Unfairly Maligned - movies that people love to hate and we don't think are that bad . . .
| Daredevil (2003) |
____________________
 |
In Defense of Daredevil (2003)
Over the years since it was released in 2003, the Daredevil feature film starring Ben Affleck has become one of the films fans love to hate. And yet, when pressed for a reason, people can't usually come up with a good reason why. They gripe about the casting, the portrayals, or the romance angle, but I don't really think those complaints hold up.
When Daredevil was made, studios were trying to capitalize on the storytelling style that had made Spider-Man (2002) so successful. Audiences seemed to like the romance angle in Spider-Man, so they emphasized that in Daredevil. They also borrowed from Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and re-wrote the story so that the murderer of the hero's parent was also his main antagonist - a "convenient" shortcut to add dramatic weight to the conflict.
When one makes the first film in what is hoped to become a franchise, one may be tempted to pull out all of the stops to make sure the film succeeds. The trouble with this approach is that it may lead the writer and director (in this case, Mark Steven Johnson) to try to cram too much into a story to tell properly in two hours. The whole origin/Kingpin/Elektra/Bullseye storyline may have been a bit much to fit into one movie and not gloss over more than a few things.
If anything, the well-received Netflix Daredevil series, may have made the feature film less liked. The newer depiction of a more down-to-earth, street-level, human hero and more fully-developed characters makes the film suffer in comparison. But it seems unfair to criticize a two-hour film for failing to match up with a series which has had two thirteen-hour blocks to tell its story and develop its characters. I've commented in reviews for Age of Ultron and Magnificent Seven, that each had enough characters and story to easily fill two or three times their run-time.
I thought Affleck's portrayal of Daredevil/Matt Murdock was good. He played the character seriously, but with some welcome humor when appropriate. His chemistry with Jennifer Garner, who played Elektra, was good enough to result in a 10-year real life marriage and her performance was well-received enough to create a spin-off movie - Elektra (2005). (Elektra could be the subject of a future article, as well.)
Colin Farrell as Bullseye and Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin gave us two gifted actors each brilliantly portraying very different and dangerous villains. Farrell's Bullseye is lethally accurate and manically psychotic. Conversely, Duncan's Kingpin is a hulking, calculating unstoppable force of nature. Both are fitting opponents for Daredevil and complement each other well.
The fight choreography in Daredevil is also a treat. The light-hearted sparring between Matt and Elektra in the playground is fun. The Elektra vs. Bullseye fight is painful to watch. And the final showdown between Daredevil and Bullseye is a well-done, extended match.
I have also appreciated the casting in this film. There are a number of great actors in supporting roles who add to its quality - Jon Favreau as Foggy Nelson, Joe Pantoliano as Ben Urich, David Keith as "Battlin'" Jack Murdock, Leland Orser as Wesley, Derrick O'Connor as Father Everett, and even Kevin Smith as a police forensics tech.
Daredevil isn't the best superhero film ever, but it doesn't deserve all the negative talk it has received. And while I'm a fan of the new Netflix version, I still enjoy seeing this one from time to time, even though they are very different versions of the character. We've had different versions of Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes and Batman. The world is big enough for these different versions of Daredevil as well.
- JC