Daredevil

Blinded by bio-hazardous waste as a child, Matt Murdock finds that his other senses have developed to the point where they afford him almost supernatural physical abilities. Years later, Murdock (Ben Affleck), now a pro-bono lawyer, takes on the guise of night-time vigilante Daredevil, using his powers to ensure that justice is always served. In doing so, he finds himself pitted against crime boss Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), his hired hit-man Bullseye (Colin Farrell, who hams it up wonderfully in every scene), and kick-ass babe Elektra (Jennifer Garner), who mistakenly holds Daredevil responsible for the death of her father.

The recent casting of Ben Affleck as Batman has been the cause of much controversy amongst comic book fans, but judging by Daredevil, the star's previous foray into comicdom, I'm not all that concerned, this fun movie proving the actor to be more than capable in the role of superhero. Affleck acquits himself surprisingly well as both the laudable lawyer and his leather-clad alter-ego, providing the character with the necessary depth and the required physicality.

If this longer version still proves less than perfect, it is not down to Affleck, but once again due to the script and the directorial style (I guess some things just can't be fixed). With an extra thirty minutes, The Director's Cut fleshes out the characters and makes more sense of the narrative, but at the expense of the pacing; in addition, the poorly lit visuals makes some of the action hard to follow (I understand that the look and feel is intended to emulate the style of Frank Miller's comic book artwork, which makes great use of heavy shadow, but director Mark Steven Johnson takes things a step too far).

Over the last decade, Marvel have gradually honed their product to meet maximum audience approval, boosting their budgets and throwing the best special effects available onto the screen, but as one of the earliest postmillenial attempts to bring their characters to the big screen (yes… Daredevil is already well over a decade old) this is still a serviceable effort, with only the occasional iffy CGI shot belying its age.

I have to admit when I saw Daredevil in its theatrical release, I found myself underwhelmed by it. I loved the visuals, but I found the love story soppy and couldn't always make sense of the story. However, hearing so much about the Director's Cut being superior I got the DVD off my brother, and actually I really liked it. Daredevil is not what I call a perfect movie, I still did find the love story soppy and becoming dangerously close to flagging down the film and the soundtrack is rather dated and heavy for my liking. On the other hand, I loved the stylish visuals, the fresh, funny dialogue, that I could make much more sense of the story and could be more entertained by it and the characterisation of the titular character with him being vulnerable and flawed I found him very interesting. The other characters are not as well developed, but are enthusiastically performed. Colin Farrell especially is lots of fun, Jennifer Garner is decent and Michael Clarke Duncan is great as is Joe Pantoliano. The editing is good if occasionally rushed, and the action sequences are clear if not always very subtle. Overall, a good movie that fared much better on re-watch. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is an exciting and excellent movie. The special effects and lighting is amazing, and all in all, the picture is superb. Also, the theme is a good one - he is an underdog, being blind, and fights for the underdogs, considering his job as an attorney. But he proves that he is much better than that when he serves justice at night as Daredevil. I dearly love how he does several stunts and tricks.

It is exciting to watch him do insane stunts like jumping right off buildings and then regaining his balance. All the stunts are a piece of art! But maybe, next time, more criminals.

I applaud this movie and hope for a sequel!

Where Spiderman was colorful and almost cartoonish, Daredevil is gritty and merciless. Whatever you thought couldn't happen in Peter Parker's world will more than likely happen in Matt Murdock's neck of the woods. Because people die here. Sometimes they die slowly and painfully. The superheroes go home with scars on their backs, broken teeth, and more than a few gruesome images that need to be repressed. For all of these reasons I liked Daredevil, because it takes chances by offering a hero that is by no means invincible or conventional.

The origin story of the character Daredevil is pretty complicated, but, as the helpful gentleman in the theater so aptly put it, "He's blind, but he can see stuff blind." Let's just leave it at this: As a kid, Matt Murdock was blinded by radioactive material in a freak accident. This caused his other senses to become phenomenally acute, to the point where Matt can track criminals by their scent and use sound waves as a sort of radar. He uses his newfound abilities to protect those who will not be protected by the justice system, all the while hoping that one day he will find the person who killed his father.

If you're a fan of the first two Batman movies, you'll find a lot to love in Daredevil. There are still some comic book elements that require some suspension of disbelief, like the fact that Matt could construct an entire high-tech lair beneath a church while working as a pro-bono lawyer, but the movie is not fantasy-driven. The fight scenes will make you wince at their realism, the love story is not corny or forced (as opposed to a certain flick called Just Married), and the characters are complex, uncertain people who just happen to don masks and fight on rooftops.

Do you remember the parts in the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies where Clark would hear someone crying for help in the distance? He would always be having dinner with Lois Lane at the time, and had to make up some dumb excuse for ditching the scene like, "Oh! I just forgot. I have a book due at the library." Then he would dash off to save the day, leaving Lois high and dry. Well, in today's feature, Matt hears someone crying for help, but when his love interest, Elektra, asks him to stay, he actually does. With out-of-left-field scenes like this, I couldn't help but enjoy Daredevil.

Some might be surprised at how little screen time the villains get in this movie. Kingpin, a Don Giovini mobster type, and Bullseye, an Irish nut with a couple of loose screws, are important parts of our story, but they don't steal the show. Going back to the Batman comparison, many movie buffs think that Jack Nicholson's role as the joker actually become more interesting than the winged knight himself. Not so in this movie, as Daredevil is the guy whom the role shebang revolves around. By deciding to focus on the hero more than the villain, the audience can get into his head and root for him to the last battle. Matt is a cool guy because he's not a wealthy playboy or Kryptonian who can smash through walls. Other than his heightened senses and combat skills, he's just a regular guy who happens to like read leather.

After X-Men and Spiderman became huge hits, it was expected that Hollywood would start churning out more superhero flicks as fast as they could make them. Thankfully, Daredevil doesn't seem recycled or rushed and actually brings something new to the table.

Not the worst Marvel movie ever, but not really a good movie either. At best it's a fun and entertaining guilty pleasure movie. It has that early 2000's edge and cheesiness. The director's cut really fixes a lot of the movies problems but not all of it. There are a couple dumb scenes that take you out of the movie and the cgi is pretty dated. However most of the cast does a pretty good job with the roles they are given and the movie does a quick and simple job at telling the origin story. Some of the visuals and art designs are also pretty great and the action sequences still hold up. Overall, only watch the director's cut and don't take it to seriously.