Luke Cage Review: Netflix's Latest Marvel Show Is Every Bit As Awesome And Exciting As We Wanted
With the release of their first two Netflix shows, Marvel Studios took the opportunity to showcase a different side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Approaching material as close to R-rated as we'll ever see from the larger franchise, Daredevil and Jessica Jones pull no punches, and establish a much darker tone to ground their street-level heroes. Now the streaming service and the comic book company are about to release their third collaboration with Luke Cage - and while it's familiar in that it's a show that's able to get a bit more hardcore than its PG-13 blockbuster cousins, it also has a unique flavor that could very well lead it to being called the best Netflix/Marvel series so far by the time it's first season is over.
This review is based on seeing the first seven episodes of Luke Cage (more than half of the season's total of 13), and it's incredible to watch the show develop a vivid and distinct environment around its titular hero, who was brilliantly portrayed by Mike Colter last year in Season 1 of Jessica Jones. Moving the man with unbreakable skin from a bar in Hell's Kitchen to a barber shop in Harlem, showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker sculpts a specific vision of Upper Manhattan, and populates it with not only tremendous characters brought to life with great performances, but a culturally-driven crime story guided by two standout central villains in burgeoning crime lord Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes (Mahershala Ali) and his corrupt politician cousin "Black" Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard).
Mike Colter's performance in his seven episodes of Jessica Jones last year was really the only thing that the Luke Cage series needed as far as promotion -- as the actor managed to find a perfect balance between grim and charismatic in the role -- but he's even better as the lead of his own show. There's a certain level of visual confidence that has to be recognized in playing a character who can take a bullet to the face and not flinch, and it amplifies the many thrilling action sequences with a special kind of fun. When Luke smirks knowing that he's about to beat down a room full of overly-aggressive gangsters, you can't help but smirk with him.
But as you would expect from a man living outside the law, grieving his ex-wife, getting over an intense break-up, and recovering from a shotgun blast to the head, the life of Luke Cage is very far from all proverbial sunshine and rainbows. At this early stage, I actually recommend not necessarily becoming too attached to any one supporting character in the show, because their end may very well be one episode away. There is a whole lot of heartbreak and devastation portrayed in Luke's Harlem life -- and it's in those moments that Colter shines as well. Cage is a man who has lived through tremendous pain (realized in an "origin story" episode towards the middle of the season), but his capacity to get through it all and continue to try and help people shows an honorable strength that Colter perfectly evokes as he literally, figuratively, and regularly rises through the rubble.
http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1558669/luke-cage-review
