Rhapsodies

So after two sessions of binge watching courtesy of a friend with a Netflix account I have seen all of the first season of Jessica Jones.

This is an adaptation of the series, Allias by Micheal Bendis about a cynical, bitter and hard drinking ex-superhero making a living as a private investigator. I can’t say I was much of a fan of the original comic, (some people liked it a lot of my friends hated it, personally I thought it was competent but I didn’t particularly care for the way they retconned her into the continuity of the Marvel universe.) so I can’t really couldn’t judge it as an adaptation of said comic but I can say that this is one of the best examples of how the genre can be taken seriously and go into the market  with the assumption that all of the people who are watching this are grownups.

All in all, as far as the Marvel cinematic universe is concerned, this works just fine with Jessica Jones only being part of the “community for about as long as anyone else in the setting and hadn’t crossed anybody’s radar. That is until she accidentally encounters a mysterious mind controlling psychopath called Kilgrave who kidnaps her for several months destroying her life complete. A year later she making ends meet as a private investigator in New York suffering from severe ptsd, depression and alcoholism. And to make things worse Kilgrave is back

From here we start with a seat gripping cat and mouse game between Jessica and her former abuser. A situation where due to Kilgrave’s powers, nobody can be trusted and everybody is a potential victim.

Krysten Ritter plays Jessica Jones as a terribly damaged young woman who is tough enough to survive what she’s going for but at this point she’s still taking it one day at a time. While she still has friends she is still pushing them away to minimize the risk of being hurt again.

David Tennent is great as Kilgrave. I knew Tennent could do bad not just from the edge his version of the Doctor has but also from his brief but riveting performance as Barty Crouch Jr. In Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Fire and his Hamlet while not technically evil is very much an insufferable jerk. His Kilgrave, is a hedonistic sadist who, if he is to be believed, does not know he’s doing anything wrong.  To a slight extent I found him scarier in the beginning of the series in a less is more kind of way where he is almost more of a terrifying concept than a concept, but Tennant’s performance, deceptively charming at one moment than breaking down in a temper tantrum ordering crowds to commit suicide the next, is what really makes this work and as we get to know the character and what he is capable of feel almost lucky that he is only motivated by his own self gratification.

All in all this one is the top of my list for best entries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I liked the supporting cast especially Mike Colter as Luke Cage and Rachel Taylor as Jessica’s best friend Trish. My only problem with it was the darkness of this story came a little close to the edge of my personal sketch and I got a little tired of a handful of characters being designated victims but all in all this was sixteen hours well spent. (Yes I know it was only thirteen episodes, I’m including commute time to the friend’s apartment. )