by Jeffery J. Rahming, Contributing Writer
For the most part, Marvel TV shows have been outshining their movies this year. Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and Eternals got a somewhat lukewarm reception compared to the critical praise given to WandaVision, Loki, What If…?, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (the incredible Spider-Man: No Way Home is a refreshing exception to this trend). Hawkeye had all the ingredients to be as great as the other Marvel series. The showpicks up where we left off with the character in Avengers: Endgame. With his family back from the blip, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) tries to adjust to living a somewhat normal life, until his past actions as Ronin come back to haunt him. The series was perfectly set up to be a great story about a man dealing with his ghosts and struggling to move past them — a very human story for the most human of the MCU protagonists. And while the series does deliver on that aspect, it also tries to deliver a whole host of other subplots that only serve to drag down the show.
Unsurprisingly, Hawkeye is at its best when it focuses on the titular character. Struggling to escape his past, suffering from hearing loss, and trying to make it back to his family for Christmas, Hawkeye finds himself put through the wringer. As perhaps the most relatable of the Avengers, Clint’s story throughout the show really resonates and gives Renner a lot of opportunities to show off his stellar acting chops (people tend to forget the man is a two-time Oscar nominee). His performance deserves a lot more recognition and is the show’s main saving grace.
Hailee Steinfeld also shines as Kate Bishop, Hawkeye’s new partner/sidekick. The character as written isn’t all that dynamic, but Steinfeld has quietly been one of the most consistently good actresses of recent years, and she brought a lot of life and nuance to a character that easily could’ve been irritating if played by the wrong actress. Any scene that focuses on her and Clint together is gold and left me wishing their relationship was given even more screen time.
Whenever these two characters are not on the screen together, the show struggled to hold my interest. As much as I liked Steinfeld’s portrayal of Kate, her subplot was an absolute chore to sit through. Kate spends the better part of the first three episodes trying to convince her mom (Vera Farmiga) that her new boyfriend, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), is evil. It’s a plot that’s every bit as cliché as it sounds, and every time the show switched to this storyline, it felt like I was watching a Disney Channel movie. It doesn’t help that Dalton plays Duquesne like a cheesy parody of Bond villain complete with a ridiculous mustache to twirl. Hawkeye is a more lighthearted show than the other Marvel series, but even with that being said, the whole storyline was a goofy and over-the-top choice, and I’m baffled at its inclusion in the series. Some viewers might find the way the plot resolves itself in the finale to be interesting, but the entire storyline involving Kate’s family did nothing for me.
A far more engaging antagonist is Echo, the deaf leader of the Tracksuit Mafia who seeks revenge on Ronin for killing her father. Alaqua Cox’s performance is impressive, especially considering it’s her acting debut. I found myself wishing she was the sole villain of the show. Instead, her screen time had to be shared with all the other antagonists that crowd up this series. As with all Marvel projects, the series has to balance being a stand-alone story and building out the broader universe. Hawkeye is one of the more clunky attempts at this. Without giving it away for those who have yet to watch the show, the other antagonists in this series are among my favorite Marvel characters, and while I loved seeing them, their presence felt forced. It felt like the series had one solid storyline, and then the writers were forced to find a way to jam in three more. Six episodes just isn’t enough time to allow any of the numerous antagonists to live up to their full potential. By the finale, there was just too much going on and not enough development for me to care about most of it. Luckily, the performances from cast were enough to bring some emotional impact out of the show’s under-baked conclusion, but I still wish it all came together more cohesively.
Despite all this, there’s no denying Hawkeye is a fun enough watch. This series takes on a more playful tone than the other Marvel series, essentially trying to be an MCU Christmas special. The overall plot may have been messy, but the show never failed at pulling some heartstrings along the way. The action scenes were always entertaining. Even though many of them felt like Saturday morning cartoons in their slapstick choreography, that only served to add to the tone the show was going for. But at the end of the day, the show struggles under the weight of all the plots it’s trying to juggle in what should’ve been a very simple and contained story. Fortunately, it’s pulled together by incredible performances from most of its cast and the chemistry of its two leads. It’s worth a watch sometime during this holiday season if you’re a Marvel fan, but this is a show that just doesn’t quite hit the bullseye.
Grade: C+
You can follow Jeffery J. Rahming on Twitter