Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with some more Superhero Talk! This past weekend saw the release of Marvel's Jessica Jones to Netflix. And after spending the weekend watching, I felt like giving a few brief thoughts on it.
The series is about Jessica Jones, a former Superhero who after a traumatic experience dropped out of the game and became a Private Investigator. One night, a case from the parents of a girl named Hope leads her on a mission to find the man who caused her her PTSD, Kilgrave.
This is Marvel's Second Netflix series, following Daredevil; and after watching Daredevil, I thought I had a good idea of how these Netflix series would play out, after all Daredevil extremely pushed the envelope as to what Marvel could do in terms of violence, tone, and scenery. Jessica Jones manages to go the extra mile with even more foul language, disturbing scenes, and sex. Yeah...a lot of sex is had in Jessica Jones, and it will catch you off guard.
If there's something I should warn people planning to watch this show about is that Jessica Jones isn't your run of the mill superhero show: if you're going into it because you want action, then you're going into it for the wrong reasons. Not that people don't get punched, it's just that it's not what the series is revolved around. Jessica Jones is more of a Noir/Psychological thriller. It's much slower, much more character focused, more of a mental type of series.
Because this is a show that's focused heavy on characters, then comes the question of: how are the characters? Well, in my opinion I think they're all great. No character in this show feels wasted. They all have multiple layers to them and almost all of them have their own arc that they go through; and now that I think back on this series, the majority of these characters are changed in some way that ends up with them being a slight departure of what they were in the beginning of the show, which is something I can't really say about most shows I've seen, at least this year.
The two most standout performances obviously go to the two stars of the show. First off, Krysten Ritter as the title character. Jessica is a character with a long of things going on internally, she's a snarky alcoholic that shoots off at the mouth one second, then the very next she's a broken woman suffering psychologically and still recovering from what Kilgrave did to her all those months ago, and portraying a character like that takes a lot of range as an actor, range that I think Miss Ritter shows through and through in her fantastic performance in this series.
Speaking of fantastic Performances, let's talk about our villain of the series: Kilgrave. Now, I've never seen Doctor Who, so this series marked the first time I've ever seen David Tennant in a live action role, and sweet Christmas, does this man deliver. Kilgrave has the power to make anyone do what he tells them to, and in there lies the fear with this character. He uses this power to make people do despicable things, like making women sleep with him. He's a different kind of villain for the MCU, he's simply psychotic and all of his actions are done out of love for Jessica. Seeing not only the actions Kilgrave performs in his chess game with Jessica(or makes people perform in this case), but also the moments that show just how his actions have affected characters and changed them throughout the show provides disturbing content, but also fleshing out that I haven't seen in a show for a while. This character is so deranged and creepy, but it's why I found him so entertaining, that and the tremendous amount of enthusiasm (If that's the right word) Tennant puts in his performance.
And I want to give a small honorable mention to Mike Colter as Luke Cage. He was great in getting across that Luke is a very cool and reliable guy, but one that'll have no problem breaking your bones if you get on his bad side. I very much look forward to seeing what his own Netflix series will entail next year.
I get the feeling that Jessica Jones won't be the series for everyone. As stated earlier, it's not an action heavy show, and even without that point, it's a bit of a slow burn. But I do believe that it's story, character development, and outstanding performances from its leading lady and villain will leave people satisfied. If it's a detective/thriller kind of show you're looking for, Jessica Jones has got you covered.
Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation.
Take Care...
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