Daredevil (2003)

Marvel film adaptations have really hit full stride now. After the success of BLADE, X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN, DAREDEVIL comes along to match them all for style, substance, and pure superhero enjoyment. Thankfully, the spirit of the comic book from Frank Miller’s work on is maintained. For martial arts action, the film offers appropriately gritty and straightforward choreography from Yuen Cheung-yan that is more than just eye candy but never overplayed.

Matt Murdock is your average kid in a burrow of New York known as Hell’s Kitchen until he’s blinded by toxic chemicals in an accident. With the loss of his sight, he has gained extrasensory abilities similar to a bat’s sonar capabilities that improve balance, dexterity and hearing. This ability is frequently visualized onscreen and in a very clear and interesting way that successfully focuses the viewer on Daredevil’s perspective of the world, creating a greater intimacy with him. His pretext for fighting crime as a vigilante comes from his desire to right wrongs after the murder of his father. As an adult, he’s become a defense attorney by day and crime fighter by night. These are two professions that create a deep conflict in his mind as Murdock struggles with doing the right thing as witnessed by his repeated visits to a local priest.

After putting the hurt into a rapist following a fiery barroom brawl, Murdock meets Electra, the beautiful daughter of a Greek Ambassador. She proves to be Murdock’s equal in a fight and love soon blossoms. But trouble arises when her father decides he no longer wants to be associated with a local crime boss named Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin. An Irish assassin named Bullseye is called in to handle the issue. His specialty is the ability to throw small objects such as shurikens, paperclips and even falling shards of glass with expert precision. He provides quite a bit of trouble for both Electra and Daredevil that climaxes in and around the pipes of a massive church organ. Having learned that Fisk is responsible, DD heads up to the criminal’s penthouse office to see that justice is served.

Before continuing I will address my biggest concern going to see this film, namely Ben Affleck. How could this actor who I perceived as nothing more than a lightweight lead and man toy of Jennifer Lopez, become an avenging, leather clad martial arts expert with one of the most tortured minds in the whole Marvel universe? The answer is a svelte script and careful direction that keep the character true to the comics. Affleck’s acting is low key and gives over to the character who is not known for being colorful in contrast to the likes of the villain heckling of Spider-man. As for the action, Affleck’s eye-catching maneuvers are all seamlessly performed by either stuntman Ronn Surels or a CGI creation. Martial arts purists love it or hate for this is the state of most grade A action movies in Hollywood.

I have always been in love with DD’s weapon of choice and the filmmakers deserve a pat on the back for getting it right. It’s a deceptively simple walking stick that transforms into a utility night stick capable of firing one end with a cable attached for use as both a weapon and mode of swinging about the city’s rooftops. In close quarter combat, DD may simply employ a series of stick fighting techniques to pummel his opponent into submission or subdue him. It should be on every armchair vigilante’s wish list.

Jennifer Garner of ABC TV’s ALIAS presents a suitably athletic and sexy Electra, although the character’s original profession as a world class assassin is never dealt with. She’s clearly the most capable actor in the film when it comes to doing stunts. The original Kingpin was white, but casting Michael Clarke Duncan serves to diversify the cast and give the role to one of the only actors capable of matching both the size and presence of Fisk. Irishman Colin Farrell gets the flashiest role as Bullseye. The character may be two-dimensional, but it’s loads of morbid fun watching Farrell gleefully kill his victims with paperclips and peanuts. I expect to see him popping up in more action films where his notable physicality and rugged charisma seem to work best.

The limited CGI effects and the hyper-realistic action that are both well-edited help to sell DAREDEVIL but what clinches the film as a solid comic book adaptation is the writing of Brian Helgeland and director Mark Steven Johnson. The tone is dark and brooding but maintains enough mild humor and character depth to comfortably immerse the viewer in Daredevil’s world. The road to a sequel is left wide open with a solid foundation to build a rich and successful franchise, assuming Joel Schumacher never gets his Batman-killing paws on it.