**This review contains some spoilers**
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
As the final Avenger to get a solo project, Clint Barton struggles with his time in the spotlight to get out of first gear, but great characters, strong acting and a bit of fun allows “Hawkeye” to be an entertaining ride.
The show’s biggest weakness is the lack of a clearly defined plot. Is it about solving the murder of Armand? Clearing Kate’s name? Getting back a mysterious watch? The show never quite figures that out. Clint is constantly calling home to let his wife know that he’s going to need more time, but there’s never a moment where the audience knows what he needs to do so he can move on. There’s a lot that happens because of the events in the first episode that keeps our heroes on their toes, but it’s too vague on where they need to go next. Fortunately, Clint and Kate work so well together that none of that matters most of the time.
While it would’ve been nice to get more of Hawkeye’s backstory, the show does fill in some of the remaining gaps in his early interactions with Black Widow. This relationship comes up a lot, and we see how her death still affects him. We also see a lot more of him dealing with being a family man and a superhero. This isn’t an original concept, but Jeremy Renner’s acting completely sells how emotionally crushing it is to have to make his family take a back seat. We also get to see a lot more of the tactical side from the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but he really doesn’t get a ton of action sequences. Luckily, Kate Bishop gets quite a few of her own. Kate is instantly likable thanks to a memorable origin and how she uses her quick thinking just as well as her bow and arrow. Hailee Steinfeld nails the character, and while she has the cockiness of a Jessica Jones, Steinfeld also displays her vulnerability and inexperience.
Most of the side characters fail to make all that much of an impact. Maya has an incredibly moving back story, and is introduced as a badass, but her revenge arc has a too-quickly resolved ending. And without her superpowers from the comic book, her only other interesting character trait is her deafness. Kazi is fine for the role they designed for him but is seems like he’s watered-down from his comic incarnation as well, not to mention having poorly defined allegiances. Kate’s mom, Eleanor, spends so much time being mostly a secondary character that her obvious plot twist lacks much of a punch. Clint’s wife Laura quickly goes from supportive spouse to being someone that knows way too much about the spy-business to just be a simple housewife. Unfortunately, we don’t get a big enough payoff to her story. Another character without a payoff his Jack Duquesne. Known in the comics as The Swordsman, he used here as nothing more than a red herring. However, his goofy cluelessness becomes pretty endearing by the end of the season. Ultimately, it’s two guest characters that stand out the most. Yelena shows up late in show’s run, and steals every scene she’s in. While most of this is played for laughs, she does have a chance to be a badass and still have some emotional moments. And when the Kingpin finally shows up, Vincent D’Onofrio is just as intimidating here as he was in the “Daredevil” series. But the fact that he’s not revealed till the final episode keeps him from fitting into the show’s narrative properly, and the way he’s portrayed as being at super-human levels of strength and durability makes him feel too much like a monster and not a regular man.
In general, there are not a lot of standout action sequences, although there are a couple of memorable moments. The show looks fine overall, and there is some creative camera work at times, but overall, the cinematography is kind of bland. The special effects, like the other Disney+ show is movie-quality, although that doesn’t mean it always looks top-notch.
“Hawkeye” finally gives the spotlight to an Avenger that spent a lot of time on the borders of the bigger stories. While the street-level threat is perfect for a character like Hawkeye, the poorly defined plot keeps the show from getting much traction. But great chemistry between the leads, and some strong guest appearances, make it all worthwhile.
*** out of *****
