I am kind of excited for this one, not because the movie is any good, but because it is my first superhero movie I will be reviewing on this blog (I’m not counting “Project Power”). I enjoy superhero movies because, well… I watched cartoons growing up, and through those cartoons I gained some sort of understanding and appreciation for these characters. I went through a couple of spurts where I read a bunch of comics, and while it was never a sustained thing, it was enough to give me an appreciation for types of stories that can be told about superheroes.
This movie, however, was admittedly not a great addition to the superhero film roster. Ben Affleck was at his most insufferable, Jennifer Garner doesn’t really act well, and I remember the villains being pretty lackluster. However, it has been awhile since I’ve seen this one, so I am willing to give it a whirl. Be advised, I am watching the “directors cut”, which my half-baked internet research tells me might result in an improved film over the theatrical, but that might’ve just been a fanboy blogger or something. Here is the trailer.
Ok, so this movie is definitely not great, but knowing that going in definitely changes my opinion of it. Back when I was in middle school (when this was originally released), all i knew about daredevil was that he was a street-level superhero who got up-close-and-personal with the bad guys. Hell, his main baddie was essentially just a roided out mob boss. He was basically a Batman type character in that he was basically a ninja who had super-human senses but was also blind. So, when I saw this movie and they really played up the CGI, had him jumping off buildings and swinging around like Spiderman, it was a huge disappointment. But, after almost 20 years and 3 seasons of a far superior take on the character from Netflix, I feel as though I can separate the good from the bad a bit better.
So, lets go with the good… Now, I saw the directors cut, and if i remember right, a lot of the legal parts of the movie were cut out of the theatrical. It really robbed this movie of some good content. I think Jon Favreau and Ben Affleck have really good chemistry, and could’ve definitely watched a lot more of that in the film. Also, if you are gonna make the bad guys somewhat campy, I really like Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin. The character isn’t great, but the way this movie plays out i think he is suitable. Also, based on what i understand about the Daredevil character, I think the plot is pretty faithful. Sorry, that’s really all i got…
Now the bad. I gotta start with the soundtrack. The early 2000’s might without a doubt be the worst time for music, and this movie has a LOT of it. I think i heard Evanescence 3 different times in this along with Nickelback… Neither of those bode well. Also, Colin Farell’s Bullseye character is… just awful. I don’t know if it was how he was directed or if he made the choices himself, but it was miserable. Next, the CGI is just bad. Like, really really bad. I don’t know why this guy has to be like Spiderman.
Also… Daredevil kills a LOT of people. I guess he doesn’t have the “one rule” that Batman has to contend with, but there is both a scene where he throws a guy under a train and tosses another one out an upper floor window. Just a murderous psychopath. Daredevil’s powers really come and go as it is convenient to the plot. Jennifer Garner’s Elektra and Ben Afflecks Daredevil really dont have a lot of chemistry, which is even more wild when you think about how they were married for like, 15 years and had a few kids.
So I’ve said it a couple of times already… This movie isn’t great. But, where do we think it goes from here? The movie seems to set up a sequel, which, thank god never happens. HOWEVER, there is a spinoff with Elektra which I will watch and review at some point. So, who do I recommend this movie for? Well, this movie would be good for fans of Marvel characters, but only after you’ve seen all the other content out there (except for Elektra). I didn’t hate this movie, but I don’t think I’ll be watching it again anytime soon. If you do really want to see a take on Daredevil, I highly recommend the Netflix series, with the trailer below.
Ain't That Bad - Movie Blog 