Where to begin with this? I kinda sorta liked it despite its flaws, but there are too many to completely ignore. I suppose I'll start with what I did like.
The opening was nearly perfect. I always enjoy seeing superhero origin stories reenacted in live action, just so long as they don't take too many liberties with the source material. My only real complaint here is that writer/director Mark Steven Johnson changed the circumstances under which Matt Murdock is blinded. (The comics' version, in which it happens as he saves a blind man from being hit by a truck, is preferable to me because it demonstrates Murdock's selflessness and proclivity towards heroism at an early age.) Everything else is handled fairly beautifully, including a scene where the blinded Murdock takes on a few bullies and whips them soundly with his walking stick. (It's very much in the spirit of the original comics from the '60s.)
The villains are perfectly cast. Colin Ferrel has just the right manic energy for Bullseye, and he plays a great sociopath. (It's a wonder his comics counterpart wasn't retconned to be more like this portrayal. I suppose he might have if the film had been more successful.) I can't think of anyone who could have played The Kingpin better than Michael Clarke Duncan. Apart from his sheer physical presence, Duncan also had the right attitude for the character, demonstrating that he's as calculating and intelligent as he is strong. Joe Pantoliano and Jon Favreau round things out nicely as Ben Urich and "Foggy" Nelson, respectively.
While I don't necessarily think Ben Affleck was the best choice for Matt Murdock/Daredevil, he acquits himself--no pun intended--quite nicely. I do have some problems with the character, though. At the end of the first big Daredevil scene, our hero actually willfully allows someone to be run over by a subway train. It was a bit of a "Wait, what?" moment for me. (He then inexplicably leaves a double-D symbol in some flammable liquid if for no other reason than for a reporter to prove that Daredevil has been there after the cops deny any such thing.) As the movie went on, it seemed that this incarnation of Daredevil was darker and more violent than I think even Frank Miller's. Miller only had Murdock pummelling people excessively after horrible, horrible things had happened to him. Here, it doesn't seem completely motivated.
I'm also a bit torn as to how to feel about Jennifer Garner as Elektra. I've liked Garner since Alias, and I think she's a good actor. She's also quite beautiful, but she doesn't look remotely Greek. (Then again, I suppose I don't look much like my ethnic background, so maybe that's forgivable. All I know is that, had Monica Belluci been younger, I think she would have been perfect.) Apart from that, however, it's not that there's anything wrong with how she plays the character; I think it has more to do with how she was written. Elektra is supposed to be the love of Murdock's life, the woman who made the biggest impression on him. Here, we don't get the sense that they really know each other for very long. Then, after tragedy strikes, she gets her assassin gear together and goes out hunting...and promptly gets killed.
At this point, I suppose some of my criticisms may come across as the sort of "They didn't make it exactly like the comic books, so it sucks!" criticism you hear from fanboys all the time. Well, I certainly don't think it has to be exactly like the comics, but the comics presented a much more preferable version of this story. Rather than everything happening within the same few weeks, Murdock meets Elektra while they are both still in college. After her father's death, she leaves school, and Murdock doesn't meet her again until years later, when she returns as an assassin. The conflict here is much more interesting, as Murdock has to get used to this woman who is completely different from the young lady he met all those years ago. That subplot is gone in the film, and it's unfortunate, because it just makes so much more sense than what Mark Steven Johnson came up with.
My biggest problem with the movie is the fact that it feels like it's missing a second act. As I said, the Bullseye/Elektra fight feels like it comes way too early, especially given its outcome. And then, almost immediately afterwards, we see a huge fight between Daredevil and Bullseye. Credibility is stretched extremely thin here, given the fact that Daredevil is shown pretty close to death, but somehow, he finds not only the strength to give Bullseye a royal trouncing, he also manages to go kick the Kingpin's ass! With the amount of blood he's lost,--and the blow to the throat that should have crushed his larynx--shouldn't he have lost consciousness long before trading the first blow with the Irish assassin? (Indeed, rather than it looking as though Daredevil is losing strength as the fights progress, he seems to get stronger. How does that make sense?) If there'd been a few scenes in between to show some time passing before these decisive showdowns, I think the movie would have flowed a lot better.
One other smaller complaint I have is the soundtrack. It's not that I dislike the music; I actually own a copy of the CD. Instead, it's the way the music is forced into the movie itself. Pop soundtracks, by nature, tend to instantly date whichever movies they're attached to. This tends to be worsened by not using the songs as incidental music, but rather using them to replace the score. There were only two times I didn't mind the use of the songs. The first was during the origin story, when the Hoobastank song "Right Before Your Eyes" plays over the montage of Murdock learning to use his new abilities. The second was at the very end, when Fuel's "Won't Back Down" leads us into the end credits. (Combined with the image of Daredevil leaping off a roof and shooting out his grappling hook directly into the camera, it made me think, "Y'know, I wouldn't mind seeing another one of these.")
Just a quick note, I have seen the director's cut of this, and even though it does add about thirty minutes of material, I still don't feel it addresses any of the problems I had with the movie. But these problems don't completely keep me from enjoying it. It's heavily flawed, but it's nowhere near as bad as Mark Steven Johnson's following comic book adaptation, Ghost Rider.
I'll wait until you finish ranting. Now? Can we? OK. Who didn't love Bullseye? The movie is awesome, I don't know why its so punished. Damn 'Elektra' movie.
This was a decent superhero movie. DAREDEVIL is a really awesome superhero tho. Matt Murdock (daredevil) had a really good storyline in his life. The decent superhero life. Then he gets supersonic senses, which is a decent superpower. He falls in love with some hott...other superheroish person (elektra). Also decent, btw i thought this was a PG-13 movie. Turned out to be a decent R-rated movie. The villian was a decent "hollywood" villian. Some dude that doesn't miss a target named bullseye (decent name). And some big crime boss that only Michael Duncan Clarke can play(decent choice). This movie had decent special effect and decent stunts. THIS WAS A DECENT MOVIE.
Got to love it when Ben puts on the tights. This was a pretty good action flick. I liked Jenifer Garner as a Superhero as well. I loved John Favreau as "Froggy".The cameo from Kevin Smith as Jack Kirby was an added bonus.
I was very suprised by this film. My cousin forced me to watch it one night and I became a fan. I'm not big on the super hero films but this one did catch my attention. The "hero" is very different from other "heros" in other films and goes about business in an interesting way. I definetely reccommed this film for anyone looking for a little zest in their movie collection.
It was an alright movie. Enjoyable and the fighting/story was good. The characters where entertaining, but I don't think i'll go out of my way to watch it again...
It starts off really well, but then delves into the truly unbelieveable, even for a comicbook movie. It sucks when the girl has more balls than the "hero" of the movie!
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Based on the comic book of the same title, Ben Affleck plays "Matt Murdock", a blind lawyer from the Hell's Kitchen section of New York City. He also plays the vigilante, "Daredevil", who is also known as "The Man Without Fear".
First of all, unlike "Batman" and "Superman," it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the main characters: "Daredevil", "Elektra" (Jennifer Garner), "Kingpin" (Michael Clarke Duncan) and "Bullseye" (Colin Farrell). If you don't, then you will not like this movie. People who are regular comic book readers will know the characters more than the general public.
There are many subplots in this movie, one of which is a tabloid reporter (Joe Pantoliano) investigating "Daredevil" and his true identity. The two main plots are the relationship between "Murdock" and "Elektra," and "Murdock" trying to bring "Kingpin" to justice, while "Daredevil" tries to get "Bullseye".
The cast is very good. I was impressed with the way Affleck and Garner's chemistry melded. But I was really impressed with the maniacle performance of Farrell, who injected some comedy into his portrayal of "Bullseye".
Another great part of this movie is the special effects for "Murdock/Daredevil's" "radar", which he got in a chemical accident as a child. Sometimes it's hard to understand the "radar" but it clears up clearly as the "soundwaves" reach "Murdock/Daredevil".
Overall, this movie is only good if you are a comic book reader or you familiarize yourself with the characters. If you don't know the characters, this is not the movie for you.
Daredevil was a pretty good movie, but Ben Affleck was not the guy for the job, yes he did a decent job as Daredevil, but I truly believe there could have been someone better. If they ever do make a sequel to Daredevil, drop Afflect.
The ONE time I've watched it.... I couldnt pay attention to the movie!! Plus the whole room was talkin crap about it!! I NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN!!! Then I will re-rate this!!
Seriously, the crappiest comic book film ever made. Ben Affleck does a horrible job at trying to display how Daredevil should be. This is just another cheesy movie that directors just threw out there because of it's title, just to get money. You are wasting your time if you watch this. Just a disappointment.
MCT:October 4, 2008
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MCT:July 23, 2008
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