Daredevil-Unfairly Labeled

                                                  Daredevil-Unfairly Labeled

With the recent success of Marvel’s Daredevil tv show on Netflix this seems like the right time to look back at the movie version. The movie has been labeled a failure and its not. However Ben Affleck’s performance was. Even he acknowledged this by saying one of the reasons he accepted the role of Batman was to make up for “screwing up Daredevil.”  Despite this the movie is quite good and should have led to more Daredevil films if someone else had been chosen for the lead.

In 2003, as it is now movies based on Marvel Comic Books are doing great at the box office. Blade had come out and had been unexpected hit which had generated a sequel.  An X-Men movie had come out and it was a big hit which lead to the current series of films. Best of all the flag ship Marvel super hero-Spider-Man-finally had been mad into movie which was a massive hit. There's a catch to this success that these movies based on Marvel Comics and it's that Marvel Studios isn't enjoying the full success of them.This is because even through there is a Marvel Studios at this time it isn't the entity that it is now (which is a studio that selects which of its properties that it owns and then makes the movie) but rather its a production company that teams up with whatever studio buys one of their properties and together they make a movie. 20th Century-Fox (which was the studio behind X-Men) decided to try to start another franchise with another Marvel  Comic Book Character-Daredevil.

Daredevil is an unlikely superhero for two reasons-he's blind and he doesn't have what one would consider normal superpowers. He wasn't born blind but got this way as result of some nuclear waste being spilled on his eyes. This caused his remaining senses to be heightened. These heightened senses serve as a kind of radar like a bat’s. From there he builds his body up to that of a great athlete. Daredevil like most Marvel Comic Book successful characters was co-created by the legendary Stan Lee. Daredevil had its debut in Daredevil #1 (April 1964). Through most its early run Daredevil could be described as Spider-Man light as both characters would swing through the air (Spider-Man with his web, Daredevil with a wire from his billy club), both are acrobatic, both have a wide array of colorful villains (through Spider-Man's are better), and both have a radar sense.Than Daredevil got a big break when another legendary comic book writer/artist (Frank Miller) took over the book and turned it into Marvel's answer to Batman. This would be the run that the movie would be based on.

Ben Affleck then as he is now was respected for his behind the scenes work (he had co-written "Good Will Hunting" which he won an Oscar for) and through he had some success as an actor he wasn't held in high regard as an actor.  He was respected by the geek community because of friendship with writer/director/comic book fan Kevin Smith. It was Smith who gave Affleck his big break when he cast him in main role in "Chasing Amy". Keeping with what was standard at the time (and is standard now) the film's director (as well as it writer) was Mark Steven Johnson who had only directed 1 movie (Simon Birch).  That film was drama which made his selection a but of surprise. He does a really good job.

 
The movie features great cinematography (outstanding work by cinematographer Ericson Core) and cgi (what is really excellent is what was dubbed shadow world which how Daredevil “sees”). The best example of this is when it starts to rain in a scene. Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) tells the woman he’s falling in love with Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner) that when that happens he can “see” her. The revel is stunning.

The acting (with the exception of Affleck) is pretty stellar across the board. This starts with Scott Terra as young Matt Murdock and David Keith as his father Jack Murdock. They are able to establish a convincing relationship as father and son. It’s a tribute to their talent that despite their brief amount of time they leave an impact on the viewer. When Terra goes blind but discovers his heightened remaining senses allows him to do more, his joy at this discovery is palpable. As for Keith he works ing
 Her meet cute scene with Matt Murdock which starts in a coffee shop and ends at school playground and involves see-saws is charming and romantic. Her athleticism serves her well in her fight scenes. Colin Farrell manages to bring menace, "fun", and "magic" (his words) to the role of the villain Bullseye. Plus any villain whose main motivation for hating the hero is "because he made me miss and I never miss" is refreshing.
 
 Then there's the late Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin (aka Wilson Fisk). He could be menacing; just look at the size of him.  He had pretty good acting range (as demonstrated by his Oscar nomination for the "Green Mile" and his comedic turn in the "Whole Nine Yards").  One could wonder if he could pull off the necessary sophistication to be believable as the Kingpin of crime for New York City. This trait he wears like one of the custom made suits his character wears. Joe Pantoliano gives another of his stellar performances as investigative reporter Ben Urich. Btw if you look real closely you will see Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy) in a cameo. Through her character’s name is never mentioned if you look it up on IMDB or Wikipedia, its revealed to be Karen Page. This is significant because in the comic book she’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil’s girlfriend. (If there had been a sequel this would have happened).

This leads to the major problem with the movie-Ben Affleck. He’s adept in the action sequences and anything involving comedy (aided in this capacity considerably by Jon Favreau making his first appearance in a Marvel big screen property playing Matt Murdock's law partner Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. Farvreau is an absolute delight in the role.) He has very good chemistry with Garner; No his problem stems from the fact he doesn't possess the necessary acting chops for the role. This is a man who has lost both his parents, his sight, and eventually will lose the woman he loves (or so we'll lead to believe). Yet you would never know it. He never shows it on his face or in his body language. Terra as young Matt Murdock does show it. However this deficiency is almost paper-over by the fact that in practically every scene Affleck's in so is one or more of the other characters.

The film did not do well with the critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 44% of film critics gave it a favorable review. It did well at the box office with a gross $102,543,518. There was talk of a sequel but instead there was a spin off for Elektra, which didn't do anything at the box office ($24,407,944 on a budget of $43 million) or with the critics (according to Rotten Tomatoes only 10% of critics gave it a favorable review).  Daredevil is a good movie that could have been great with another lead actor that deserves a better reputation