Since, no screeners for me, this is the first chance I’ve had to write a review for Ironheart, so was it any good? Hmm, it was decent I think, with perhaps some potential for future seasons. Folks I’m going to be FULL SPOILERS on this since it’s all available to watch right now, so let’s talk about the good the bad and the ugly of Ironheart.
The Good
Ironheart‘s set up is decent, like the pitch for this as a show, I can see why it was greenlit. I’ll argue perhaps the execution didn’t quite live up to the pitch, but it’s a decent premise. There is an attempt to develop a strong cast of characters, with arcs and it is somewhat successful, but not quite there for me.
Again, going back to the idea, I like it. Riri gets caught up with a magic user committing crimes. At first she hopes it’s fairly harmless and she can just get in and out. Of course, she gets caught up and discovers the villain is more ruthless than he appeared. Tech meets magic and a focus far more on the magic side of the show. Riri has to merge her suit with magical powers to defeat the villain. Then she finds out Mephisto (Yup, he’s finally here for real) is the string puller at the end….
Oh, Zelma was great, I like some of The Hood’s crew and I liked Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto. In fact, Mephisto should have been introduced before the finale for me.
The Bad
My biggest issues is that the show at times feels too long winded and in others too rushed. The first few episodes are definitely too slow and filled with what I’d call melodrama as opposed to quality drama. It takes too long for Riri vs The Hood to properly manifest. Therefore, when the conflict arises, the show feels rushed from this point on. There are far too many minutes spent on Riri ‘not talking’ to her family and friends. You know the idea, once she does, things improve, though I have big issues with some of those scenes as well.
Some of the supporting characters worked well, Zeke Stane (Ehrenreich) was brilliant as the opposite of his father. However, once he became the bionic man, he was far less interesting. Natalie, or NATALIE was a nice idea, but it was played a little too Human for me for an AI. Given the ending, that should not be a concern for a Season 2.
Oh by the way if Riri had been fired from MIT then weapons contractors would be all over her offering her 6 figure sums to build them those suits. Do we not remember Iron Man 2? Riri’s way ahead of the Whiplash guy. You get the feeling at some point Riri should connect to the Armor Wars film that may never happen, but maybe should.
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I struggled with Xavier, Riri’s mother and The Hood himself. The Xavier sub plot went nowhere, the mother/daughter conflict was stretched too far and resolved too easily. As for the Hood, he’s literally just the shallowest villain you’ll ever see. Scratch that, if you’ve seen Falcon and the Winter Soldier, those guys were way worse. The Hood could be interesting, but his backstory is left for a finale flashback and by then I’m sick of the character. Not understanding his character’s motivations until the end was not the call on this show. He’s too large a role to play the mysterious one season villain, therefore Parker could be a better character in a Season 2, or Strange Academy, more on that later.
Sadly, Riri herself, is hard to like. Maybe that’s the idea, but if so, it’s risky idea. Riri consistently makes bad choices. Her arc should be, her becoming more heroic. However, the truth is, other than getting help from her friends (of which only Zelma was actually useful), she goes right back to making bad choices. Riri’s decision to leave John where he was… well, it was needed for the plot. However, his attack against her, the whole set up and her decision to leave him when she could have saved him – it was the wrong call. John remaining alive would have been an interesting dynamic with Hood becoming darker and darker. Riri’s betrayal of trust could have been enough and had John still used to show how far he’s fallen.
The Ugly
Here’s my main gripe with Ironheart. Riri decides to build a new suit, she does it using Magic, which was a cool idea. Where I have issues, is that the suit was basically manufactured in a back garage, and the metal alloys being used for all the parts, were ripped off an old 80’s car. Remember when Tony Stark was testing the best metals, for flight, strength, lightness etc? Riri’s suit is made out of cheap aluminium. If she smashed into a brick wall, I’d put my money on the brick wall winning. It just breaks the immersion for me.
The Hood was doing heists, why not have one of those heists be a place that manufactured specialist metals? Hell, connect the show to Adamantium which was butchered and pointless within Brave New World and have Riri make a suit from it, or something. Make me believe this suit could actually do anything but fall apart and rust in bad weather. I know BNW was originally supposed to be set after Ironheart, but it would still be a better idea.
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‘But Tony build a suit in a cave, with a box of scraps’…And Riri’s first suit was built from bits she cobbled together. Plus, Tony’s first suit was good for about 20 minutes and then unusable afterwards. There’s just no way that suit gets built with one capable genius and 4 non-technical people, in a garage, using an old car for parts in around 48 hours or so.
Sadly, for me the script was 70% and needed someone to come in and point all these issues out to add in the last 30% that would have made it a good idea, well executed. What we have, is some good ideas, not that well executed. Happy it released in three episode batches, because episodically, this was a relic from Marvel’s 6 hour movies phase for sure.
More Good
The other good news is that Ironheart could be improved. It could be a yearly episodic TV series for Marvel. The bones of a series are there and if Zelma and Parker are a tease for Strange Academy, both shows could work as a kind of Angel and Buffy thing where they connect characters across both. However, Season 2 needs better writing, a clearer character arc for Riri, and less of the building advanced war suits out of 80’s cars.
Lean into Riri and Mephisto. What does he want from her, how can she get herself out of it? Get into things like Adamantium, and mix it all in with the magic side. Give Riri some actual drama to deal with and challenges to overcome to she can become a hero.
GRADE: C+
Watchable, at times fun, with some fun characters. Not that good though, a little dull at time and then rushed in others. The action scenes are, average and there’s a lot of pointless character development that doesn’t really land anywhere. However, Season 2 could be much better if Marvel pushes ahead with the show.
What do you think of my Ironheart review, what do you think of the show yourself? Thoughts below as always.
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