By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
Daredevil stars Ben Affleck who plays Matt Murdock and Daredevil at right and Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios, left. - Contributed
THE CLOSEST I ever came to reading comics as a child was Archie, which is by no stretch or bend of the imagination in the same league as comics such as Spiderman or Daredevil. I remember reading at least one Conan The Barbarian comic but that was it.
As such, having never read Daredevil, I went to watch this film without any preconceptions. It is probably for this reason that I was not disappointed. I must say that I was not overly enamoured with this superhero either. The movie does not utterly fail, but it is not a success either.
For those not aware of the Marvel comic, Daredevil is a superhero who is blinded as a child. Radioactive waste takes his eyes but simultaneously enhances his other senses, especially his hearing. He essentially begins to see with his ears. Getting the urge to help justice, he is a superhero/vigilante by night while being a lawyer by day. Adopting the leather fixation that plagues so many superheroes, he takes to wearing a red leather costume.
Matt's change into Daredevil is in large part inspired by the murder of his father, Jack Murdock (David Keith) by his archenemy Kingpin. It is this Kingpin whom Daredevil will spend much of his time trying to find and thwart. On this journey he meets and falls in love with Electra Natchios.
Daredevil has a very powerful cast including Ben Affleck (Matt Murdock/ Daredevil), Michael Clarke Duncan (Kingpin/ Wilson Fisk), Collin Farrell (Bullseye) and Jennifer Garner (Elektra Natchios). Its problem then is by no means one of acting.
Nonetheless, Daredevil is nowhere as good as it could be. Although Affleck does a decent job, there are evidently flaws with the creation of the Daredevil character and his alter-ego. First, though the radioactive liquid x gives young Matt no superpowers, he learns to cavort across rooftops as though he thinks he's Spiderman (he seems to have forgotten he could take a cab).
While his ninja antics (which would have made the Karate Kid jealous) would have been acceptable had he received training, he never does in this movie. Instead, we are asked to believe that this 12-year-old boy simply trains himself and learns to do bone shattering jumps, without getting a single scratch.
This 'I'm Superman' disease must have been catching, however. Both Elektra and Bulleye were also made to do jumps that a Hong Kong karate flick would shy at, and neither of them supposedly had super powers.
To top this off, Matt evidently has no clue how to be discreet. Rather than pretending to be a normal blind person, he flaunts his unnatural abilities even getting into a play fight with love interest Electra on a play ground. While the fight was impressive, sexy and certainly entertaining, it does less to hide Daredevil's identity than Clark Kent's glasses. Of course, in true comic logic, no one but an intrepid reporter and a priest knows his identity.
On the whole, Afleck quite works as the Daredevil character, however. He is more impressive out of than in the suit, but then it is red leather....
Collin Farrel also does a rather good job as Bullseye. Evil simply because he can be, Bullseye is a very entertaining addition to the cast. Micheal Clarke Duncan also carries his role as major villain (though somewhat behind the scenes) very well. However, the storyline could have done more with the two villains. This is especially true of the Kingpin character, who was not nearly as evil as he could be.
Like the fight scene, much of the movie is visually impressive. It has not reached awe inspiring proportions but it is clean and looks good. Additionally there are some water related visuals (not the ones with the perplexing coffin mind you) which are a must see. A particular knee-break scene also ranks very high on the gratuitous violence list.
To top this off, the dialogue is for the most part rather weak. Neither the villains nor the hero could be commended for their repartee.
