Marvel Comics has made its fair share of bad movies over the years, from the lower B-level Captain America to the laughably awful Fantastic Four, but the company turned its cinematic fortunes around with the release of 1998's Blade. That surprise hit has led to a so-far uninterrupted string of seven highly successful films, including this year's Daredevil (103 minutes, PG-13, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment).
Attorney Matt Murdock harbors a deep secret - blinded by a childhood accident, his four remaining senses were heightened to an unbelievable degree. Matt uses these senses as a kind of human sonar, stalking the streets at night, a relentless avenger of justice: Daredevil, the Man Without Fear!
Opening with one of the most imaginative credit sequences in recent memory (building windows transform first into braille, then into the actors' names), we are introduced to our hero not in a moment of glory or triumph, but slumped over, bloodied and beaten. Director Mark Steven Johnson immediately lets the audience know what sort of character Daredevil is: wearing a costume, yes, but still human and fallible.
We progress through the obligatory "secret origin," meet the people in the hero's life and eventually get to see him in action. The plot line for superhero movies really isn't that different from any other single-character quest piece, except that the hero wears tights instead of a cowboy hat or policeman's badge.
Actually, Daredevil doesn't wear tights: if a punch hurts a normal person, imagine how it must feel with a heightened sense of touch. It's no surprise, then, that rather than the red spandex Spider-Man sported in his film, Matt pulls on thick leather for his night job and pops pain pills when he heads home. To give himself even a few hours' peace from the raging din outside, he seals himself to sleep every night in a sensory deprivation tank.
It's the clever touches like this that make the film work. When Daredevil sits between two stone angels, we don't need to be told that he's using their wings to amplify and direct sound; it just makes for a nice visual with a bit of an underlying meaning. Matt Murdock isn't superhumanly strong, and so would be subject to injury doing the things he does; how, then, does he leap off those buildings and not break his ankles? Well, just like a skier or other professional athlete, his boots have extra straps and buckles to keep him sturdy and protected.
Ben Affleck does a good job in his roles as the Man Without Fear. He plays Matt as a pensive, conflicted man who still puts on a brave face for his friends. As Daredevil, though, he is superbly focused and able to release all his anger. Affleck has the bulk and physique to pull off a vigilante look, thanks, no doubt, to some vigorous training.
Jennifer Garner is well-suited to the role of Elektra Natchios. The character always had a deep-seated pain in her eyes, and Garner conveys that perfectly. Though some fans complained about her casting, Frank Miller, Elektra's creator, has said that Jennifer Garner was perfect for the part. Her stuntwork experience on television's wonderful "Alias" prepared her for the high-energy role of Elektra.
If the fanboys whined because Elektra suddenly "wasn't Greek," then they reached a fever pitch when Michael Clarke Duncan signed on to play Wilson Fisk. They claimed that since the Kingpin was white in the comics, this "completely changed" or "ruined" the character. It's easy to look past these surprisingly racist opinions, especially when we see Duncan on screen. He towers over Affleck and manages a performance that a professional wrestler (the only other option for finding someone of Kingpin's stature) would not have been able to achieve.
Colin Farrell finally gets to roll out his native Irish accent as sure shot assassin Bullseye. Sporting a Charlie Manson-style brand on his forehead, Farrell is obviously having a blast as the psychotic killer. It's a full-on eye bulging, scenery chewing performance, missing only the top hat and handlebar moustache to propel it into complete melodrama status. It's delightfully over-the-top, bringing a bit of levity to what is an otherwise dark film.
The supporting cast is drawn directly from the pages of the book, from investigative reporter Ben Urich (Joe Pantoliano) to Matt's longtime buddy/law partner Foggy Nelson (Jon Favreau). Various comic creators have cameos, either in name - three boxers are named Miller, Mack and Bendis - or in body - Marvel head Stan Lee strolls down the street. In once instance, Kevin Smith (Daredevil writer, 1998-2000) plays a coroner named "Kirby" (Daredevil cover artist, 1964-68).
For all that the film does right, it also makes mistakes. Mistakes of character (Matt is a normal human, unable to leap between rooftops like Spider-Man does) as well as mistakes of plot (Daredevil's club is stolen, but he uses it for escape seconds later). The romantic plot seems a bit rushed, and some questions are left a little too unanswered. However, these are minor issues, far outweighed by the good.
Comic fans are fiercely proprietary, and will bitch and moan at the slightest change to their beloved icons. In the translation from print to film, some things have to go. Some changes were bad decisions - in the comics, young Matt's accident is the result of an act of heroism, not fear - but most were for the better.
Presented on a two-disc set, Daredevil has a wealth of special features. In addition to a fairly informative commentary by Mark Steven Johnson and producer Gary Foster, Disc 1 offers on-screen trivia and an enhanced viewing mode that will take you to brief behind-the-scenes featurettes at various points throughout the film. In keeping with Daredevil's character, the disc also offers a descriptive commentary for the visually impaired, the blind equivalent of closed-captioning.
Disc 2 divides its content into "The Movie" and "The Comic Book," and both sections are filled with quite a lot of material.
"The Movie" has some light features, like Jennifer Garner's screen test, a featurette on the Kingpin, six multi-angle studies, still galleries and three music videos, as well as some deeper material: the nine-minute "Moving Through Space: A Day with Tom Sullivan" introduces us to the film's blind consultant, the man in charge of making sure that Matt Murdock actually seemed sightless; an HBO First Look special hosted by Garner; and the hourlong "Beyond Hell's Kitchen: Making Daredevil." The interviews with the cast get rather repetitious, but each documentary has its own unique information and merits.
"The Comic Book" acquaints viewers with the men who have worked on Daredevil over the years, from co-creators Stan Lee and Bill Everett to current writer Brian Michael Bendis in the hourlong "Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil." We get to see through Daredevil's eyes in the six-minute "Shadow World Tour" while a series of modeling sheets introduce the characters' comicbook origins.
Though it's not without its problems, Daredevil is a very good example of how to make a comicbook movie. The film not only holds up to repeat viewings, it gets better with time. It is easily on par with Tim Burton's Batman movie, and certainly a fine way to spend a few hours.
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