Customer Reviews

Daredevil

5 star:		(142)
4 star:		(193)
3 star:		(98)
2 star:		(71)
1 star:		(88)

 

 

"Lawyer by day, judge and jury by night."

Like many superheroes before him, Matt Murdock leads a double life. In one of those lives, he defends the innocent in court. In the other he is known as the Daredevil, a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands and punishes those that take advantages of the loopholes in the justice system. The unique thing about Murdock is that he is blind, an unfortunate result from a childhood chemical accident. To compensate the loss of sight, the rest of his four senses are consequently heightened to help him navigate his environment, acting like radar that works in a similar way to the bat sonar.

"A man without fear is a man without hope."

Surprisingly, Daredevil isn't a simple crime fighting fare or a showcase of good vs. evil. Beneath those familiar themes is a struggle with the meaning of justice and revenge. As expected, the obligatory introduction for the protagonist is there for the benefit of those that are not familiar with the comic. Even though one can't really fault these sequences for being formulaic (i.e. guy gets hurt, guy obtains superhuman abilities, and guy learns how to perfect these skills), suffice to say the movie does an adequate job of presenting the character of Daredevil to the audiences.

I admit to having doubts when hearing Ben Affleck is to don the costume as Daredevil, he just does not look like the superhero type to me. However, as the film progressed, I became more and more convinced that while he may not be perfect for the role, he did a fantastic job with it. Affleck was able to translate Murdock's loneliness, his playfulness and his inner struggles to the screen. He is a complex hero filled with the most basic of human needs, he is as fallible as you and me, and he does not always make the right choices. The lovely Jennifer Garner plays the tough and resilient Elektra, Murdock's love interest in the movie. I really appreciate the time taken to develop their relationship with each other, and the chemistry between the two leads is definitely there.

The characterizations of the villains, on the other hand, were rather weak. This is not to say that the performances by Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin and Colin Farrell as Bullseye were bad, but little screen time were devoted to them to flesh out these personalities, which could be the intention of the director for all we know. Nevertheless, the supporting cast is a strong one; I especially liked Jon Favreau in the part of Murdock's good-humored partner, Franklin Nelson.

The veteran Hong Kong master Cheung-Yan Yuen (brother to Woo-Ping) provides the action choreography, evident in the amount of wirework present in the movie. Personally, I think the film benefited from such collaboration, and it certainly made the fighting sequences much more exciting and stylish to watch. However, some of the editing of the said scenes left a lot to be desired, for example, the confrontation in the bar at the beginning was hectic and poorly lit, it is hard to appreciate what you cannot see.

Not a comic reader myself, I cannot say whether Daredevil is a faithful adaptation of the source material, but I can tell you that I enjoyed every minute of it. The movie is not without faults, yet I truly believe that it is everything Spider-Man was and more. It has action for the guys and romance for the women, come to think of it, Daredevil may not be a bad choice to spend part of your Valentine's Day. It is fun, charming, and a touch sinister. I really think Marvel has another success in its hands. Be sure to sit through the credits, there is an additional scene you don't want to miss.

No, it's not as good as Tim Burton's Batman, nor the original Superman or the recent Spiderman movies. But Daredevil still is a good comic book film that wins much of my praise by being true to the page in creating a very dark character in a harsh world

Still, it is not without its flaws, and if it weren't for some very unique traits I would rate this film as only mediocre. But what works here works exceptionally well. Beginning with the traditional origin story of Daredevil (Ben Affleck), a blind superhero whose remaining senses are greatly heightened, the movie shows how he became a vengeful vigilante who kills the bad guys rather then turning them in to face a potentially corrupt court system (Daredevil's alter ego Matt Murdock is a lawyer by day). This world is mean, and so is its superhero. But he wrestles with his conscious and wonders if he is a bad guy too. In this comic book world, people die. Including those you don't expect to. In other words, it more accurately depicts real life while still in a superhero world.

One particular unique thing about the film is how it illustrates Daredevil's radar sense. The vibrations he picks up are shown in a fantastic visual effect that has to be one of the best film realizations of a superpower in history. From the origin scene when he goes blind to a wonderful scene with Elecktra in the rain where he first "sees" what she looks like from the drops of rain on her face, the technique is used for characterization and "film moments," and never just to show off a cool special effect.

Unfortunately, the movie isn't perfect. There isn't enough development of Elecktra and Daredevil's relationship, and bad guy Kingpin (Michael Clark Duncan) doesn't have enough screentime to villainify his presence. All the characters could have benefited from further characterization as well. But this is a comic book movie, after all, and in the end what matters most is how much fun it was. And Daredevil is a blast.

Superhero movies. They're on their way this summer in the forms of the Incredible Hulk, a "League" of gentlemen, and some guy named Wolverine. Could Daredevil just be a taste of what's to come? If so, then I say bring on them crazy superhero mutants!

Daredevil was a great surprise to me. To begin with, I'm not a fan of Daredevil, Ben Affleck, nor Jennifer Garner. Not that their stuff bores me, it's just I'm not big fans of their work. Daredevil changed that.

The story is simple. Murdock is a blind guy who has enhanced all of his abilities through his handicap. He uses these abilities to revenge the death of his father by giving justice to the city he lives in. When he meets Elektra, a new sort of justice comes into play.

Our leads give a fantastic performance and their chemistry was awesome. The rooftop kiss in the rain scene is - in my opinion - one of the best kiss scenes. Colin Farrel gives a hoot of a performance as a co-villian and Michael Clarke Duncan rocks as usual.

The action in this movie is high. There are a number of great fight scenes and action sequences. A bunch of adrenaline here.

I only have one complaint with this movie, and it seemed it moved too fast at times. I need a little bit more character development (partially with Elektra) for me. But other than . . .

Daredevil was a fun adrenaline-filled movie with the right amount of a side love story to settle it.

Before watching "Daredevil", i didn't know much about it, except that he's a comics hero and that Ben Affleck (ugh!) was to play him.

I watched "Daredevil" because I'm a movie addict. I wasn't expecting much. And I didn't get much. It's an OK hero movie, with lots of action, fight scenes, the eternal battle between good vs. evil, a tender love sub-plot, etc.

There are some things that got my attention, though:

1) Ben Affleck wasn't that bad, but there are many other actors, more talented than him, that could provide for a better performance. But maybe I'm impartial on this point.

2) Jennifer Garner stablishes herself as the top actress on action performances. She's pretty, skilled, and seems very comfortable during the action scenes.

3) Michael Clarke Duncan and (specially) Colin Farrell, as the "bad guys", are very good. It's a pitty, though, that Bull's Eye (Colin Farrell) didn't get more time on screen, and his character wasn't more developed or explored.

4) There are some obvious jokes, lines and scenes during the movie, but the script writers apparently restrained themselves, so those jokes, lines and scenes don't happen too often.

5) Unlike "Spiderman" or "Superman" this is not a colorful comic-hero movie. In fact it's dark, played almost every time at night (when the Daredevil goes "hunting"), and one important characters dies. "Daredevil" 's tone is rather Batman-like (obviously, I'm talking about the Tim Burton-Michael Keaton Batman, not the trash-movie Joel Schumacher made us swallow), even with some gothic touches...

Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock? Yeah, right. I laughed uncontrollably when I found out he was
going to play the Man Without Fear. Well, I stopped laughing after watching the film. He proved me
and countless others wrong. Every part in this movie was played to perfection. The story
could have been more true to the comic (where was Stick?, Kingpin is white), but every comic to movie so far
has failed to include everything. This movie had some great special effects to give you
a feel for Daredevil's blindness and his heightened senses. All in all, fan or not, this is
a great movie that everybody will enjoy! ****For you comic fans, look for cameos by Stan
Lee and Kevin Smith****

Director Mark Steven Johnson truly explores the shadowy aspects of justice and vigilantism in the additional 30 minutes added to the film, along with some other tweaks.

The scene which didn't make the final cut from producer Gary Foster and 20th Century Fox studio is attorney Matt Murdock (Daredevil) - portrayed by Ben Affleck - defending a murder suspect, who is played by rapper Coolio. The violence is also amped up which earned the revised film an "R" rating, a path not taken to movie theaters by comic book super heroes and movie studios.

Colin Farrell (Bullseye) and Michael Clarke Duncan (The Kingpin) are excellent in their roles as villains, with Jennifer Garner (Elektra Natchios) able to show a different side of the character in this grittier version. Director's have to be daredevils at times in the editing process and this Director's Cut aptly shows - again - who knows best when it comes to delivering a solid film.

I wasn't a Daredevil fan before seeing this and didn't know much about him before I watched the movie. I really enjoyed this film and I recently found myself in the graphic novel section of the bookstore picking up Daredevil reprints. The comics and the bonus material on the DVD filled me in on Daredevil's history and it seems that he's been both a devil-may-care 60's comic character and a more dark hard-boiled character. This film tries to bring both versions to the screen and it works. It's a great intro to the world of Daredevil. Even if you've never heard of Daredevil you should still give this DVD a look.

"A man without fear is a man without hope."

Okay, it's not Shakespeare, but for a baby boomer who lost track of Daredevil back in 1969, it's great fun to see my favorite hero at his CGI best. Back then I preferred Marvel over DC comics, simply because I preferred two-fisted action over complex plots. Trying to figure out what Lex Luthor and Braniac were up to in Superman dramas just wasn't any fun. I also thought Marvel's writing and artwork were far superior. Although I religiously read several Marvel titles, including Ironman, Spider-man, and Doctor Strange, I especially looked forward to the Fantastic Four, which was written and drawn by two Marvel legends, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. At the time Lee wrote just about everything, while the F4 was clearly Kirby's flagship. His massively muscled super beings and out-of-this-world layouts were in stark contrast to Gene Colan's frantic free-style panels featured in Daredevil and Dracula. I found his sketches oddly appealing and a perfect fit for DD, who's bizarre double-life seemed more than a little sketchy at times. But, let's face it. The built-in pathos of a blind super hero was just too irresistable, and DD quickly rose above the others as my number one super guy.

So, after 35 years, I was anxious to see if the movie would do anything for me. And, I'm happy to report, it did. I thought Affleck did a fine job, going from naive "save the world" pro bono lawyer to a masked vigilante with action-star ease (even though it seemed out of character at the time). While the Kingpin was a regular villain in the 60s, Bullseye was new to me. I thought the "man without fear" versus the "man who can't miss" subplot was great. Farrell is another UK actor who can do it all. I thought Garner did well as Elektra, although I had a hard time seeing her as a master assasin. I guess I was looking for a more menacing figure, larger, more powerful, etc... The soundtrack, although not my genre, seemed to add some spice to DD's patented sky-scraper swan dives. Speaking of which: Just like in Spider-Man, there were a few instances where the real actor and the CGI counterpart were not exactly seemless. We can blame Lord of the Rings for raising our perfect CGI expectations.

Anyway, I think it worked. Sequel? Jeez, I hope so. I just don't know how they're going to top Bullseye. That was right up there with the Joker, minus a ton of dialogue. Superhero fans have to love this stuff. Of course, some will like their fare and bit more lighthearted. I, for one, lean toward the dark side. Let DC work out happy endings. Just make mine Marvel!

From a purely realistic perspective there's plenty of gripe about in Daredevil. It's often wildly improbable, but then it's not supposed to be a documentary even if it is more real than the one's Michael Moore makes. This is a fantasy movie. I grew up reading Daredevil in the 60's when Marvel was still young and Stan Lee, Ray Harryhausen, Irwin Allen, and Hammer Horror provided me with plenty of escapism even if all the elements weren't always logical. There's plenty of fantastic and totally improbable and impossible moments in Daredevil, but fantastic off the wall stuff in comics is nothing new. Superman fooled em all with a pair of glasses. Radiation does not turn you into a rock man, an invisible girl, a human torch, or make you stretch like a rubber band. I could go on all day. The computer effects in Daredevil aren't as good as they could have been, but at my age I used to be asked to believe that pie pans were flying saucers so I don't mind. Settle back with some quality popcorn and give Daredevil a try if you 'get' this type of movie. I'm very glad I purchased it for my DVD collection along with The Crow, The Rocketeer, The Shadow, and Spider-Man.

I just watched this on DVD and can't believe how much I liked it. The story is nothing new, it could have been pieced together from ten different films, but the acting and storytelling are very good. I'm not sure why I am surprised. I know all the actors in the film are talented and I usually enjoy the movies they star in. I just wasn't compelled to see this movie when it was it theaters. Now I wish I had.

I liked the Hulk and Spider-man, but there were times during those films where I thought "come on already; get to another action scene". In Daredevil, I enjoyed the scenes between the action as much as the fighting. Not that the action wasn't good. It just didn't outshine the characters.

I have never read a Daredevil comic. I didn't know anything about this superhero before this movie. But as far as films go I liked it better than Hulk, better than Spider-man, better than Batman. It's probably the best comic-to-movie film since the original Superman.