THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
We all know how there are heroes that come in all shapes and sizes, but the execution in telling their stories is essential. One of the biggest examples to take it seriously is Daredevil.
PLOT
The 2003 film follows Matt Murdock, who lost his sight at the age of 12 after being exposed to radioactive waste. One loss became his strength as it enhanced his senses and gave him sonar-like hearing. Sadly, he would lose his dad, Jack 'The Devil' (David Keith), being beaten to death by mob boss Eddie Fallon (Mark Margolis) after refusing to throw a boxing match. Ever since then, he would vow extracting justice in his honor. As an adult, he would be a lawyer by day at Hell's Kitchen alongside Franklin Nelson (Jon Favreau), tending to pro bono he know are innocent when detecting their heart rates. At night, he dawns a red costume and fights with a billy club as his titular vigilante persona. His latest victim would be Jose Quesada (Paul Ben-Victor) who gets acquitted of rape. His actions have attracted the attention of reporter Ben Urich (Joe Pantoliano) who's been chronicling him as well as write articles on Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, another mobster who poses as legit businessman. One day, Matt meets a Greek-American woman named Elektra Natchios but doesn't get to date her until they impress each other with their own martial arts skills. After their first date on a rainy night, she invites him to a party hosted by Kingpin. The event ends in tragedy as her father Nikolas (Erick Avari) is killed by an assassin with pre-natural aim known as Bullseye, as a result of wanting to end his tenure in working with Fisk. Daredevil tried to intervene, but the results end with Bullseye using his baton to secure the death blow. Because of this, Elektra mistakes the protagonist to be responsible for her loss. Kingpin would be so impressed of Bullseye's work that he assigns him to kill Elektra as collateral. He accepts the deal as long as he gets to kill Daredevil as well for making him miss for the first time during their encounter. Urich alerts Matt who he met at the party that Elektra could be in danger after what happened to her dad. This causes him to find her until she finds him first and tries to kill him with twin sais. In their battle, he tries to explain to her he wasn't responsible. She doesn't believe him until she stabs him in the shoulder and finds herself in shock upon unmasking him. At that moment, Bullseye finds them both and is able to kill her with her own sai. Matt retreats to a church until he is followed by his rival. As he toys with the injured hero, he shares how left a calling card to Elektra on behalf of Kingpin that was a rose. This surprises Matt because that implies he was responsible for his dad's death as well who was also left a rose. Daredevil is able to overcome Bullseye though because when the police surround the are and a sniper shoots at his arms, the vigilante is to defeat him by throwing him from the bell tower. He then goes straight to Fisk himself to confront him for all that he's lost. The mob boss gives him a tough fight when relying on his brute strength, but he outsmarts him when triggering the sprinkler system to see him with his senses and cripple him when breaking his legs. He considers killing him but instead spares him since he accepts vengeance won't bring back his loved ones. He leaves the police to deal with him, but Kingpin vows to get even should the day comes. As days go by, Matt finds a necklace with Elektra's name written in braille, suggesting she could still be alive. Urich considers posting an article that reveals Daredevil's identity after deducing who it was when a forensics assistant reveals the baton can disguise itself as a cane, but changes his mind when accepting he's actually making a difference. The film ends with Matt continuing his nightly routine as a vigilante, but a post credit scene confirms Bullseye to survive his fall.
THOUGHTS
I don’t blame 20th Century (Fox) Studios experimenting with superhero movies after their success with X-Men. And with other studios capitalizing, they had to keep the ball rolling. Writer/Director Mark Steven Johnson had the pressure to spice it all up, but the execution is visibly not perfect. Like there are things that work, but then there are a handful of things that do not. So I like the fight scenes due to how they’re edited and choreographed, and I think the soundtrack brings a fair amount of excitement as they progress. Hell, I also gotta admit the costumes are well designed. What takes it away? The visual effects are back and forth in being amazing and/or cringe. The cringe kicks in whenever we see Daredevil get acrobatic, but they work best when seeing his sonar point of view. I can’t love this film the way I do with the MCU adaptation of the character because it is so rushed that not even the directors cut fixes the pace. I actually buy into Ben Affleck portraying the protagonist as a humble man who is fearless nonstop, but the rush of the plot kicks in when not showing his inspiration in being a lawyer and how he trained himself in martial artists, let alone see who he paid for the suit(s). Yes, the death of his dad had him vow extracting justice in every way possible, but I don’t think a lawyer was the first thing he thought of as a preteen. I then keep asking aloud why does he sleep in a water filled coffin like a vampire? If he were to explain it, I wouldn’t be complaining about it. Nevertheless, I respect him in sparing Kingpin because he knows his dad would’ve not wanted him to kill him, hammering the point that justice overcomes revenge. He would’ve wanted him to move on with his life and I’m sure he did so once his rival went behind bars. I don’t want to overrate Jennifer Garner, but I think she was a solid choice at the time as Elektra due to how she has all the confidence in the world to walk with purpose because she was trained to keep her guard up, which she always did until she met Matt. Looking back, I think she developed such a bond with him because he was the only one to not act superior over her. And he was so attracted to her because he admired her own will. With such fluent chemistry between both actors, it’s no wonder they got married. Sadly, Matt came across her when she was at her lowest. It even was a bummer that he was too weak to save her from her harm, but at least she got to have another lease on life as shown in her questionable spinoff. Going into the villains, I was quite intrigued with how Colin Farrell approached Bullseye to be obsessive in his line of work. When he is cold towards his target, he is all about being precise about it and although it was easy for him to deal with the Natchios family, Daredevil was a threat to him for simply being a challenge. He was smart to take advantage of a wounded warrior, but little did he expect an underdog is stronger when they’re most vulnerable. Since he ended up surviving, I don’t doubt Matt would be waiting for the rematch as well. To me, the true scene stealer was Kingpin because Michael Clarke Duncan he brought an aura of being untouchable which is what every fictional monster brings to the table. He orchestrated everything to the tea that he most confidence into thinking he can’t be taken down until he did. I do believe him that their rivalry would be far from over because there ain’t no way he’ll give up being powerful after losing to a gifted blind man. The second he recovers, I don’t doubt Matt will be waiting for him too. These characters were very interesting to see progress, but they go through illogical moments that ruin the momentum for me. From the top, ain’t it dumb that Matt’s childhood bullies wait six months to go after him again? They’re already assholes for wanting to attack a blind kid, but I don’t see a point in them waiting because it ain’t like either side was avoiding each other. It then feels ridiculous how the goons at the bar don’t even try to gang up on Daredevil after shooting him and it’s so annoying it’s like they want to lose. And how come no one calls the cops on Bullseye when he straight up kills a guy at the bar? It even feels stupid no one on the plan questions him after the old lady that sat next to him died too. And if I gotta get into continuity errors, how about the fact how the newspaper to come from the crashed truck is all over the left side of the limo but then ends up being on both sides? It didn’t look like the wind blew the paper hard enough to go that far. Otherwise, it would’ve been falling all over Elektra. That’s weirder than the fact Urich was allowed to drive through the standoff before Bullseye’s fall. With each thing being so upsetting, it’s so hard to enjoy what they’re going for here. In short, Daredevil is not one of the best superhero movies of the 2000s due to being too choppy to enjoy. If you’re a fan of the character, good luck getting through this.
Comments