Hawkeye Season 1 (2021) Review

Marvel Studios managed to fit one more show on Disney+ into 2021 and Hawkeye has now finished and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees Clint Barton forced out of retirement to clear his name and help a young new archer from a dangerous new world. 

Main Character

Jeremy Renner reprises his role as Hawkeye and he really shines with the spotlight put onto him. You see how being this veteran Avenger has really affected him and mixing that with his role as a father clearly makes the whole situation difficult. His character is really well developed and it shows that when given the time and effort to shine. Hailee Steinfeld makes her debut as Kate Bishop and she is such a fantastic addition to The MCU. She brings so much life to the role and her energy is hard to ignore and really raises the quality of the show. I said in my trailer review that the dynamic between the two of these would be what carries this show and it absolutely does with them being the real highlight of this show.  

Supporting Characters

Florence Pugh makes her return as Yelena Belova and she is brilliant, she has so much energy and charisma on screen. Some of my favourite scenes are the ones between her and Steinfeld, they are fantastic to see on screen together and I am glad Pugh was given the chance to have a future in The MCU. Vera Farmiga plays Eleanor Bishop and she is a pretty complex part of the show, she is clearly very protective of Kate but there is something slightly off with her and Farmiga does an effective job with this. Tony Dalton plays Jack Duquesne and he is really charming and charismatic in his role, you also aren't really aware of his motivations and Dalton is just so likeable that it adds to the intrigue and complexity. Alaqua Cox makes her debut as Maya Lopez/Echo and she is a really good character, the fact that she is a deaf character allows for some really interesting sequences and she has her own motivations and character development too ahead of her own show heading to Disney+ over the next year or so. 

Story 

The story is effective, it deals with Barton's guilt over his time as The Ronin and the events of Avengers Endgame. The chemistry between Kate and Clint is fantastic and it is really fun watching them navigate New York and the criminal underworld. All the characters have really interesting individual stories and characters arcs but the issue is that it doesn't quite mesh together. The show has so much going on in it that it can't balance it all in 6 episodes and it does make certain things feel a bit rushed and undercooked by the time the show finishes. 

Script

The script is also good, there is some great banter between Kate and Clint and the show is actually pretty funny. Some of the drama does work and you feel the emotion but again some of the dialogue doesn't earn the emotion that they clearly think it does and I think this could have been fixed with either more episodes or less things being put into show. 

Style 

There are some really fun and creative action sequences in Hawkeye and the Christmas theme actually really worked for me which was something I was worried about. But the pacing isn't quite there, again it is just due to the amount the show tries to cram in, for a short amount of time. 

Overall

Overall, Hawkeye is a good fun show. It does a lot of things really well but maybe overdoes it and it will be interesting to see where  the characters and stories come out of this show and progress in The MCU. 

Rating - 7/10