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Well I must admit I have never heard of this comic book hero prior to this film being released. I have always been a fan of the Batman movies and I even enjoy those really old reruns of Superman, but Daredevil starring Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears) as the torn superhero just didn’t do it for me. Yeah the action scenes were pretty enjoyable, but the metaphors, and symbolism were a little too much. I also thought the use of a rose was like taking a page out of a Batman movie. Hell, Seal even made the theme song, Kiss From a Rose for that movie. This movie tried too hard and it was more like Batman without all the nifty gadgets, car or cave. It might have been funny having the blind superhero drive the Daremobile. Just like the movie Spider-Man, we learn how Daredevil came to be. Young Matt Murdock (Scott Tera, Eight Legged Freaks) was the son of a washed up prize fighter Jack The Devil Murdock (David Keith, Behind Enemy Lines). Jack fell in with the mob of Hell’s Kitchen and was murdered in front of his blind son Matt. How Matt was blinded happened when he witnessed his dad being a thug, so he ran away. A forklift carrying radioactive waste swerved to miss him, punctured a drum and splashed the waste on Matt blinding him, but making his remaining senses much more acute. On the death of his father he promised to help those that couldn’t help themselves. Matt (Affleck) grew up to become an attorney in Hell’s Kitchen and when the wheels of justice did not turn, Daredevil took care of the rest. Only unlike Batman, Spider-Man, or Superman, whom the law looked at as heroes, Daredevil was just a vigilante and not one of the good guys. The story heats up when Matt meets and falls for Electra Natchios (Jennifer Garner, Catch Me If You Can). Her billionaire father, Ambassador Nikolaos Natchios (Erick Avari, The Master of Disguise), is in cahoots with the Kingpin, the current mob boss of Hell’s Kitchen. The Kingpin is really business mogul Wilson Fisk (Michael Clarke Duncan, The Scorpion King). When Natchios wants out, the Kingpin calls in Bullseye (Colin Farrell, The Recruit) to take care of the situation. The movie was filmed dark like Batman to reflect the darkness of Daredevil’s heart. Director Mark Steven Johnson tried to duplicate Batman in every way, except Daredevil could be wounded and had a weakness. This might have been an endearing quality, but not in my book. Also appearing in this film were Coolio, Jon Favreau as Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, Joe Pantoliano as Ben Urich the reporter that learns who Daredevil really is, Kevin Smith, Lennie Loftin, and John S. Bakas. Farrell was brilliant as the assassin that kills for sport. Garner was pretty impressive as a martial arts expert, but her acting was a little lacking. Affleck was a dope. He was cocky and I didn’t buy his blindness. Yeah his other senses were enhanced, but he still didn’t come across as blind or a superhero. I found myself bored and unimpressed. I give Daredevil only a five on the About-Movies.com scale and dread the inevitable sequel. Oh yeah, no gratuitous booty shots so I should have given it a four. Later
Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:46:18 AM Click Here to get back into frames.
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