TV Review: Luke Cage
Updated: May 28, 2019
Our 3rd entry into the Marvel and Netflix relationship was released on September 30th. People have been literally salivating for this series since they released the 4 – 5 minute fight scene last month. Plus, with the winning streak this relationship has had, how could you go wrong?
Now, I am not going to be as in depth as I was for the Daredevil Season 2 review. I released after I built the bloody page that it was A LOT to take in. So I am just going to talk about my impressions of the series and such. But I will say I enjoyed the season but out of the all the Netflix series it is rank 3. Being as which there is only 3 shows, it’s not that it was bad, it just didn’t beat Daredevil or Jessica Jones. Below are my impressions of the characters with a quick note opposed to the giant paragraphs like last time.
Mike Colter – Luke Cage aka Carl Lucas (Perfect)
Theo Rossi – Shades (Needs an SOA show to go back to)
Simone Missick – Detective Misty Knight (Queen of the Damned maybe?)
Alfre Woodard – Black Mariah (Still mad that Ultron dropped a city on her kid. Easter egg if you caught it)
Rosario Dawson – Claire Temple (In every Netlfix Marvel show but more on screen time)
Mahershala Ali – Cornell Stokes aka CottonMouth (Not a Threat whatsoever)
Erik Laray – Willis Stryker aka DiamondBack ( The newer version of Tony Todd)
Frank Whaley – Detective Rafael Scarfe ( Will always be Young Archie Graham from Field of Dreams)
The Pro’s
Let’s start with what I liked. Mike Coultier was literally the best casting they had thus far in these Marvel series IMO. Sure he doesn’t wear the vintage look(well he did for 5 mins, spoiler), but he fits the bill in acting, size and overall presence. If I saw that man in public, I would probably soil myself if he looked mildly irritated at me. They really capitalized on his acting ability and really showcased on LC’s strength. Just wait till you see the crumpling garbage container scene.
The only real adversary of LC throughout this entire season was Diamondback and without giving away too much, he was the only one to give LC a run for his money. They gave him a decent storyline and portrayed him as a man who could easily take on a god. But he reminds me of a young Tony Todd. So if there was ever a CandyMan reboot, they need to sign this dude on to do it.
The writing and principal photography for this show was bang on. “Sweet Christmas” will live on well after you binge the show and you find yourself dropping the line randomly. The overall story was intriguing and the locations were perfect for the show. They wanted to push the feeling of a pure African American neighborhood and everything that came with it. I commend them for that. They even took shit by critics because they felt the show was “too black.” Really? Those people need to pick up a comic or drive by Harlem some time. The music score was matched with the story/scenery as it gives off that Harlem feel and really helps show a deep side to the people who lived in Harlem and some of the struggles they overcome.
Also, adding Rosario Dawson to the show was not shocking but really worked for her. We are used to seeing her for a few minutes in episodes of Daredevil and JJ since DD S1, but now she gets to have a vital attachment to the Luke Cage series. Maybe she can find a place in LC and quit bouncing around so much?
The Con’s
Not many Cons. But there was a few.
You had a few villains for LC to against but it was hard to take them seriously for most of the show. CottonMouth? Black Mariah? Shades? The argument now is that the next season will be better because these characters were rolled out. Cottonmouth wasn’t even really a gangster. Fine. Kingpin is a tough act to follow. But this guy felt weak since the beginning. Black Mariah was meh and literally left no impact with me. Shades, well, he was quite deviant and was a snake. But after coming off SOA, you would think he would have been more intimidating or impacting. It just felt like these characters were just there. Same with Misty Knight. She was just there as a somewhat clairvoyant who makes nothing but poor decisions. Yes, all their characters were key in the season and I do not discredit those facts, but they were just there to fill the empty spots where Luke Cage wasn’t being all epic and stuff.
The ending too me just didn’t sit well at all. After all the fights, all the drama, all the police corruption and death, we were left with a weak ending. I would even compare it to the ending of Prison Break or even the Sopranos. It was a “well that’s that” kind of ending. After so much build up, why would you walk away from a huge opportunity to do a cliffhanger?
So that’s my impressions of LC. I highly recommend watching to any crowd. Whether you are a fan of comics or just like binge watching shows, this show is perfect for 99% of the audience.