Netflix has had great success with building a Marvel television universe so far.

First came Daredevil, a series praised for its fantastic action set pieces and compelling characters. Next came Jessica Jones, which continued Netflix’s critical and audience success by combining psychological horror and old school film noir. Now with Netflix producing Luke Cage, their third marvel series, they continue to build a thrilling shared universe while maintaining that each series keeps its own style.

Luke Cage is portrayed by Mike Colter, who fits the role perfectly. Colter is able to capture the mental toughness needed for a gritty hero. The rest of the cast’s performances range from fantastic like Mahershala Ali’s Cottonmouth and Simone Missicks Misty Knight to the laughably bad villains portrayed by and Erik LaRay Harvey.

The plot is very basic. It involves Cage running from villian to villain, attempting to avenge the death of a loved one. The past of Luke Cage and his villains are revealed in frequent flashbacks. Ultimately over the course of the 13 episode season, the lack of a compelling storyline from start to finish hurts the pacing and the flow of the series.

Luckily Luke Cage is overflowing with style. The showrunners have created a living breathing Harlem   for the characters to inhabit. However, with attributes like music choice and fantastic visuals Harlem itself turns into a character and in many ways steal the show. In many ways Luke Cage has a feeling of an urban western and this ultimately makes the show distinguishable from the large number of superhero shows out there.

While the incredible style and a strong performance from Colter keep the show afloat, they can’t keep the show from sinking. Glaring problems began popping up as early as the 4th episode and these problems just get larger. Large plot holes and coincidence after coincidence hurt the plot that was already being spread too thin. Also, switching villains halfway through kicked off a chain of large cliches leading to a unsatisfying ending.

For all the style the directors manage to put in, they can’t agree on the right tone. Most superhero shows go for a gritty and dark world or an upbeat tone where the good guy always wins.

Both would have worked for Luke Cage, but instead the shows switches between the two. In one moment Cage can be emotionally devastated, yet in the next scene he is using puns and spouting one liners.

Ultimately, Luke Cage feels like a disappointment. A collection of strong ideas and parts that are strung together haphazardly with unsatisfying results. For every good sequence there’s three mediocre ones. Unfortunately, Luke Cage is the weakest entry to Marvel’s Netflix universe yet. Luke Cage barely manages to be entertaining and never comes close to reaching its true potential.
Score: 6/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkjQvSk2VA