Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season - Blu-ray Review

Michael Scott

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Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season


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Movie: :4stars:
Video: :4stars:
Audio: :4stars:
Extras:
Final Score: :3.5stars:



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Movie

While DC has made a big name for itself with their “Arrowverse” live action series, Marvel has had to play some catch up in that department. They garnered some success with the ridiculous Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (a show that I could barely choke down), they largely seemed to fail at that market. Agent Carter was actually really good, but sadly rather short lived. It wasn’t until they decided to take some of their more “non traditional” heroes and partner with Netflix to make original content that their luck started to change. With the show on Netflix, vs. broadcast TV, Marvel had more flexibility to make a series the way THEY wanted to, instead of censoring it for the standard broadcast mechanisms. Daredevil took the internet by storm, and provided one of the few TV shows in the Marvel universe that could almost be considered R rated (it doesn’t push the boundaries like Game of Thrones, Dexter or other HBO fodder, but it’s much more violent and language ridden than your average comic book show), and the fans took to it like a starving man to a feast. Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season was the followup series to Daredevil (it also takes place in Hell’s Kitchen, to coincide with the blind super hero’s antics), and it follows in the dark footsteps of its predecessor, making for a unique and visually grim superhero (or antihero) TV show.

Jessica Jones is not your average superhero. In fact she’s not much of a superhero at all. The show takes place AFTER Jessica went through her stint trying to save the world with her superhuman strength and skills. However, she encountered another inhuman in her journey. A man who would end up nearly breaking her with his incredible powers of mental persuasion and manipulation. Now Jessica has relocated to Hell’s Kitchen where she sets up shop as a private investigator. Now she’s chocking down large quantities of whiskey, mentally scarred and suffering from PTSD after her abuse at the hands of this psycho super villain named Kilgrave (David Tennant in a fantastic role). Her caustic attitude has driven off just about every friend she ever had, and the only relationship she has that’s worth anything is attorney Jeri Hogarth (Carrie Anne Moss), who ends up feeding her clients.

When Jessica is given a mysterious case about a kidnapped girl, her worst fears come true. Kilgrave is the kidnapper, and he’s using the whole situation to exact revenge on the ex superhero in a vicious way that only he knows how. At first terrified of the situation, Jessica tries to run, but when that proves futile, she decides to take this demon head on. With the help of a bartender named Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and her old best friend Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), Jessica does the only thing she knows how to do. Cause a whole lot of pain for anyone and everyone who stands in her way.
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Jessica Jones isn’t a hero, but she isn’t an anti-hero like The Punisher either. If I had to put a label on her, I would say that she’s just a super powered human trying to live her life the best way she can, and maybe do a little bit of good in the process. What makes Jessica so unique among the superhero genre is the fact that the show isn’t all shiny and glossy. I understand that not everything has to be dark and grim, but the series is much more than just an excuse to be morose. It’s a gritty and textured psychological drama that has to do with a super powered being rather than your typical “I’m gonna go save the world today!” type of hero. The poor girl is traumatized by her previous dealings with Kilgrave, and is left emotionally shattered as a result. While her methods of coping are not always healthy, most of the time is spent trying to have some semblance of normalcy to her chaotic life.

A second recurring theme throughout the show is the use of “gray” in the right and wrong struggle. While so many of these shows focus on starkly black evil, and sharp white good, Jessica Jones dabbles with discussing the ideas of having differing shades of gray. There is very little in the series that can be considered distinctly good, and distinctly evil. Even Kilgrave has differing shades of gray once you get to know him, instead of being the pure mustache wielding villain that he’s made out to be during the first few episodes. Jessica’s interactions with people throughout the show may seem harsh, and her methods brutal, but there is a sense of decency and true desire to help. However, you start to ask yourself the question “Is she actually in the right?” many times. She tends to engage in illegal activity to stop a greater evil, but then as the lines blur you realize that even her intentions and end results are all that good either. It’s a strange dichotomy that makes her a uniquely intriguing, and heavily flawed antagonist.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA




Video: :4stars:
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Disney’s Blu-ray presentation of
Jessica Jones is a very impressive looking one, but one not without a few flaws. The show can be a bit noisy at times, and the copious (and I mean copious) amounts of darkness interject some digital banding to the noise during the 780 minutes of run time. The daylight shots are given a cool blue color grading, while the darkness is deep and inky, with hints of golden overtones from the artificial lighting. Skin tones and facial details look natural and well defined, with only hints of softness to the digital shoot. Black levels maintain a high quality of sharpness and detail despite the banding, and overall detail is nothing to sneeze at.








Audio: :4stars:
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The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is intentionally kind of harsh, with sharp sounds and a shrill uses of chaotic sounds as Jessica is mentally going through a struggle. The series shifts from a soft dialog heavy tone where Jessica is just talking in her own head, or conversion with Trish, to a more violent and aggressive tone when she’s tearing it up with bad guys, or listening to gunshots blast across the sound stage. The music is spacious and clear, allowing for some really odd musical numbers that fit the strange tone of the series quite well. LFE is tight and punchy, but not overly aggressive or even THAT aggressive. It adds some nice weight to the action sequences, and accentuation of the score.







Extras:
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Final Score: :3.5stars:


Jessica Jones: The complete First Season is one of the better Marvel offerings as of late, and acts as the first spin off after Daredevil became so wildly popular. While it doesn’t have your traditional superhero vibe to it, the female eccentric show is more than interesting and one of my favorite of their recent dalliances. It’s a dark series for certain, but not dark for no reason, or filled with unnecessary angst. There is a purpose to the darkness, and a good bit of light infused into the series as well. Disney’s Blu-ray set looks and sounds great, but I was a little disappointed at the complete lack of extras. However, don’t let that dissuade you from watching one of the better Marvel comic book shows out there. Recommended as a great watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Krysten Ritter, David Tennant, Rachael Taylor, Carrie Anne Moss
Created by: Melissa Rosenberg
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, German DTS-HD HR
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 780 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 22nd, 2017







Recommendation: Great Watch

 
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tripplej

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Thanks for the review. I will add this to my watch list. :)
 

Sonnie Parker

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Ehhh... just didn't do anything for me... couldn't get into it. I dunno... I really thought her acting was subpar at best. Wrong person playing the part for me.

Hey... I can't like them all, right?
 

Michael Scott

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she was an interesting choice for Jessica I do admit. I didn't realize it but that was John Ritter's daughter... I still miss him

as for not liking it, can't win em all. You'll still get the usual forum punishments though. derision, beatings, and the like
 

Sonnie Parker

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50 lashes... I know ... I know. :justdontknow:
 
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