Iron Heart
Is Iron Heart a good show? No. But it isn’t that bad. There were and still are a lot of people, especially when the show first came out, who were just blatantly racist in their reviewing of the show, without even watching it or having a true opinion on it. The hate on Dominique Thorne is completely unnecessary, and all opinions shared in this review are purely from a critical stance on the show.
I would like to say that I think this show has a great story and plot behind it, but it was just poorly executed, especially around the main character of Riri. The biggest problem is that she just isn’t likable, she is rude to her mother, and she is rude to the fake Natalie, which instantly gives us a bad impression of her. She is also a part of this gang in the first three episodes that we aren’t supposed to like, and is involved in all their wrongdoings. A lot of people compared her to a worse-done Tony, and that is true. While it took her three episodes to turn to “the good side”, it took Tony around 20 minutes when he escaped the cave. And unlike Tony, who has a true turn in heart, Riri never really does. At the end of her redemption episode in episode three, she straight-up kills someone, then continues to bring Ezekiel into it, which turns him evil, and then she makes a deal with Mephisto at the end of the series. SHE NEVER REDEEMS HERSELF, HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ROOT FOR HER.
While Riri is my biggest problem with the show, and how they portray her, all the other characters are pretty good, the aforementioned Ezekiel is a great side villain and I like his introduction and turn, as he turns from the complete opposite of the other characters, a rich white boy in the suburbs of Chicago, to a compelling and interesting villain by the time he meets Parker. Speaking of Parker, who is the Hood, he is a great main villain, he’s likeable, has good motivations, and cool powers. But nothing is better than the introduction of Mephisto, who we have been waiting so long for, and even though he only appears in the last episode, he is played perfectly by Sacha Baron Cohen, and is going to be great going forward in Marvel. And all the other characters, including the other gang of villains, Natalie, and Riri’s mother, are all good in their own right.
As I said earlier, the plot is quite good, with the villain gang led by Parker to be like Robin Hood and take money from the rich and take it for themselves? But after Riri, who is helped by Ezekiel Stane, the son of Obediah, to take Parker’s hood to analyse it, she accidentally kills Parker’s brother. This leads Parker and the gang, with Ezekiel now joining them after feeling used by Riri, to try to kill Riri. Obviously, they are defeated, with the series ending with Riri making a deal with Mephisto to bring back her best friend Natalie, who was consistently in the series as an AI version of herself accidentally made by Riri, but died when they were younger in a drive-by shooting. As I said, it’s a pretty good plot; it’s not great, but it’s good.
Even though it seems like this review is pretty positive, the entire Riri character, who is the main focus of the show and takes up most of it, really weighs down the show. At some parts, it also struggles with some pacing issues, which can make the show really boring, especially the first episode, where basically no action set pieces happen, which is very different to most other Marvel and other shows, which try to hook you in with that first episode, but sadly , Iron Heart doesn’t do that. Hence, Movie Munchy gives Iron Heart 44% on day 44 of the 100 Days, 100 Reviews challenge.
