After having watched most Marvel movies, I was interested in Jessica Jones. I have quickly become bored of the artistic direction, rhythm and characters of the movies, so the promise of a different take was appealing. I have heard of, but not seen the Daredevil series yet, though I plan on watching it.
I just want to highlight a few things in this review, but in short, it is an above average show, with unremarkable directing that falls apart in its second half.
The characters and dialogue "Jessica Jones" offers up a lead character who is presented to as fairly complex. I write this because a large portion of the first episode's dialogue has characters deliver exposition about her character to her, which really bothered me, as it is just an easy method to say things about the character, without having actual creative ways to (visually) reveal it. There are so many sentences where characters tell each other who they are (you are this, you are that, you are selfish, you are kind on the inside etc.) that it boggles the mind. Just count the number of "you are" and "I am" sentences. They are a lazy solution to character development and make scenes that should have a strong emotional punch feel flat. Most of the other dialogue doesn't fare any better.
To regular movie consumers there is nothing exceptional about Jessica Jones' character, but that is possibly because of the pulp nature of the material. I felt the unnatural dialogue hurt some scenes, while the chemistry between characters supposedly romantically involved, was simply not there. Again, jumping back, there is an instance of her friend talking to Jessica Jones after talking to her and another character and then literally telling Jessica Jones that they have chemistry, that he obviously has feelings for her and she for him. If your characters don't have chemistry, and I think it was painfully lacking, than having her friend talk about this supposed electricity at length just seems misplaced and again, it is a lazy solution, and makes the scene, like quite a few dialogue driven one's just flat out boring.
Out of the cast David Tennant and Carrie-Anne Moss are highlights, but they also have two of the more interesting characters so it's not that surprising, although Moss's character gets less screen time in the shows second half, which is a shame. Krysten Ritter is enjoyable, however as the series went on the most enjoyable scenes were the ones with Tennant, so when he was off screen the show lost much of its dynamism.
The two parts of the season The series can be broken down into two halves, the first being a more noir-inspired, smaller scale affair, while the second is bigger, messier, with an inflated roster. To put it simply, the series somewhat loses its way through its second part. Episodes feel padded, scenes and characters could have been cut, the rhythm is off. Tennant really saves the second-half as there is not much of an arc to speak of, but at least the way we come to look at his character as we get to know him more is interesting. The first half feels much more urgent and has more style, though not by much. It gets by on a noir-inspired atmosphere, even though the direction or the scenes are never really visually interesting or do anything inspired with lighting, shadows, mood... I may have to watch it again, but on first viewing I found nothing visually compelling about the show, or just the general look of the show.
A quick word on the action-scenes and special effect: they are bland, cheap, just really not enjoyable, the choreography is non-existent and are just too predictable to create tension.
The story I wouldn't like to spoil much about the story. It is the type of story that on first glance makes you think like it was written for adults, and sure it has blood and mood and brooding, but it's just that: the surface image of mature material without the depth. It is completely acceptable as such.
What I appreciated All in all it was a serviceable series that sadly fell apart in its second-half and delivered an anti-climactic, but expected finale. However there was one other thing I noticed. As a Caucasian man who loves noir and older movies I never really appreciated just how "natural" it seemed to have white males dominate most roles (both negative and positive). Because I was primed by media previews and reviews to look at this series as a show that gives more space to female characters I noticed that white males were a very small portion of this cast. Indeed in the first episode the most prominent white male is just some idiot in a sports car and throughout the series there are only 2 (and a half) prominent white male characters. Now, the fact that the rest of the cast was made up of more women, or non-white males doesn't make it a better show, but it did help me realize that the white-male dominated movies which I grew up with, and hence, had considered "normal", were just as much of a choice on the producers and marketers part as the casting of this series. So for that, it was worth viewing.
I just want to highlight a few things in this review, but in short, it is an above average show, with unremarkable directing that falls apart in its second half.
The characters and dialogue "Jessica Jones" offers up a lead character who is presented to as fairly complex. I write this because a large portion of the first episode's dialogue has characters deliver exposition about her character to her, which really bothered me, as it is just an easy method to say things about the character, without having actual creative ways to (visually) reveal it. There are so many sentences where characters tell each other who they are (you are this, you are that, you are selfish, you are kind on the inside etc.) that it boggles the mind. Just count the number of "you are" and "I am" sentences. They are a lazy solution to character development and make scenes that should have a strong emotional punch feel flat. Most of the other dialogue doesn't fare any better.
To regular movie consumers there is nothing exceptional about Jessica Jones' character, but that is possibly because of the pulp nature of the material. I felt the unnatural dialogue hurt some scenes, while the chemistry between characters supposedly romantically involved, was simply not there. Again, jumping back, there is an instance of her friend talking to Jessica Jones after talking to her and another character and then literally telling Jessica Jones that they have chemistry, that he obviously has feelings for her and she for him. If your characters don't have chemistry, and I think it was painfully lacking, than having her friend talk about this supposed electricity at length just seems misplaced and again, it is a lazy solution, and makes the scene, like quite a few dialogue driven one's just flat out boring.
Out of the cast David Tennant and Carrie-Anne Moss are highlights, but they also have two of the more interesting characters so it's not that surprising, although Moss's character gets less screen time in the shows second half, which is a shame. Krysten Ritter is enjoyable, however as the series went on the most enjoyable scenes were the ones with Tennant, so when he was off screen the show lost much of its dynamism.
The two parts of the season The series can be broken down into two halves, the first being a more noir-inspired, smaller scale affair, while the second is bigger, messier, with an inflated roster. To put it simply, the series somewhat loses its way through its second part. Episodes feel padded, scenes and characters could have been cut, the rhythm is off. Tennant really saves the second-half as there is not much of an arc to speak of, but at least the way we come to look at his character as we get to know him more is interesting. The first half feels much more urgent and has more style, though not by much. It gets by on a noir-inspired atmosphere, even though the direction or the scenes are never really visually interesting or do anything inspired with lighting, shadows, mood... I may have to watch it again, but on first viewing I found nothing visually compelling about the show, or just the general look of the show.
A quick word on the action-scenes and special effect: they are bland, cheap, just really not enjoyable, the choreography is non-existent and are just too predictable to create tension.
The story I wouldn't like to spoil much about the story. It is the type of story that on first glance makes you think like it was written for adults, and sure it has blood and mood and brooding, but it's just that: the surface image of mature material without the depth. It is completely acceptable as such.
What I appreciated All in all it was a serviceable series that sadly fell apart in its second-half and delivered an anti-climactic, but expected finale. However there was one other thing I noticed. As a Caucasian man who loves noir and older movies I never really appreciated just how "natural" it seemed to have white males dominate most roles (both negative and positive). Because I was primed by media previews and reviews to look at this series as a show that gives more space to female characters I noticed that white males were a very small portion of this cast. Indeed in the first episode the most prominent white male is just some idiot in a sports car and throughout the series there are only 2 (and a half) prominent white male characters. Now, the fact that the rest of the cast was made up of more women, or non-white males doesn't make it a better show, but it did help me realize that the white-male dominated movies which I grew up with, and hence, had considered "normal", were just as much of a choice on the producers and marketers part as the casting of this series. So for that, it was worth viewing.
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