Let me get two things out of the way here real quick. 1) I'm not horribly familiar with the story of Daredevil. I mean, I know he's blind and the super senses shit, but I never really was into the Daredevil comics. I think my brother had some at one point and was kind of into it, but that's a pretty vague memory.2) I will watch almost anything with Ben Affleck in it. Seriously. (I'm a fan, what can I say? I mean, I'm not like one of those super obsessed people or anything...but I dig him as an actor. It's something Kevin Smith and I have in common. Not totally, I mean, Smith and Affleck are friends. Ben and I have never met. If someday we do though, I'll bet we totally become BFF. Totally.) Did I ever mention that I really dug Pearl Harbor. Yep. Loved it. Armageddon. Oh yeah. Mallrats? A given. So, I mean, watching Daredevil is sort of a no brainer. I'm honestly surprised it took me this long to see it.
Affleck and Me: Totally BFFThat out of the way, now to quote Captain Tenneal...Get it on!
It starts with Daredevil on the brink of death and his life flashing before his eyes. His father was a boxer, and he was a kid that got picked on. Then, on one fateful day, he learned that his dad was a hired thug. So he ran. He ran like he was auditioning for a Flock of Seagulls video. He ran right into a...warehouse...of toxic waste. In barrels. Lots of barrels. Oddly, I used to walk home from school on occasion...there was no toxic waste anywhere near the place. Especially not on the shortcuts. But, young Matt is in New York, and I guess things are different there.
The chemicals blinded the poor kid and it made his daddy cry. The shared a tender moment and committed themselves to improving themselves. The kid learns he has crazy sensitive senses and dad learns he has some integrity. The integrity gets him killed though.
Matt Murdock could have gone either way at this point. Good or evil. Out for justice, or insane of the bat shit variety. He went and became a lawyer...again, coulda gone either way on this one. He, however, has dedicated himself to protecting the innocent and making sure justice is served. He meets a girl named Elektra, who at first is anything but interested, but very quickly falls in love with him after a fight in the park. (While the fight seemed...odd, I have to say it was kind of fun. Very playful in a way. Like the one in the second Matrix, but with fewer Smiths. He was later as the dude running the morgue)
Stuff happens and Elektra's dad is killed. Elektra, who wasn't exactly paying attention in class, thinks Daredevil did it. Meanwhile, Kingpin is all geeked that Bullseye managed to implicate DD in the murder. Bullseye kills Elektra, then, may or may not have been killed by Daredevil in an epic battle inside a church involving candles, pipe organs, and stained glass. Daredevil then faces off against Kingpin. Naturally, Daredevil wins. But he's not the bad guy.
I'm going to be honest. This was NOT a good movie. The story barely made sense. There were plot holes Hannibal could lead his army through, elephants and all. The acting was so so in parts, and that was at best. I wasn't crazy about Colin Farrell. More that I didn't like the character. Farrell was fine I guess. The flick had a lot of problems.
That said, I dug it. I mean, it was no Fantastic Four, but it was a hell of a lot better than Xmen 3. The fights with Bullseye were sweet. I liked some of the Murdock/Elektra stuff. I thought it was well done. Garner was good in the role. Clarke as Kingpin was a good choice, too, I think. Kevin Smith, Stan Lee and Frank Miller all had great little cameos. I kind of want to see the director's cut now. And I really want to see Elektra.
Let's give Daredevil 7 shards of glass flying through the air that you've managed to dodge now that the ringing has stopped from the pipe organ out of 10, even though as a movie itself probably only deserves 5 of those out of ten.
