Daredevil

Year: 2003
Dir: Mark Steven Johnson
Screenplay: Mark Steven Johnson
Comic: Marvel

Stars: BEN AFFLECK, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clark Duncan, Jon Favreau, Jo Pantoliano, Paul Ben-Victor.

Yet another Superhero is unleashed in the shape of the ‘Daredevil’. A blind lawyer by day who swaps sunglasses for mask at night, trying to clean up where law and order have failed.

Dealing out his very own brand of justice, whilst seeking to avenge his past, Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, swiftly lands in the confessional of his local Catholic Church, in search of some redemption.

Any redeeming qualities of this film however are sadly few, and mainly prevalent amidst the action sequences. Ben Affleck, the all-American hero, just as much at home in devilish red leather as he is in an Armani suit, and a pumped-up Jennifer Garner as ‘Elektra’, do well, their romance although brief, quite believable.

The Daredevil has some clever devices, the imagery as we see through our blind hero’s eyes with the magnification of his senses to a super-human level, and the novel way in which Colin Farrell’s character ‘Bullseye’, a hit man of the nastier kind, renders a murder weapon out of just about anything.

There is comedy and tragedy, coupled with ass-kicking stunts and dark menacing characters enjoying plenty of violence, not to mention martial arts in a Matrix style, and copycat Spiderman acrobatics, round the now indelible image of a New York City skyline.

Here is where things get sticky, with all of the above Daredevil tries desperate to be cool, adding loud rock music in almost every scene, trying to make up for what it can’t on the screen. Unfortunately this is a no-win situation when you consider predecessors Spiderman and The X-Men… tough acts to follow.

Even before the real bad guy ‘King Pin’, in the shape of that not-so-gentle-giant Michael Clarke Duncan, rolls up his sleeves for the final show down, you can see the word sequel flash in front of your eyes. Although perhaps a little too violent for there to be any moral to the story, the devil may care, after all this is comic book entertainment, and easy enough to swallow on a Sunday afternoon.