Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

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

Superhero Noir.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 1, 2017

It seems like the girls are finally getting their due in this maelstrom of superhero saturation that has taken the world by storm over the past decade-plus. Sure there have been many key female characters out there -- Storm and Jean Grey, Black Widow, Gamora -- but they've always taken a back seat to the big boy headliners. Marvel has found some success with the Agent Carter character in a lead television role, and so has DC with Supergirl. Wonder Woman dominated this summer's box office. Jessica Jones is the latest show to feature a female lead. And maybe it's fitting that many of these female characters are getting their shot on television. While much good can be done in two hours and several films, the opportunity to explore more deeply and, in some cases, more profoundly can open up an entire world that even the biggest budget effects blockbuster cannot achieve, allowing the audience to not only know them, but understand them and appreciate them at that nitty-gritty level where the flashy superhero work often intersects with the very tangible and dour real world troubles that happen away from the big battles and amazing locations.

Official synopsis: Haunted by a tragedy that broke her world apart, Jessica Jones settles in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, and opens her own detective agency, called Alias Investigations, with the hope of rebuilding her life and keeping the lights on in her apartment. She discovers that the source of her trauma, a mind-controlling sociopath named Kilgrave, has resurfaced, forcing her to use her gifts as a private eye to track him down before he causes more damage to her life or to anyone else.

Jessica Jones plays in stark contrast to many of the more colorful and showy Superhero films and franchises. This isn't an effects-laden thrill ride; it's instead a thematically dark and texturally gritty show that, in that way, is not at all dissimilar from Daredevil. It's more a Psychological Thriller with a Superhero component, more unique to be sure and often a stark contrast to not only Superhero films in general, but the base expectations that come with the genre. And with that turn from genre norms comes a show with a very distinct identity. Even in Daredevil there is a component defined by the classic hero-versus-villain setup and a detailed examination of each one from both sides. In Jessica Jones, the villain is brought to light piecemeal as Jessica learns more about him and his return, leaving the story in a regular state of uncertainty as characters, and the audience, effort to get on top of whatever awful thing might be coming next.

Jessica Jones is something of an anti-hero, or at least a nontraditional superhero, in some ways similar to Daredevil (and it's unsurprising that the shows are closely related in terms of texture and tone). She's a reluctant hero who is often out for her own best interests rather than fighting to save the world-at-large. Her transition to private investigator has come about because the occupation suits her skill set and because she needs the money to pay her bills. Sometimes it's really just as simple as that. She would rather not care about most of those around her (even her noisy neighbors), complicating her relationship with Luke Cage, but at the same time she finds herself unable to give up on her fellow citizens (even she's like to knock her neighbor into next week). She's a complicated character, inwardly and outwardly alike, which shapes much of the show's allure.

The character's powers mean she necessarily injects herself into the world around her and they largely shape one of the central themes that run throughout the season, that being the distinction between good and evil, not that core clash between characters but rather that much more intriguing gray area in between that even heroes struggle to traverse. Is Jessica's use of supernatural force -- even deadly force -- justifiable if it's used in the name of good, or at the very least in the name of vigilantism? And who's to say she's in the right? Is it wrong if she engages in illegal activities -- either centered on her own powers or her in-depth investigative work -- if it means preventing or lessening the results of a greater crime? She often engages in manipulation to facilitate her job, to catch someone in a affair or serve them a subpoena. The question really comes down to this: can she do enough good -- good by her own definition and means -- to erase the guilt and horrors of her past, even guilt and horrors not of her own making?

In contrast, the season's villain, Kilgrave, utilizes mind control for mischief and mayhem alike. Jessica brings his victims together into a de facto support group along their road to physical and psychological recovery alike, which only helps the show open up to some of the darker issues it explores, such as Jessica's own post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from her own history with Kilgrave. She's also turned to alcohol. The depiction largely defines the show's thematic center and reinforces its dark nature, an outward presentation that's reflective of the character's inward turmoil. The show sugarcoats nothing, whether physical violence, rape, or drug abuse; even implied horrors prove just as frighteningly realistic as those that the show chooses to present in a more visceral manner.

Krysten Ritter inhabits Jessica Jones. She finds a solid foundational balance between snarky and polite, strong yet vulnerable, innocent but jaded by life experience. Essentially, she's human: complex, difficult to understand, at times, but a finely carved character whose life has been shaped by living, leaving her jagged in some ways but polished in others. Ritter is capable of both pushing the character forward but, at the same time, exploring her demons, her darker side, all of the pain that has shaped her into who she is today, evolving as Kilgore breaks her down and breaks down the world around her. Rachel Taylor portrays her best friend Trish, presenting a front not completely dissimilar from Jessica. She's beaten but not broken, a woman who refuses to sink into victimhood and strives to overcome. Wil Traval delivers a strong performance as Will Simpson, Jessica's counterpoint in that he's more of a straight-laced police officer, less willing to skirt, or break, the law in the name of justice. David Tennant shines as Kilgrave, blending evil into his charming cover character to create a suitably creepy and dangerous villain.

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season comes to Blu-ray in a rather strong presentation. The digitally photographed show can be noisy -- excessively at times -- but it's also richly textured and captures the dark, harsh inner-city areas it inhabits remarkably well. Rough street-level textures, brick walls, worn elements, odds and ends around Jessica's apartment or Luke's bar are all pleasantly complex and oftentimes tangible. Character close-ups reveal enough skin texture to satisfy, and clothes are appreciably detailed. Colors are stout; the show is often dark and relentlessly drab, but the palette holds firm and accurate within the series' often unforgiving constraints. Blacks can be a bit murky, swallowing shadow detail, but the intensity suits the show's approach to storytelling.

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season features an able DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music accompaniment over the opening title sequence is well pronounced and spacious, a little scratchy by nature in places but offering wonderful little variations and details. It grows a bit more aggressive with time, evolving to introduce sharper riffs. The track is unafraid to highlight some of the more edgy, experimental sounds throughout the season, such as the mishmash of jumbled, shrilly sounds that float through the stage as Jones mentally pieces something together. Heavier actions details are nicely authoritative, whether thumping action or sharper details like a blaring fire alarm. More robust details are complimented by impressively balanced and finely tuned atmospherics, whether city din or background elements inside Luke's bar. Dialogue plays with firm center positioning, consistent prioritization, and effortless clarity.

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season contains no supplemental content.

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jessica Jones explores a very different sort of "superhero." She's a fractured character with a troubled past and a dark present, and the show's grittier, more thematically challenging nature may attract audiences fatiguing on more traditional action-effects-spectacle genre films. The series dives deeply into personal psychology, struggle, recovery, and the relationship between victim and perpetrator. It's nontraditional in more ways than one, but it's a complete and compelling show that, with Daredevil, offers a quality change of pace from the superhero cinema exploits. Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season delivers quality video and audio. No extras are included. Highly recommended.