What The Reviews Have To Say About Netflix's 'Luke Cage'
After the huge success of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, Netflix is back today with Luke Cage, a new series devoted to Jessica Jones' steel-skinned friend. Its predecessors were well received by critics as well — does Luke Cage stack up?
Mike Colter Is Outstanding As Cage
The success of the show firmly rests on the burly shoulders of Colter, (The Good Wife), who comes into his own as a bona fide star. He looks like a guy who could shake off having a building dropped on his head, but physical presence aside, Colter is full of charisma as the well-read, hoops fan Cage.
Much of the show's success has to do with Colter's performance, which is, for lack of a less punny word, marvelous.
[AV Club]
(The Rest Of The Cast Is Pretty Great, Too)
[Mahershala] Ali, so fantastic in the upcoming "Moonlight," and the always-great Alfre Woodard as his politician cousin who helps him pull his strings, add depth to characters who could become more interesting as the season rolls along… [Rosario] Dawson is always a welcome supporting cast member and [Simone] Missick is a likely future star. If people take to "Luke Cage" it will be for the cast.
And The Show's Focus On Black Culture And Racial Issues Is Timely And Well Done
The show examines black culture through its music, literature, television, and film, while never forgetting that it's a superhero series. It isn't easy to encapsulate all these themes and influences, and the show sometimes strains visibly to pull off its ambitions. But when it works, it excels, making the series more than another excellent Marvel series. It's must-see TV.
It Feels 'Closer To 'The Wire' Than 'Captain America: Civil War"
Colter has described the series as Marvel's version of The Wire, which is bold yet in many ways apt. It's an intimate portrait of street life, detailing not only the inner workings of the crime syndicates, but also the beleaguered police, sleazy politicians, and the young people in the community who see guns and drugs as an easy way to make money.
[Collider]
The Unapologetically Black Superhero Show I've Been Waiting For
[io9]
Racial dynamics are used not as extra flavoring to make the show novel or edgy, but as a backbone to keep the characters and larger narrative upright. If these first seven episodes are any indication, Luke Cage may go on to be one of the richest, most provocative things Marvel's made, period.
But The Show Is Not Without Its Issues
Where the drama tends to stumble is in meandering expositional scenes, which quite often go on too long and drain the show of momentum. Mahershala Ali plays local villain and club owner Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes," and Alfre Woodard plays Stokes' cousin, Harlem politician Mariah Stokes, and when actors of their high caliber can't make a long dialogue scene work, the problem is in the writing, not the performances.
[Variety]
The abundance of flaws — a sluggish pace, thinly stretched plots — can't smother everything interesting.
And while it feels kind of like The Wire, it can't live up that (very high) standard:
In many of its moments, it's wonderful, but it suffers from the narrative sag common not only to the previous Netflix/Marvel team-ups, but most of Netflix's attempts at the "our season is really a 13-hour movie" model… Unless you are The Wire, doing 13 intensely serialized episodes of drama in a season that build in interest as they go along is nearly impossible.
[Hitfix]
TL;DR
With Luke Cage carefully balancing screen time between villains and heroes, it has so far surpassed the second season of Daredevil, and hopefully won't drop off like Jessica Jones.
Watch The Trailer
