MOVIE REVIEW
Four-and-a-half out of Five kernels
KAYLEE BREWSTER
Netflix and Marvel have teamed up again to create a show that’s just as strong as its primary hero.
“Jessica Jones” is not your grandma’s superhero — unless your grandma is an alcoholic, sarcastic, swearing, super-strong detective.
Jones (Krysten Ritter) uses her super strength, super smarts and super sass to work as a private investigator. Her job mostly involves catching cheating spouses until a missing-persons case brings back an evil figure from her past. Along the way she unwillingly receives help from her best friend, Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor) and a newly acquainted stranger, Luke Cage (Mike Colter), because the man she’s after is the deadliest and most dangerous Marvel foe we’ve seen yet: Kilgrave (David Tennant).
“Jessica Jones” is nothing without its character. Cage pretty much sums it up with this quote: “You are a hard-drinking, short-fused, mess of a woman.” She suffers from various issues that only start with childhood trauma, severe guilt and PTSD, and she self-medicates it all with liquid from the bottle.
That’s why she’s compelling. You can’t stop watching her and you can’t predict what scheme she’s going to think of next. Part of that is due to Ritter’s captivating performance, which includes every sarcastic comment, every break down, and the look she gets in her eye when you know someone’s going to get it.
But what is a hero without her villain? And Kilgrave is the worst of all. He’s creepy, obsessive and deadly. He doesn’t hold back and you worry about every single character’s life, including that of the hero herself. And like Ritter, Tennant kills it with his performance.
The struggle between Jones and Kilgrave is incredibly enthralling. It’s so tense and stressful you’re always wondering what’s going to happen next. By episode three you’re lured in, by episode five you’re hooked and by episode eight you’re binge-watching to the end of the season. It will take control over your life until you finish, which won’t take long.
There is so much more to discuss, including the script, cinematography, the use of colors, the music, even the opening credits, but it all adds up to one thing: Marvel is doing Jones justice. But it doesn’t feel like anything superhero-y. In fact, you almost forget about that part. The beauty of “Jessica Jones” is that it’s not a superhero show, it’s a psychological crime thriller (but with plenty of Marvel references for fans).
“Jessica Jones” fits the darker tone of “Daredevil,” so it can be graphic and violent, which is not for everyone. But it’s refreshing to have a female superhero who saves the world in a more practical outfit (jeans and sweatshirt) while being resourceful, relentless and real.
“Jessica Jones” is a name and a show you will remember.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHUjuJ8zxE
