Day 35: Daredevil.

Day 35: Daredevil (2003, Dir. Mark Steven Johnson)

Following on from the Marvel smash hit successes of Spider-man and X-men there was a great deal of anticipation for this 2003 superhero film, whilst the film wasn’t a total flop it didn’t seem to hit the mark for most audiences either. The problem is this story is darker than audiences would have been expecting however not as dark as comic book fans would have been hoping for so as a concept it is in a bit of a dangerous middle ground. However I believe it manages to be a successful adaptation of a cult comic book classic.

The cast are very effective with Ben Affleck not only being a compelling super hero in the lead role but also providing an interesting representation of a blind man; something rarely seen in big cinematic productions, despite the super powers that come with it his disability is treated with care and respect and provides a positive role model for the blind community. The supporting cast are also well used with the larger than life and surprisingly psychotic villains played by Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell, genuinely funny performances from Jon Favreau and Kevin Smith plus a emotionally compelling romantic sub plot with Jennifer Garner’s Elektra. The film mixes these characters superbly with the narrative flowing from exciting action to sequences of true emotion. Additionally the film is successful in how it deals with its origins, as a comic book reader it is clear that the film acknowledges its comic book past very effectively, whilst not making it dull or unwatchable for those who haven’t.

That’s not to say that this film doesn’t deserve some of the trepidation that surrounds it. I haven’t seen the directors cut of this film but I’ve heard the somewhat awkward sex scene has been removed which is probably a plus, the action has also apparently been improved to be more grizzly and authentic. It would be nice if some of the MTV style cutting was altered and a few modifications to the soundtrack wouldn’t go a miss but we can live in hope… Of course at the time Daredevil received much of the Ben Affleck backlash following on from a string of so-so films and his highly publicised relationship with J-Lo at the time. Tarring this film with that particular brush of bad publicity isn’t particularly fair and is frankly a very lazy opinion to take.

I guess the ship has pretty much sailed on the possibility of a Daredevil sequel, at least the Daredevil we see here. It would have been very interesting to see the development of the characters beyond this origin story, obviously something every comic book film has to do but equally something that limits the story they can tell. There is a great deal of potential with this character as any comic book fan will know and something in the style of what The Dark Knight was to Batman Begins would have been very interesting. There are however talks of a reboot but I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

I believe that Daredevil is a really great blockbuster, exhilarating action, intriguing characters and stunning spectacle; ultimately a very entertaining film.

7.5/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287978/

Extra: I still don’t think I’ll give the Elektra spin-off another go though…