Go on, Be a Devil!!! (Daredevil (DVD))

Member Name: ross1979

Product:	Daredevil (DVD)
Date:	26/03/03 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining, Easy-viewing

Disadvantages: Lead Actor, Simple

Not my cup of tea was the first thought that sprung into my head when I saw the advert for this movie. Not being a comic book or a spiderman fan, I had to be persuaded to fork out the £3.50 (student rate) to go and see this.

In the main, I was pleasantly suprised. The stunts and special effects really transformed Daredevil from the comic book to the screen. However, it?s not a movie I would like to see more than once.

Daredevil is dark, brutal and bloody. And though the character comes from the Marvel comic stable, the movie?s tone and mood is far more similar to Tim Burton?s Batman.

Screenwriter-director Mark Steven Johnson (Simon Birch) has created a nightworld dominated by thieves, murderers and rapists in which a lone vigilante fights the good fight.
Daredevil prowls the rooftops and alleyways of New York?s Hell?s Kitchen, battling to keep it safe for its honest, downtrodden residents.

By day, Daredevil is Matt Murdock, an lawyer who defends the helpless people of New York. By night, Murdock transforms himself into Daredevil to brandish his own style of justice. He is known as the man without fear and is not a superhero, even though he acts like one. Blinded as a young boy, his other senses have heightened to such an extent that they compensate for his lack of vision. He utilizes the skills he developed in his singular quest to make a difference.

Daredevil is one of those films in which the obvious questions pop into your head as you are leaving the cinema. For example, if he?s only a poor lawyer, where did Murdock get the money to acquire all the cool gadgets he has in his apartment? And how can he afford such a place in New York. But this is comic book stuff - that sort of thing does not matter.

Bottom line: Daredevil does entertain. The fight sequences and stunt work are first-rate, the film shows flashes of humour, hit and miss though it is.

The movie?s main drawback, ironically, i
s its star Ben Affleck. Physically he seems built for the part, all buff and square-jawed, but Affleck is too bland, too much of a nice guy. Not a bad actor, but definately not suited to this part. Affleck lacks the charisma, the danger and the toughness required to convince the audience he is the real deal.

Jennifer Garner, while eye candy in a variety of outfits, is also slightly out of place in this movie, I feel. However, Colin Farrell hits the mark as Bullseye, the hired assassin for whom any object can be transformed into a lethal weapon, while Michael Clarke Duncan retains the right amount of menace as the crime lord, Kingpin.

Daredevil is not a family friendly adaptation such as Spider-Man. There is some intensity to the violence. This moody excursion is the forerunner for a posse of comic book characters due on the screen this year. Still to come, the X-Men sequel, X-Men 2, The Incredible Hulk and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Not sure yet how many of those I want to see yet.

In summary, go see if you like superhero capers. Stay at home if you like films with a particularly clever and thought-provoking story.

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