CW shows are lame. Please don't disrespect Gotham.
Least favourite Netflix MCU Season thus far.
agree, but it's still great imo
Galen Marek I felt like it drags for like the last few episodes. When the camera wasn't on Luke, it got so boring. It's just a bunch of conversations that don't matter
Yep I agree. Jessica Jones is my favorite so far
DD S1 9/10
JJ S1 8/10
DD S2 8/10
LC S1 6.5/10
But that's just me.
Same
1. Daredevil
2. Luke cage
3. Jessica Jones
im not saying it was bad, i just liked the other 2 more
Jessica Jones was depressing as fuck. Daredevil and Luke Cage had me like HELL YEAH in their finales while JJ had me like fucking kill him already.
Jessica Jones> Daredevil and Luke Cage
i bet ur just saying that cuz youre a woman lol jk
kilgrave still the highlight of the show
That Shades impression is spot on
Cottonmouth was genuinely amazing. Truly great performance
Marvel/Netflix TV Shows:
1 - Daredevil Season 1 (10/10)
2 - Daredevil Season 2 (9/10)
3 - Jessica Jones Season 1 (9/10)
4 - Luke Cage Season 1 (8.5/10)
All are great, but Luke Cage, despite some really awesome moments and good villains (the last one with a really stupid suit of armor), has some flaws, especially in the last few episodes. While all the other Netflix shows were more consistent in quality.
Daredevil Season 3 (10/10)
I thought the show started a little slow but when it picked up it got great.
Yes it did
just like The Wire....
Mujtaba Ellari that's how the marvel shows are
Mujtaba Ellari I was hooked after the first episode...I think this shits on daredevil
Loved Daredevil S1 and Daredevil S2 even more. Loved Jessica Jones. So far, loving Luke Cage. Can't wait for Iron Fist, Defenders and Punisher.
Glad you talked about the music, Chris. That was one thing I loved too.
I loved Cottonmouth. They did a lot in the first few episodes to really draw him up. That shot where they basically place the crown from the portrait on his head was beautifully done.
Shades was the best villain.
It's Over 9000 Productions agree mr gangster consultant was awesome ;)
Misty Knight = best protagonist
shady is the worst character. this guy is always around and never did anything. I just wish he went away. he is not being paid, so why are the bad guys letting him walk amongst them? he doesn't do shit for them. I thought he was going to run the club and did last long before diamond took over it. shade is a bitch
Shades would be excellent at CinemaSins.
Shades: "You know, Cottonmouth, you could just sell the club to pay your debts and forget all about Luke Cage."
Shades: "You know, Mariah, you could take over Cottonmouth's businesses and forget all about Luke Cage."
Shades: "You know, Diamondback, you could just let the police arrest Cage for the murder you framed him for. You don't have to fight him hand to hand in the street and ruin your own plan. Forget about Luke Cage."
More like the worst. No charisma whatsoever and he doesn't do shit. Show started to get boring the minute they killed off Cottonmouth.
The first half of the show, episodes 2 through 7, were incredible. The second half, 8 through 13, were increasingly tough to get through. It was almost as if the writers just tossed all of the substance and interesting material from the first half out of the window and started spitballing ideas at the ceiling with a rolled-up peashooter...
The biggest badass of the MCU.
Night nurse, she steals every scene that she's on.
Luke Cage was an absolutely amazing series *BUT* it feels like the 2nd half sof the show suffered from the same problem Daredevil Season 2 had; Over complicating by bringing unnecessary story arcs and characters. Netflix Marvel shows work best when it only have few characters to work with, which is what made King Pin and Killgrave so good and memorable. Cottonmouth was already turning in to a very multi dimensional and intimidating but also a _REAL_ and relatable character, and Diamondback himself would have worked as a mysterious shadow figure who orchestrates things behind the scene. They ruined both points by killing off Cottonmouth, and making Diamondback in to comical, one dimensional 'evil brother' cliche`. The whole series could have been perfect if Cottonmouth, Mariah and Shades were the villains and Diamondback was the 'Thanos'-like character hinted for the next season.
Commander Shepard true maybe they should've kept diamondback as a name Shades keeps mentioning as his boss
For killing of Cottonmouth, I think the creators were afraid he was going to turn into a 'Kingpin Vr. 2'. I'm not sure if I agree with that assessment, but I can see the similarities.
finaldarkfire It wouldn't have been if they evolved the story in to a power struggle between him, Mariah and Shades.
I think Marvel/Netflix should just have 10 episodes. That way they can put the budget of 3 extra episodes to other/better use.
DareDevil Season 2 > Dare Devil Season 1
By a Longshot
1. Jessica Jones
2. Daredevil S1
3. Luke Cage
4. Daredevil S2
It's a good show, just nothing great.
Completely agree to this lineup.
I found Luke Cage to be similar to DD season 2 as well.
1. daredevil S1
2. Jessica Jones
3. Daredevil S2
4. Luke Cage
3 and 4 are interchangable though
Jessica Jones was utter garbage. The lead had a half duck pout and the fight scenes were laughably bad. your lineup is whack...
+fraud1983 What a loud of shit, Jessica Jones was better than Daredevil in everyway except special effects and fight scenes.
Villains make a show for me, Killgrave made that show. And he's THE best marvel villain to date. Second best is Kingpin, which is why it's second on my list.
Has anyone noticed that all the episode names are the names of the rap duo gang starr songs? Interesting touch.
No, but that's a cool touch :)
The score is amazing! I completely agree. Jessica Jones is still my favorite of the Netflix Marvel shows but this comes a respectful second.
Just realized though you didn't really talked about Misty Knight. How did you feel about her?
Jessica Jones was good, but Luke Cage wasn't very good acting at all.
+Amanda Reynolds-Gregg I thought Misty Knight was a nicely-layered character in the series excellently portrayed by Simone Missick. Her character made the story more complex. She was one of the my favorite characters in the series.
I don't personally compare the Marvel series' to each other because I expect each show I watch to be different. I take each series for what it is on its own and the story it is trying to tell. To me, DD and JJ are two completely different types of stories and both great in their own rights.
I enjoyed Luke Cage. I found it a refreshing departure from standard Marvel fare, it definitely had a more down to Earth flavor, which I appreciated. I thought the storyline went downhill after the death of Cottonmouth, but all in all, I still liked the series alot and l look forward to the second season.
*This is why the DC Extended Universe need a Black Lightning adaption on Netflix :3*
I too would be incompetent enough to decline WB's offer if I was already "busy" with Marvel. Netflix has the same condition as I do, we are both allergic to money. What is next? Netflix is too busy for another Marvel series because they are working on Stranger Things? Please tell me you are just kidding, or maybe you are a delusional fanboy. That being said, I doubt WB would offer; otherwise, it would have already happened. No idea why they are so obsessed with the CW or whatever.
No way, dakotaverse would be a better choice.
Well the Dakotaverse is still a part of the DC Universe ~ But Icon, Rocket & Static would be an amazing way to go :3
i would prefer static "shock" that kid way cooler~
Black Lightning....is boring as fuck. I'd rather watch a Steel or Static show.
Luke Cage has been out for four days now and I'm only up to episode five, I am so ashamed
I ve watched 9 episodes and it's awesome
i couldnt binge this show like daredevil or jessica jones.. it got real boring after a while.
I had to force-binge it, like going to an all-you-can-eat restaurant with questionable food. Especially the last 6-7 episodes. It felt more like a chore than entertainment. And it never recovered from the peak of Cottonmouth.
redhidus exactly tell dem pls
WELL WHY DONT WE HAVE MICHAEL CERA PLAY SHAFT!
If you know where that is from, I love you.
TheHuntingApex Weirdo
I love you so much. this is what I thought about as soon as he said shaft
Oh Donald
WinActive Donald Glover. Weirdo
Awesome review Chris! When the FX tv show "Atlanta" is finished with season 1 you should review it too!
Stefon Whitaker Judging from this comment section, I only imagine how Stuckmann viewers already feel about that show.
"He's like the Freeza of Harlem". 👌
It's definetely the weakest of the Netflix/Marvel shows so far.
The good:great acting from M.Kolter,Mah.Ali and Al.Woodard,cool soundtrack,they tackled some social issues,like racism,police brutality etc. and I liked that they did their own thing,it's basically a gritty crime drama,with some 70's blacksploitation for good measure.I also loved all the references to other Marvel stuff and black culture and history.
Sadly,it lacks in many areas.First,the producers ignored the rule of ''power balance''.When you have an all powerful hero,you need to put him/her against an equaly or even better,a more powerful antagonist,otherwise it gets boring.That's exactly what happened here,90% of the show,Luke has to deal with some common thugs,who oppose no thread to him.There's also almost no memorable action in it.You got the scene from the trailer,where Luke storms that community center,that Cottonmouth uses as his ''bank'' and the final beatdown with Diaondback,which was pretty corny,mainly due to that cheap battlesuit,that Diamondback wears,who looked straight out of ''Meteor Man''.That's pretty much there is,the rest is just Luke ocasionally bitchslapping some thugs .I wasn't expecting elaborate fights,like in DD but common man,that's Powerman here!
-----SPOILER ALERT-----
Killing off,Cottonmouth,in the middle of the season and replacing him with Diamondback,was a huge mistake.The guy was like a Sunday morning cartoon villain.Theo Rossi as Shades was also,corny as hell.Also,there are lots of plotholes and the story was really dragged out,8-10 episodes would have been better.But what really made me angry,was the ending.After all the shit that went down,Mariah and Shades get to walk free,while Luke gets shipped back to prison,only because Misty make a dumb mistake,that not even a rookie would make.I just wished,The Punisher would show up,clean house and give Luke and Misty his ''you're halfmeasures''-speech.
I would give it a 6,5/10
too overhyped
Yeah I was thinking everytime that I see those two that Punisher will show up and kill everybody, actually, it wouldn't feel force beacuse if you watched daredevil you know that punisher was free and ready to kill some thugs.
One last thing,I forgot and bothered me,was Luke´s defeatist attitude."Oh,I never wanted superpowers,I just want to be left alone,I´m no hero" yadah yadah...
In the comics,he´s a dynamic,guy,who enjoys having powers and doesn´t take shit from nobody.The comic Luke would have walked right into Cottonmouth´s club,tear the whole place down & beat the everliving shit out Cottonmouth and his entire gang.But then again,the show would be over in a couple of episodes.
They should've had Hardcore. He is one of the only villians that can penetrate his unbreakable skin.
doubleP I completely agree you hit it right on but I though Theo Rossi was good as shades they just didn't show enough of him or give him good enough scenes.
So, after nearing the last 3 episodes, here's my review so far:
This show is bad.
The writers of the show were so focused on the characters making tough speeches, they forgot to add depth and motivation to them.
I still don't understand Luke Cage. Sometimes he goes out of his way to throw people around and other times he does nothing, or bails at the smallest hint of a challenge. Like when Cottonmouth found out who he was.
We only really find out more about Cottonmouth in the same episode in which he's killed. By his cousin. The one that still doesn't have much depth, but a lot of tough speeches.
The episodes before that barely spend any time on Cottonmouth's character. Instead we saw him overlooking his club, listening to music which took up way too much time and hear him laugh. A lot.
Every single day someone in his club gets killed, there are shots, something gets broken, but somehow the people still go there. The people of Harlem are stupid. Criminals and police a like.
We spend an exceptional amount of time with the dreadfully boring and judgmental hypocrite known as Misty Knight.
A policewoman who knows it all by looking at pictures. Like Cottonmouth, she too spends most of her time in one place only. She stands in her office and looks at pictures of people. That's 90% of her screen time.
She obsessed with Luke Cage and when other police start to focus on Luke Cage, she says that the focus should be on someone else.
Lady, you spend the majority of the season chasing a vigilante who did good, while the city was sucked dry by Cottonmouth. You never found out who killed Pops.
She usually also always shows up where she should be, asking questions that she couldn't know, because ... well how would she?
Where and when exactly did she find out that the top crime bosses disappeared? Did she ask her photographs?
While on the subject of plot holes and oddities, here are a few:
In one scene Cottonmouth argues with his Cousin that money is more important than respect.
Then why didn't he sell the club when he needed the money?
Why did he rob rich people? His people didn't wear any masks. You can't do that without consequences. No one was put in jail for that. What is the police doing?
The traitorous Hispanic police officer was never mentioned again after Misty arrested him.
Why didn't Luke Cage just give the girl her ring back? Why did he have to awkwardly include it in his underwhelming speech?
Mariah Dillard's solution to police violence is to motivate them to buy more brutal weapons and Harlem agrees.
Why does anyone listen to her when she calls for a meeting of the gang bosses? How is she making demands and why is the Hispanic gangster even listening to her in the first place?
Why is no one just rolling over her territory the moment they heard that Cottonmouth is dead?
Why does Shades even care for any of those fools? Why not just take the club for himself?
Why didn't Misty tell anyone that facial recognition identified Striker as her attacker? This is the guy who attacked a police officer. Kind of important, don't you think?
Why didn't Luke punch Cottonmouth in the face when he just fought his henchmen in his club? This guy is responsible for Pop's death.
Why does Luke believe Cottonmouth that he wasn't responsible for Pop's death? And if he didn't, why didn't he punch him in the face?
Why not punch Shades as well?
The fights are exceptionally boring. Stop throwing people and start throwing punches.
WHY IS MISTY STILL AFTER LUKE CAGE, EVEN THOUGH SHE FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD AN ALIBI!? WHY IS SHE NOT INFORMING ANYONE?!
All in all: A waste of potential. I recommend the writers sit down and understand the meaning of the words "Show, don't tell."
Amuse me.
"as the people of Harlem clearly don't want a criminal to represent this cause"
Do they? So why are they on the side of the one woman who works with her criminal cousin? They all know the facts. They know Cottonmouth stored all that money in her office. Harlem doesn't care.
"hey, that Carl Lucas guy survived and is a superhero now! Why don't we try to continue the experiments and replicate this success."
That's an assumption more than anything else. Also, before the episode with the Doc, we never see any glimpse of Luke even caring about that. He just didn't want to go back to prison.
"the overall personality and world views of the character are blatantly clear at this point."
It's clear, but it's shallow and ultimately pointless to spend so much time on this character, when all he is just another boring gangster. Kingpin had depth.
"covered up in such a way that anyone who may have witnessed it would be dead anyway."
Assumption. He threw a guy off a roof. A car was destroyed. People could've witnessed that. The owner of the car could've asked why his car was smashed. You can't hide that. Who is supposed to hide that? Zip?
All of Cottonmouth's Crew has shown to be stupid as hell.
When Kingpin killed people, it was actually in secret. In locations no one could see you. We had several situations in which people were shot and/or killed when the club wasn't open. BUT YOU CAN HEAR THAT SHIT. His Walls are not sound-proof.
No mention the fact that Cottonmouth shot a police officer in broad daylight.
"Have you ever heard of a thing called a missing person report?"
Again, assumptions. Instead of wasting the viewers time by showing her look at walls, the series could've spend at least a second showing how she gathered the info. But we never really see any of that. She's supposed to be the smart one. But we never see her do smart things. It's the best example of how not to write. You show, you don't tell. All this show does, is tell.
"After all, he's witnessed and been a part of several horrific murders in the vein of protecting the club and it's business."
Exactly and he hated it. We know that much from the episode in which he was killed. So why keep it? The only reason I see is the music, but he can do that somewhere else.
"Did you miss all the times that Cottonmouth said that he has half the police on payroll"
AGAIN; SHOW DON'T TELL. What the fuck is it with you people? Are you just happy with a tv series telling you shit, instead of showing it? We only saw two police officers doing corrupt shit. One of which had no motivation at all to be corrupt. We never saw the police do anything else that would imply that they work for Cottonmouth.
Are you just going to eat everything up that the show tells you?
"but he sends a message to Luke Cage saying that any more attempts to put his business down could have repercussions on the people he cares about."
Well that didn't work out, did it? He took that money back in a heartbeat. So no repercussions for the people. Cottonmouth knows that he can't shoot Cage, but he still tried again and again.
His Cousin was smart enough to ask him if he can be drowned, or poisoned, but does the show do something with that? No. The best villains are the ones that attack the biggest weaknesses of a hero. Luke Cage can't be shot, so naturally a smart guy like Cottonmouth will continue to shoot him.
Take the Joker for example. In Dark Knight it was not about killing, or even beating Batman. It was about the Soul of Gotham. The Joker would've won if one of the boats were to blow up. Because it would show Batman and the rest of the world that Gotham is not worth saving. Batman would still be alive, but the Joker would've won.
Luke Cage doesn't even attempt to try something like this. The producer of this show compared it to the Wire. This is the biggest blasphemous statement I've ever read.
It's a series for dumb people.
Arthur Wild I agree. It was a huge step down from the previous 3 seasons
I want that black and purple pumpkin behind you Chris!
I loved the cinematography in this show. A lot of the colors were yellow and green. Whether it was on a stained glass window, or the walls, there were always colors in the shots that reflected LUKE cage's traditional costume colors.
I still haven't found the time to watch it. Does Jessica show up?
No.
the show is meh
@@danielcastaneda4975 If by meh you mean a-meh-zing, you are correct!
I thought it was alright. Not as good as a lot of people are hyping it up to be - but also not horrible. I liked it more than Jessica Jones, not as much as Daredevil. The fight scenes fell a little flat, except for a couple. Most of all - I thought the show could have been done in about 9 episodes. It felt really dragged out in certain parts.
2:58 You sound exactly like a ghoul from the Fallout universe....
SO TRUE HOLY FUCK LOL
His wife doesn't complain.
For being a smoothskin he sounds a lot like a ghoul
lol exactly
damn that was spot on :)
I've been watching your reviews for 5 years keep it up brother much love from Saint Clairsville
"Frieza of Harlem" Why is that so hilarious to me? Lol And did no one notice one of cottonmouth's goons wearing a Legend of Zelda Tee? LOL
This might not be the best Netflix MCU series, but it is one of the most needed. With all the shit happening with police shooting African Americans, a character whos a bulletproof African American is very much interesting. I think the directors did a great job with making sure that this problem is properly addressed. I know some white bigots r gonna hate this comment, but the metaphors and symbolism are astounding, seriously artistic and outstanding. A genuinely good piece of art.
Chretien li I’m Mexican American I support your comment friend.
White bigots lol, god its outstanding how racist people are.
@@billcipher3946 this show fucking sucks mate, and I'm not a racist
Love the white biggot part 😂, I'm so ashamed of my millennial generation
Im half way through the series. Im a bit disappointed with the villain (granted he's played very well) but he's a far cry from Kingpin and especially Kilgrave
You're only half way. So you're still on Cottonmouth? Keep watching...
i liked Cottonmouth more :)
diamondback was a crap villain. Cottenmouths better
Mrpanda8000 Lol kill grave was dog shit compared to any marvel villain.
Enjoy the moments when Cottonmouth is still alive, he's not making it til the end and someone alot less compelling would take his place.
*MARVEL** Is really owning the superhero scene
RIP DC
DCEU fucking sucks, the movies are garbage
I wouldn't say the DCEU films are bad, in fact I quite enjoy them, but even I have to admit that I enjoy the MCU stuff more than I did with the DCEU.
FaceClef don't let DC pull out a Batman series tho...DC still has options
Marvel is owning DC in the movies at the moment but when it comes to comics DC is killing marvel.
Marvel = DC with most comics. Dc > marvel with the BEST stories each of them have. Cough cough watchmen. Marvel > DC in movies. Marvel > DC in lowkey comic book stories. DC > marvel with LARGE SCALE comic book stories. Make sense?
I love your Shades impression XD Also, with the amount of times a lawyer was mentioned, I would have loved there to have been a cameo for Matt Murdoch at the end...
i love how MCU is referencing the movies in there shows to keep it all tied together. like i love how they referenced hammer weapons. we havnt heard about hammer in a movie in forever.
It's pronounced "Al-free Wood-erd"
She's always brilliant!
It would be interesting to have you review some blaxploitation flicks
I figured Stuckmann would know her and how to pronounce her name. Tsk tsk but he's still an excellent critic.
Marcus Baldwin indeed. I've been Stuckmanized for a while now.
My review: Better than Jessica Jones (8/10), not as good as Daredevil (9.5/10). So yeah, I would say a 9/10. Loved it, the cast is great, story is great and the soundtrack is amazing! :)
luke cage was overhyped
Everything is overhyped or over rated nowadays jeez.
I completely agree. I would give the exact same ratings, though I would give Daredevil's first season a 10 and second one a 9.
haha I would give Daredevil season 1 a 9/10 and season 2 a 10/10 :P
Luke cage speech wars was just weird
Daredevil season 1: Bad ass and awesome
Jessica Jones: Cool
Daredevil season 2: Not as bad ass as season 1 but cool too.
Luke Cage: kinda cool but awesome in the same time.
tyler fermin This comment was entirely pointless
Eryk pannell great;)
daredevil season 2 was ok?? did you see punisher?
nabhan qureshi Yeah, for only four episodes and the final moment with the drug dealer(forgot his name, he's the former military officer) and the final episode moment. The rest were all law and order which I never found interesting in my opinion.
tyler fermin so the hand wasnt enough for you
Wow. This review was ON POINT! Great job Chris!
Glad you enjoyed the show! As someone who lives in Tennessee, if you're near Knoxville, check out the Pinnacle theater. Great IMAX screens there. The independent theater there I used to work in if you want to see something more original. Enjoy your time in Tennessee, Chris!
He's right the show got reallly silly, the writing and the story plummeted somewhere mid way through, and I stopped watching.
Spaatacus it's supposed to be a lil silly not every show needs to be like dd and have sympathetic villains. DB was great for for his role really simply because he was out of his mind
I liked DareDevil season 1 mainly because Wilson Fisk was so great. Jessica Jones had me interested enough to see it through even tho I think I fell asleep a bunch near the end and never went back to see what I missed... Luke Cage just Sucked, everything about it was very corny or unsatisfying. Lost interest completely and couldnt care less how the story plays out.
Ugh I'm watching it now and fighting turning it off...i hope it gets better
had the same problem with it tbh...i loved daredevil and really really enjoyed JJ, but this show was just kinda ok in my opinion, still watched all 13 episodes, but im kinda happy that its over :/
InneWinneCinema
I feel like im watching Black Dynamite ecxept its not intentionally funny.This guy has ZERO charisma and cant really act,
Hahaha i agree! But i really liked Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth
Yeah, I kinda feel that it was 'ok'
I honestly wasn't into the Harlem Gansta cliche and that didn't appeal to me from the start.
As for the vilains... Meh.
Cottonmouth was a fairly weak vilain if you compare him to Kingpin and even Killgrave.
1) he did not have Pin's range of financial and man power control
2) No scary super powers like Grave
At the end of the day, just a regular thug and owner of a night club.
As for shades... He was not to bad.
Overall, very average show. I enjoyed it for what it is, but would not watch it a second time and I can't say that It got me pumped for a season 2.
Yeah i like him too.
Great review Alfre Woodard is an awesome actress. Her first name is pronounced Al-free :)
one of the best reviews i seen so far good job
Chris, Fun fact: All of the Luke Cage episode titles are named after 90's hip-hop group Gang Starr songs.
Anyone else think Misty was completely useless?
I'm noticing a pattern with the Marvel Netflix shows, which I'm really hoping they will break by the time Defenders comes along: the endings to the seasons tend to be underwhelming. I haven't yet finished Luke Cage, but in terms of the others:
Daredevil season 1 probably had the best ending of the bunch, but even that had some mildly bizarre choices thrown in here and there, almost like they had to rush it a bit. Jessica Jones' ending made sense, but the final conflict was really predictable and not as satisfying as it could have been. Daredevil season 2's ending was really questionable in spots and easily the weakest. I hope Luke Cage's ending at least tops that.
Luke Cages ending is pretty weak to be honest. I'd go as far to say that it's the weakest.
Luke Cage's ending was disappointing because I was hoping some things would happen, but it left me very excited for the next season.
***** I liked it because it left us in such a bad place. I wanted Luke to hook up with Claire. I wanted Diamondback to be crippled. Still, I'll take what we got.
D. Wilkins
I was hoping for an end cameo of someone from the other shows. Maybe Fisk or Stick?
WildFox That would have been amazing. I was hoping for Daredevil, even though I was 99% sure he wouldn't show up.
"Long live the chief"
Thanks for another great review, Chris. Your points are always well thought out and exceptionally helpful in my decision on whether I want to spend my time and money watching something. Your channel is my go to review site before any other.
Thank you for your review Chris Stuckmann. I pretty much concur with everything you said. One point that bears emphasizing is the fact that the Luke Cage pilot episode was more of a slow build in terms of a careful examination of the emotional backdrop to the emergence of the Luke Cage character. I appreciated it though, because as you pointed out, the show's focus is more on emotional aspects of Cage's persona than his superhuman abilities.
Cottonmouth was much better than Diamondback. Just when his character was most interesting, they switch over.
My wife said people were complaint that it's to black???? I'm not really sure WTF kinda of trolls are out there but really? Im assuming it's people not familiar with the comics. It's almost 2017 right? Was wondering if this is true?
The cast is all black for the show; because black lives matter!!
Baber Gill not looking for another troll here.
No really, people are complaining that a show set in Harlem about a black superhero is 'too black'.
Baber Gill the cast isn't all black the majority of the cast are yes considered black.
SPOILERS FOR LUKE CAGE
Once cottenmouth died The quality of the show took a massive dip.
Honestly I thought Diamondback was every bit as intimidating as Cottenmouth, at least right up to that ridiculous fight at the end. I thought the showdown between him and Luke in the theatre would have been a much better end to the series.
This show really bummed me out because it was actually pretty great for the first half, but then when Cottonmouth died it just went downhill
I don't know. What you considered over-the-top acting from Theo Rossi, I considered a quietly powerful performance of a calm and measured character. I couldn't help but like and root for him, pulling the strings whilst willingly remaining a supporting figure.
Gotta disagree with you Chris. I was super disappointed with Luke Cage. The acting was mostly sub-par and dry. The cinematography was either very poor, or super ham fisted (Cottonmouth crown shot). The choreography was hilariously bad at times, it all felt so stiff and wooden.
One of my biggest problems was how characters reacted to things. Only way I can describe it is by saying it reminded me of a Bethesda game (Fallout/Elder Scrolls) when characters would react to seeing crazy stuff happen and just blow it off. "Oh you just stopped bullets with your chest? Meh."
Overall, I'd have given it a C+ at best. It's the only Netflix original that I couldn't binge watch. I had to force myself to keep watching after episode 4 and I still only made it through 2 more episodes.
***** Yeah, sure, the Avengers. But Luke Cage isn't an Avenger. He appears to be a normal dude to the people in the TV show. They even keep it a secret for him. People should still be shocked when things happen that are extraordinary.
Very unpopular opinion but Luke Cage is my least favorite Marvel show. I even liked Iron Fist more than Luke Cage
I think it was the best, even better than Daredevil and Jessica Jones
Some people had problem with a lack of positive Caucasian roles in the show. They have to remember, they are not watching Captain America, they are not watching the Falcon- even if they give Falcon the Shield- that is not the correct analogy.
Frankly, they should ask themselves why there are no white people in a Kung-Fu movie set in Tokyo, Japan!
I genuinely know nobody who has said this.
Quit putting words into peoples mouths to make this about race and just enjoy the damn show.
+Warren Rawlings Well said.
How many good Caucasians are there in Daredevil besides Foggy and Matt? I can only think of the priest and that's it.
I don’t care about the race or gender of a character as long as it’s well written. But there are obviously more white people in the largest American city than the Japanese capital.
Great review as usual and btw love you're shirt Chris.
That black pumpkin with purple lighting behind you is the best thing ever!
Jessica jones is still my favourite Netflix original
Ye, Kilgrave was a very menacing villain :D
Luke cage is better
Jessica jones had trish...... she was fine, luke cage had misty.................However the luke cage was portrayed better as a non hero better than Jessica. for sure and not holding back luke cage is my favorite Netflix hero hands down. sorry daredevil get a vibranium suit
Luke cage is basically a good dude who just keeps getting shit on. He's already a hero. Jessica Jones is a way more broken character, and a lot more complex and interesting imo. It helps to have a well defined antagonist which both Daredevil and Jessica Jones had for their first seasons. Luke's main antagonist is the system by and large and while interesting it takes the air out of the sails from a narrative stand point.
Mr Meeseeks me too
And as always if you like what you see here and want to see more, click right here to see more!
Wrong Channel, sorry Chris
Marvel just cant do no wrong........
Tell that to Avenger's 2 snapped neck
Shy Guy ok ok besides this one
We don't talk about avengers 2
+Shy Guy good movie. stop hating
Max Burke well not that much sorry..
I met Alfre Woodard a few times, working at the Juice Bar in Whole Foods, in Tulsa. Incredible lady :)
Never seen a better review especially the criticisms. You nailed it. Great season. Could've stuck the landing much better though.
Why did Daredevil have to set the bar so high? Now I can't even watch the other marvel shows lol
Diamond was the lamest villain ever. Am I the only one who thought this show was weak as hell?
no your not only one but I like diamondback or the dude that played diamondback for me when diamondback came on the show that's when the action picks up I luv his shit talking although his situation was petty
diamondback sucked, his little super suit sucked too.
you mean the onesie OF DEATH?
I thought the show was great UNTIL he showed up...
***** I agree man. His motivations were weak, his backstory didn't have much substance, his mother was reduced to whore, and there was no redeeming quality about him. I liked the idea of Mariah going crazy due to the reemergence of her past and the extra push from Cottonmouth but I would have rather them fleshed that out more and left Cottonmouth severely wounded and not dead. That time in the show would've been great time to reintroduce Fisk in someway and use Harlem as the jumping off platform for him to regain control of New York. The show could've ended the same exact way (with Cage going to jail and criminals getting away) and I think everyone would've been happy.
I was really disapointed in it. Shades was the best villian, Misty was the best character, Dimondback was bad, and Mariah Dillard was well writen but had a TERRIBLE performance. Why get an actress from another marvel property (she played the mother of Charlie in Cilvil War) when she is a terrible actress. Cottonmouth was the opiste. Great performance, poor writing. The whole thing with him being a musical prodigy was done so poorly. He was playing basic shit. I'm a musican, and acting like he's great is a lie. He's mediocre at best. But the middle made me want to stick my dick in a toaster. I felt like I didn't understand Luke Cage for multiple episodes. I almost forgot to mention how terribe Dimondback was. He had NO motivation. He was mad because Luke was his brother? And I know he wanted to sell judas bullets, but come on. He was way too over the top for me.
1. Daredevil Season 1 10/10
2. Daredevil Season 2 8/10
3. Jessica Jones 9/10 (I know it was better than season 2 of daredevil, but I'm a daredevil fan boy.)
4. Luke Cage 6/10
First Netflix show that isn't as good as the Flash or Arrow (before season 4)
Charles Campbell Your definetley right man
Noah Banjo if that's not sarcasm, then me and you would get along.
How was she terrible? She portrayed the average politician, who when confronted with shady shit, lies, manipulates, and does whatever they can to avoid losing favor with the people. As for his musical talent, it's pretty fucked up that you use his skill against his character. I can honestly see him not having time, or losing touch with his music because of what he had to do when running the streets. Like he said, he could have went to schools to better improve his skill, but he didn't have the option. Diamondback hates Luke because for 2 years, Diamondback had a father. When Luke was born, that all went away, and he had no father, only by name. He hates Luke because Luke was what he couldn't be. Even after all the events he set in place to fuck Luke over, Luke still came out on top, even gaining superpowers. I would be pretty fucking angry over failing to get revenge on someone.
Wallace Bogan She wasn't horrible u guess I was wrong about that but in certain scenes she was bad and overall not that interesting
Wallace Bogan like I said, the character was well written, but the performance was poor. It was laughable at times. And a music prodigy is far different from normal people. Buddy Rich was making money as a musician for his family at like 3. Prodigies have something more. And I don't remember anything from when I was 2, do you? I lived in Cuba when I was 2, some pretty big shit went down when I was 2. Only reason I know it happens is because my family told me. He was just so over the top that I couldn't sympathize with him. If they had more flashbacks to when they were teenagers, or even kids, it would've made it SOOOOOOO much better. That's another problem I had, there wasn't enough background to some of the characters. Mariah and Cottonmouth got that, Misty had a past that she discussed after Pops died. Luke didn't have that. I felt like I didn't understand the character for a long time.
I'm glad we see eye to eye on this one Chris!
You and Jeremy love those late uploads
I'm only up to episode 4, but so far I've been very bored. Dare Devil season 2 was a pretty mixed bag for me too, but it was able to get my interest in the first few episode. I'm still waiting for something to happen in this show that can make me want to watch more. I think one of the biggest problems for me is that this shows strong points you pointed out are the things I dislike the most. For me there is too much drama and corny over the top characters, I hate jazz, and the action has been super sparse and pretty dull so far. There are also no characters I care about. This is something that hurt Dare Devil in my eyes. I felt like every time Dare Devil wasn't being Dare Devil the show would grind to a halt, especially with Karen and Elektra. I'll give the show another episode or 2, but if it doesn't pick up then I have to move on. I have too little time and too many other things I'd rather try than forcing myself to endure a weak show. On the other hand, West World is every bit as fantastic as I was hoping from episode 1. I'm super pumped for more of that.
i agree (except for the jazz part) but it doesnt get much better, so you probably should move on...im waiting till every episode of westworld is released to binge watch this show :D
Watch Jessica Jones. There's no way you're gonna get bored. Watching that show made want to know what's gonna happen next SOOO bad. Please watch it.
Luke Cage seems like the gritty of marvel.While Daredevil is the gruesome of marvel.And Jessica Jones is the despair and finding courage of Marvel
They are all Gritty in my opinion. Daredevil is Action/Adventure. Jessica Jones is a Psychological-Thriller. Luke Cage is a Urban/Crime-Thriller.
Personally enjoyed Daredevil more especially Season 2, then Jessica Jones really brought a more darker demented touch to the MCU and Luke Cage gave us that Fight-For-Your-Community aspect.
Daredevil>Luke Cage>Jessica Jones
Daredevil>Jessica Jones>Luke Cage can't wait for Iron Fist, The Punisher & The Defenders!
Kamau King Targaryen Same! Especially The Punisher, man, what a good season that was.
Patrick Hogan Because I got a taste of what The Punisher is like I'm more excited for Iron Fist. Marvel/Netflix running things now.
Do you think Chris will ever watch *Over the Garden Wall*?
I feel like it's right up his alley.
What a pleasant background you have there, Chris.