‘Iron Reign’ Netflix Series Review - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

If you should not judge a book by its cover, Iron Reign proves that you should also not judge a series on the basis of its first few episodes (in this case, the first three episodes, to be precise). This is a show that looks clumsy for a while. I was unable to catch its rhythms, thanks to those numerous cuts that constantly showed a scene from different angles. This editing technique has become more common in today's attention-deficient times as it screams, "Hey, look at me!" The cuts grab your collars and yell at you to be attentive. This style itself is not appalling, as some action movies manage to use it thrillingly. But in Iron Reign, it induces headaches. It feels equivalent to a slap.

On top of this, the sudden close-ups reminiscent of The Office push you away from the narrative. No wonder most of the dialogues went above my head during the beginning. Who is who? What is happening? The answers didn't instantly become clear to me. But even after I started grasping the story, the inelegant style kept me at a distance from the series. It's all too disorienting. When two police officers arrive at the dock while a container is being unloaded in Episode 2, you don't feel as nervous as the characters on the screen. Iron Reign is unable to mine suspense from an event like this. Or take that moment from the first episode where Lucia (Giannina Fruttero) is held at gunpoint. Again, you observe the situation coldly, and unresponsively.

Yet, the scene that really makes you lose faith in this series is where Joaquin (Eduard Fernández) gets hit. It appears like a mini-horror sequence complete with a jump scare as this crime boss roams around the port alone at night, and a truck starts following him like a monster wanting to possess (or kill) a human. What stops this sequence from being effective is the abrupt manner in which the camera looks away from the moment the contents of the container injure Joaquin. Naturally, I began preparing myself for what seemed like eight hours of fatigue. I thought Iron Reign was going to be yet another tedious Netflix series.

But from the fourth episode onwards, my whole perception underwent a complete 180-degree change. From here, I gradually got attuned to the mood of this show and started liking it very much. Even the images, which looked ugly at first, began to look better. In Iron Reign, the viewer is given slightly more information than the characters. Given that almost everyone is a criminal, we chuckle when people on the screen wrongly accuse each other. It's a lot of fun. The men are filled with pride, and their loyalty makes them blind. On many occasions, characters simply choose violence instead of engaging in level-headed discussions. They don't piece together the big picture and just attack based on half-baked intuitions or information. After Roman (Sergi López) sees Ricardo's (Enric Auquer) truck somewhere, he concludes the latter is a backstabber. A woman whispers a name in Roman's ears, leading him towards another wrong judgment.

This is why my favorite character here turned out to be Rocio (Natalia de Molina), Joaquin's daughter. She tells the men to clear their suspicions through conversation. Such smart characters are rarely seen in movies and shows. Most of the men, though, are not as bright as her. Their adrenaline runs higher than their intelligence, making them look like animals. In fact, when Roman and Ricardo crawl on the floor while stabbing one another, they appear like a fish trembling outside the water. Ricardo has a gambling addiction, which emerges from daddy problems. When he wins, the slot machine says, "You are number 1." Joaquin never uses these words for his son - he doesn't even hug a young Ricardo after a game of basketball. Ricardo becomes so consumed with gambling that he, on his hand, gets a tattoo of a card. In one scene, this tattoo doubles up as an indicator that the promise being made to a patient is false. The camera didn't need to give us a close-up of this card, but then this is the kind of show where flashbacks are marked with the year they are set in, even when you don't necessarily need the numbers. After the set-up, the young faces clue us into the fact that what you are watching is a flashback.

These flashbacks, at first, appear awkward. However, even they turn out to be superb dispensers of drama. Notice how - or more precisely when - the flashback involving Roman baptizing a baby Ricardo is shown to us. This past-present structure infuses the story with drama, though it fails to reveal how Ariel (Raúl Briones) got so interested in superstitions. It's not like the reverend, in the past, managed to cure his paralysis with his faith-based miracle. Speaking of paralysis, why does Roman, as a boy, sit in a wheelchair? Was there actually something wrong with his legs, or was he being mischievous? Something similar can be observed in Ajitpal Singh's excellent Fire in the Mountains. There, the kid's reasons are made comprehensible. Here, Roman's superstitions give rise to black magic and further accentuate that the men are nothing but horny fools. If Roman loses his good luck locket due to his lust, another man takes a woman (Melina Matthews) to his boss's office for sex (he doesn't know he is being manipulated by this woman).

And speaking of sex, Iron Reign is racy, and sexy when it comes to carnal desires. The show really knows how to titillate the audience. Consider the various scenarios in which the characters have intercourse: A babysitter and her boyfriend do it on the bed of her employer, a bride does it with a crush on her wedding night, and then there is the one on the boss's table. If Iron Reign returns for a second season (and I hope it does), it should retain these sexual pleasures along with the other ones.

Final Score- [7.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times