"I missed? I... never... miss!" (Daredevil (DVD))

Member Name: litefoot

Product:	Daredevil (DVD)
Date:	31/03/03 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bullseye, good performances

Disadvantages: Unoriginal, average script

Hollywood latest venture into comic to film adaptations is Daredevil.

Daredevil tells the story of Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck), a lawyer by day and shadowy fighter of injustice by night. This superhero is unique in that he cannot see. When Murdock was a young boy, he was blinded in a road accident caused by a toxic spill of chemicals. As he grew, he developed his senses to extraordinary levels, able to do things that no ordinary human being could (e.g. see soundwaves). When his Dad, a boxer, was murdered, Matt swears to grow up to fight injustice wherever he finds it.

In the present day, Matt's is in partnership with lawyer Franklin Nelson (an underused Jon Favreau, Swingers), taking only clients he believes are innocent. One day, Matt meets Elektra (Jennifer Garner) who he falls in love with. When mysterious gangster boss Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan, Armageddon, the Green Mile) has Elektra's father killed to frame him as the Kingpin, Elektra swears revenge. Add to this mix Bullseye (Colin Farrell), a lunatic Irish assassin with a good aim for hitting his target, and it sounds like you're in for a fun film.

Daredevil is the latest in a long line of comic to film transitions. Five years ago, comic films weren't exactly regarded as hot property; look at the disaster of Batman and Robin for example. Then a few years ago, X-Men was released and changed all that (no, I haven't forgotten Blade). The success of X-Men drew Hollywood back to the appeal of making such films, and since then we've had Blade II and Spiderman (the latter of which did extremely well financially).

Now its Daredevil's turn for the Hollywood treatment. And unfortunately, it doesn't quite hit the mark.

Firstly, the story. Matt is a nice young boy. He loves his father very much. Matt's father is killed. Matt grows up swearing to fight injustice. Matt has trouble staying in a relationship. He finds out that the big villai
n in the city was the man who killed his father all those years ago... Sound familiar? Yup, that's right - just substitute 'Bruce' for 'Matt' and you'll see where I'm going here. Herein lies the main problem of the film. It's *far* too similar to Batman. Now Batman is regarded as an excellent film (not just by me, by the way) and was stylishly and darkly directed by Tim Burton. So the makers of Daredevil would have had to make a pretty good stab at the film. Unfortunately this isn't the case. What you have here is a good, entertaining, original film... if Batman had never been released. Which leaves you with a great sense of deja vu after watching this film.

The film concentrates on Matt as a boy at first, and this is the second problem. It goes on too long. Batman (yes, I'm going to harp on about it) did this far more effectively, in one short scene that told you a lot about the inner workings of Bruce Wayne. Daredevil takes 15 to 20 minutes to do the same, in an inferior way, as it develops Matt's relationship with his boxing Dad (whose refusal to deliberate lose a fight was what got him killed) and shows the accident that causes Matt to lose his eyesight. Heck, you even get the old cliche of boy gets beat by bullies - boy gets super powers - boy beats bullies. So it's a relief when we flash forward to the present day and get on with the story proper.

Ben Affleck is not really surprise casting for Daredevil. Matt Damon, Guy Pearce and Edward Norton had also been rumoured. Affleck is very good in the role, whether it be fighting injustice in dark streets, fighting injustice in a courtroom, or turning on the charm for Elektra. He also has a surprisingly good chemistry with his partner in his law firm, and its a shame that Jon Favreau doesn't get more to do here (perhaps that will be fixed in the inevitable sequel).

It nearly has as much dark atmosphere as Batman (perhaps they should have
gone the other way, and made it much lighter in tone) but not quite. At times the film is laboriously told, and while Matt Murdock gets plenty of depth, others don't. Michael Clarke Duncan's Kingpin has little depth here, and you don't really find out much about him; all you have to know is that he's the bad guy, apparently. Still, Duncan has an undeniable presence that compensates for this. In the comics Kingpin is white, and the film makers tested many wrestlers for the part. However they couldn't find what they wanted so they offered the part to Clarke Duncan (who they should really have gone straight to in the first place because he was perfect for the role!). I'm not keen on someone playing a part just because they've got the physique; they need to be able to act too or at least have some presence (like the Rock and Arnold Schwarzenegger), so the producers of Daredevil made an excellent choice.

Then, of course, there's Colin Farrell's Bullseye (a part reportedly offered to Vin Diesel). After his recent debut in Tigerland, Hollywood has predicted big things for Colin Farrell but that hasn't quite come to pass. Appearances in Minority Report and Hart's War last year certainly helped. He also got the job of presenting U2 at this year's Oscar ceremony. Farrell is excellent here - over the top and throughly enjoying himself, whether it be running around church walls chasing Affleck or playing with his assortment of weapons (those deadly paperclips!). It helps to lighten the film up a bit. Farrell's first headlining role will be Phone Booth later this year.

There are a few annoying aspects in the film. At the start, Daredevil is apparently dying on the floor of a church, and the film flashbacks to how he ended up in that position. Later on though, he gets up and fights as if he doesn't have a scratch on him. Secondly, without trying to give anything away, the method Daredevil uses to beat Kingp
in is laughable. Also Murdock seems a bit cold blooded in places (for example, he watches calmly from the sidelines as a criminal is flattened by a tube train). Look out for the cameo of Daredevil creator Stan Lee - he's the bloke that Murdoch helps to cross the road.

As for Garner? If you're a big fan of Channel 4's spy series Alias, like me, you'll know who I mean. Steven Spielberg, who cast her in the recent Catch me if You Can, has said that she's a star waiting to happen, but on this evidence, thats still uncertain. She might be excellent in Alias, but there's nothing spectacular here - although that could be more the fault of the script rather than her. She certainly looks the part, even right down to wearing green contact lenses over her brown eyes for the role. Rumours are flying that Elektra is being turned into a film franchise of it's own. I for one hope that she doesn't start getting a penchant for making lots of films, because it would be au revoir Alias. Also worthy of mention is Joe 'Kansas is going bye bye' Pantoliano's turn as journalist Ben Urich, hot on the trail of Daredevil and his true identity (it's Batman again!). Interestingly, both Kingpin and Urich exist in the Spiderman universe too (Urich works for the Daily Bugle), but references to this were removed as the Spiderman films are made by a different film company.

So, to sum up, Daredevil is unoriginal (if only there'd been a better script and more imaginative director), but its just, JUST about watchable. If you're a die hard comic fan, it's worth a look; otherwise I'd wait for the DVD/video to come out.

There are more comic adaptations to come later this year. Hellboy (directed by Blade II's Guilleramo Del Toro, with the courageous casting of Ron Perlman in the lead), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (starring Sean Connery), The Amazing Spiderman (with Alfred 'Throw me the idol, I th
row you the whip' Molina as villain Doctor Octopus), X-Men II and The Incredible Hulk (directed by Crouching Tiger's Ang Lee)... The future looks rosy for comic films.

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