REVIEW: Luke Cage is Netflix’s third Marvel show, and its first season succeeds with fine performances, excellent direction and fantastic writing.
By Danijel Bilaver, Staff Writer
Luke Cage is based on the Marvel comic, originally written by Archie Goodwin and designed by George Tuska and John Romita Senior. Created by Cheo Hodari Coker, this series follows Daredevil and Jessica Jones, the two shows introduced to the titular protagonist Luke. The show stars Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard and Mahershala Ali. It follows a falsely accused ex-convict who, after a dangerous experiment, is given super strength and unbreakable skin and uses his abilities to clean up the streets of Harlem, New York. Marvel, once again, delivers a show with outstanding performances, brilliant direction, great writing and phenomenal characters to be invested in.
Mike Colter knocks it out of the park as Luke Cage. He is able to make sentimental appeals through this character, and delivers an emotionally resonant performance. Luke may have unbreakable skin, but Colter, with the help of the writers, is established as an emotionally vulnerable character. Nobody can hurt him physically, but they can hurt him mentally — this contrast is one of the most striking elements of the show. Ali gives a phenomenal performance as the villain Cottonmouth. He gives a performance that hits notes of menacing and vile behavior, as well as complexity. Woodard gives a methodical performance as Mariah Dillard, who leaves viewers questioning her character’s motives throughout the whole season. Simone Missick, Theo Rossi and Rosario Dawson also give enthralling performances.
The dialogue for this show is brilliant because every character has motivations that viewers can make connections with, whether or not they agree with them. There are no characters that feel underdeveloped because the script does a tremendous job of balancing out all of its characters.
While Luke Cage’s first season is thoroughly entertaining, it does suffer a bumpy start. The first three episodes of the show are not as compelling as they could have been. Viewers may feel as though the writers were still trying to figure out what they wanted to accomplish with the show in the first three episodes, and may not be hooked right away. Once viewers get to the fourth episode, they will be hooked and feel that the creator had a clear vision of what he wanted the show to be, which is a compelling superhero drama.
Season 1 of Luke Cage on Netflix is filled with phenomenal performances, fantastic direction, brilliant dialogue and well developed characters. It does have an uneven start, but once it picks up steam, you are never going to want to take your eyes off the screen. Marvel has been making compelling film and television series for years, and does it again with this first season.