Fred’s No
Clue Movie Review
"Daredevil"
Directed by
Mark Steven Johnson
Daredevil, is the latest legendary Marvel comic book hero to come to the big screen. The story is about Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who represents the downtrodden citizens of New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. By night, Murdock, is a masked vigilante seeking justice known as Daredevil. Murdock loses his sight as a young boy due to a chemical spill, which further heightens his other senses in extraordinary ways.
All in all, I found this film very entertaining. It moves along at a brisk pace and doesn’t really have a dull moment. Lots of action, created by the some of the same folks who did the action sequences for The Matrix, is probably what keeps the story going at such a blistering pace. I was quite surprised at how dark a movie it was. A bit more violent and adult oriented than Spiderman. I don’t really feel that the character has the same mass-market appeal as Spidey, but it seems to be doing well at the box office. The film’s dark look kept me interested in the character and added a nice visual quality to the film. The contrast between the darkness and the use of the color red definitely stood out for me. The red roses and the color red of Daredevil’s outfit, kind of reminded me of the use of the color red in American Beauty.
Ben Affleck who plays Matt Murdock and Daredevil headlines the actors. He’s come a long way in a short amount of time and he proves here that he can be a convincing action hero. Affleck manages to keep the character very human and relatable. I found myself bothered a little by Affleck’s dialogue when he was in the Daredevil costume for some reason. I’m not sure what it was; it just wasn’t working for me. I think it sounded more like an impression of someone or something. I found his acting as Matt Murdock much more believable. Jennifer Garner shines in this film as the ass kicking Elektra, Daredevil’s love interest. She proves that she can kick butt on the big or small screen and puts her “Alias” skills to good use. She adds some much needed sex appeal to a high testosterone flick, and doesn’t sit on the sidelines during the action sequences. She also has a soft side that doesn’t seem to apply to many female action characters. I’d definitely be interested in seeing more of her character in further films. Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan play the evil villains Bullseye and Kingpin. Jon Favreau plays Murdock’s best friend and business partner, Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. Joe Pantoliano rounds out the cast as nosy reporter Ben Yurich. There’s even a short appearance by comic book writer and filmmaker Kevin Smith as a medical examiner. Favreau and Smith provide some funny comic relief. All the actors actually did a fairly good job. It's not Oscar caliber acting, but it's all done well.
The film’s effects could have been better, but I suspect that they were working with a budget that was more fixed. The action sequences looked more realistic and less cartoonish than many films that have been coming out recently, including Spiderman. Mark Steven Johnson manages to pull together a fine film about a less than well-known superhero. Considering that Johnson’s last big directing effort came with the small little movie, Simon Birch back in 1998, he did a great job pulling off such a large-scale project. I suspect that he along with Affleck were big fans of the comic to want to do this film.
I’d definitely see another flick based on this character. I’m not sure it will go down in history as anyone’s favorite all time movie, but it’s good clean popcorn fun.
For more information visit http://www.daredevilmovie.com
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