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Jessica Jones is Good but....

Jessica Jones is Good but.... Image #83044

It's just way way way way way too long!

I went on a brief hiatus from writing because I wanted to write a review of this show, after I finished it. And it is incredibly long. For those who don't know about Jessica Jones, the new Marvel show, on Netflix, check out the trailer below.

So you get it? For those who have seen Daredevil this is a show in that same universe and your going to see two more shows focusing on individual superheros and then another show including all of them called the Defenders. Most of you know that I loved Daredevil, for the most part, there was some ridiculousness in the end, but I liked it overall. The grittiness to it, the blood, the violence, the acting, for the most part. Jessica Jones continues in the same vein, taking place in Hell's Kitchen in New York City and follows Jessica Jones, private eye, as she attempts to understand the trauma that she experienced while also solving some, albeit a small amount, of cases.

The things I liked about this show:

Mike Colter as Luke Cage. I've been a fan of him ever since I saw him on The Good Wife as Lamont Bishop. Very happy that he is going to have his own show and we are going to get to see more of him. Although his scenes in this show are limited, he still pulls it off quite well. He fell into his character's skin, even in an instance when he tells Jessica to put her helmet on because it's against the law not to have one. This is an allusion to the fear that Luke Cage has regarding prison and returning there. I won't spoil it but there is a lot of trauma and backstory there. Very much looking forward to his performance in his own show.

Jessica Jones is Good but.... Image #82816David Tennant as Kilgrave. He absolutely falls into this character and the scenes he shares with Krysten Ritter you can see him running circles around her. The scenes that stands out in my mind is an interaction that he and Jessica share in a police station. Even his appearance in the scene is fantastic. He played such a great villain on top of all of that and in my mind stands shoulder to shoulder with Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker.

The darkness and noir-ness of the overall show. I love noir. Mr. Robot dabbled in this. Daredevil dabbled in this. I love it when shows dabble in and but also include modern day issues/problems within them. This show does a good job of showing a darker grittier New York with it's violence and just generally awful people. There is an aspect of this noir that I did not enjoy however which moves me onto the aspects I did not enjoy from this show.

Things I strongly disliked:

The narration. Sweet Jesus was this too much? Yep it was. I felt it was incredibly obtrusive and did not miss it when it was gone and was shocked when it returned. Not only did it push me out of the show, some of what she was saying was nonsensical.

Krysten Ritter's overall performance. She played this in a fairly dead-pan fashion. I get it. She's been through a lot and she's fairly stoic about it but it just seemed like she was hardly there especially when compared with Colter and Tennant.

and finally, as I mentioned before, the length of this show. This show would have been fantastic if it was 8 or 10 episodes but 13 episodes allowed for a lot of unnecessary characters and A LOT of unnecessary plot. Such things as the other tenants in Jones' building, the support group, Sampson, Dr. Kozlov, and many many other various things. This was what made me fairly unhappy with the show because once we got to the end I was more tired then anxious and I just wanted to get it over with so I could watch something else.

If you watched the show, what did you think? Let me know!

Written by cwm on Dec 7, 2015

Comments

gjuniorX posted 8 years ago

I enjoyed Daredevil much more,I agree that they could have made this show shorter,seemed dragged out with episodes that could have been removed without any notice,I almost gave up on watching the last episodes after episode 7,thinking this show is going no where,but was glad I did finish watching it,seeing how episodes 8 through 13 were the best & can't wait to see Luke Cage series,kinda the reason why I stuck it out through this show was I am big fan of Powerman & Iron Fists & really enjoyed the scenes with Cage.Unlike some though I would like to see a season 2 of Jessica Jones now that most of the back story is out of the way,season 2 could have more action hopefully.

AdrienRochereau posted 8 years ago

completely disagree, it was long for a reason,

we are looking at a brilliant failed super hero dealing with PTSD, it had to be dark, slow and deep.

Depression and the likes are slow moving things, think about it, you have a deep cold or the flu, you are out for a couple days. pneumonia a couple weeks, mental ilness usually gets you out for weeks and months... portayal of such issues are not to be light and fast moving.

She shows how someone acts when out of it, and she does it really well, completely unlike actors who do not show emotions because they dont know (kristen stewart and the like).

I liked how they expanded from the DD setup, more sex, less violence, more mental games, truly sets a gritty environment for Hell's kitchen. building a phenomenal universe so far.

I advise you to watch it again, but this time put your phone aside and watch it

pwinn posted 8 years ago

I couldn't disagree more. It didn't feel long, Ritter killed it, and the narration worked really well to build the noir vibe.

SeanConnelly posted 8 years ago

As a tv addict , sorry but l watched all episodes hoping it would get better, but no it bored me, l hope thats the end and not renewed and luke cage out classes it.

JuanArango posted 8 years ago

I absolutely loved the show, even liked it more than the highly acclaimed Daredevil.
it just felt a bit more "real" to me, and the choice of Krysten Ritter was perfect.
it did not feel too long and drained out to me, I personally like it when plots and characters a bit more evolved :)

Nice article tho, btw :)

cheers
Juan

Kanis posted 8 years ago

I don't agree, Ive thoroughly enjoyed Jessica Jones and thought it was well done. The narration fits the style of the show, Krysten Ritter was a great casting choice. The pace was good and deliberate without fitting into the network pace of shows which makes me feel that everyone else has ADHD. It is nice to have a story unfold at it's pace and not feel that it has been artificially jolted forward by executives that aren't at all invested in the product.
A nice fit into the darker Daredevil/Marvel space of Television/Movies. I hope that they keep fleshing it out with more characters that fit the style and mood set forth thus far.

moonheid posted 8 years ago

As much as I enjoyed DD, JJ was much better. Show that are adapted from a comic book should have a narrative IMO.

Tennant was incredible but I wouldn't have expected less. TBH I think Ritted was exactly how JJ should be.

Cage was ok, just wonder how much of his show will be full of flashbacks? Might get old quick.

Moon.

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