Daredevil is flawed yet still a good watch
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So, what's next, I wondered, The Silver Surfer?
Daredevil, for all you folks who haven't been tuned in to Hollywood hype for the past three months, is the alter ego of the blind, do-gooder lawyer, Matt Murdock. By day, Murdock fights injustice in the courts of New York. At night, he patrols the alleys of Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil, delivering his own sentences on the criminals he can't nab through the legal system.
But while I waited out the Feb. 14 countdown, the idea actually began to grow on me. This guy was different, not just because of his superpowers but because he was disabled. Sure, each superhero has his particular weakness; Superman wilts every time he comes in contact with Kryptonite and, despite his healing-factor and adamantine claws, Wolverine is at a serious disadvantage when he slips into his berserker rage. But what could be more emotionally crippling than blindness? To save the world, while not even being able to see what it looked like? Wow.
I liked that somehow. If they handle this right, I remember myself thinking, Daredevil could come pretty darn close to Batman as the most psychologically complex superhero to hit the screen. To be so powerful and yet so incredibly vulnerable was a stimulating blend.
Did the movie match my expectations? The answer is yes and no - Daredevil both pleased and disappointed. The movie had some powerful pros working in its favor, but it also had some staggering cons that even the most enthusiastic fan couldn't ignore. Here they are in a nutshell: The personalities are wonderful, but I could have cheerfully murdered the director for failing to make this into something extraordinary.
Kudos to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner for the chemistry that practically sizzles between Murdock and Elektra despite a choppy plot and, even more amazingly, despite weak character development. Not to mention the way Affleck simply is Daredevil; he gets the character he's playing so perfectly, it's like a guilty pleasure to watch him.
Since this is high-action fantasy, we get plenty of scenes of Affleck doing his alpha-male action-hero shtick. Daredevil's strength, agility and nifty radar sense of hearing allows him to dodge bullets, dive off of skyscrapers, dance over rooftops and kick serious butt, all with gusty, gravity-defying gracefulness. To see him go in his tight red leather outfit and mask, you'd think the word "disability" didn't exist in his dictionary.
But watch him in the scene where he takes off his costume and stands in the shower, wincing as the water stings his lacerated body - he's not the superhero here, but a man facing the grit and pain of his self-chosen mission. Watch how Murdock has to brush the walls with his fingers to feel his way around his apartment, or put a hand to the shoulder of friend to be led to court. He even has to immerse himself in a sensory deprivation chamber to regenerate after a tough night on the street. He looks like some tragic vampire reposing in his coffin, with his face floating above the water like a beautiful death mask.
There's no doubt about it; Murdock's electric, sexy intensity proves that Affleck is at the top of his game.
Murdock is a much bleaker hero than Peter Parker. He's grown up dirt poor, for one, and for another, he's had to survive in a neighborhood pitted with bullies and organized crime. His father gets murdered by a criminal network, and in true superhero style, he makes a vow to use his gifts to stick up for the underdog.
But don't expect him to be the friendly neighborhood protector; this angel of justice won't hesitate to hound the guilty to death.
Of course, Murdock doesn't play an avenger 24-7. I'm not sure whether the original character was supposed to be a charmer or not, but Ben Affleck certainly brings that into his acting.
The guy can instantly tell when a beautiful woman walks into the room and delivers a pick up line to perfection. The sex appeal Affleck usually brings to his characters is at a softer key in Murdock, devoid of its usual cocky flair - and absolutely irresistible.
Jennifer Garner does justice to Murdock's love interest, the beautiful and independent Elektra Nachios. Despite the obvious flaw that the two don't have all that much screen time together - nowhere compared the screen time shared by Peter Parker and Mary Jane - their chemistry is surprisingly strong and effective.
I liked the fact that Elektra is Daredevil's equal. Trained as a ninja from age five, she can hold her own with Murdock's superhuman abilities and looks damn good in tight black leather. No screaming and dangling off of rooftops, waiting to be rescued for this gal. She could beat up Daredevil, and comes close to doing just that in the scene where Murdock is trying to get her name.
As for villains, Colin Firth brings his maniac energy to Bullseye, the villain who kills people with his with unbelievably good aim. There's a particularly gruesome scene where he silences a talkative old lady sitting next to him by flicking a peanut down her throat.
Michael Duncan Clarke does a strong turn as NYC's ultimate crime boss. He's big, hefty and radiates menace under a bland, good-humored, cigar-puffing exterior.
Strong characters, though, can't make up for weak directing and a weak story line. What gives Spider-Man its hit quality is the fact that Raimi is careful to develop the relationships and chart the hero on a strong coming-of-age plot.
Daredevil falls short on relationships; you only get hints of them in his friendship with his priest and his law partner. That's fine, though, since the character is supposed to be stark and solitary. What's unforgivable is that the hero-villain relationship is simply non-existent. There's no dancing back and forth, no suspense, nothing to create the "gasp" moment when they finally pull off each other's masks.
It's also a problem when even the love relationship isn't as well drawn as it could've been. It's choppy to say the least, and the way the movie tries to make it feed into Murdock discovering about himself is totally lame. If it was meatier and the romantic tension was handled better, it could have been the love affair of the century. Basically, they're too many stunts and not enough courtship.
And most damning for an action movie is that the action leaves a lot to be desired. Daredevil does some jaw dropping stunts, but for some reason, his fight scenes are choreographed in pitch dark, with a confusing strobe light effect.
Violence can be beautiful as The Matrix has already proved, but not when you can't tell what the bloody hell is going on. Sure, this is a darker universe and you're trying to get the gritty criminal underworld effect, but its sloppy camera work when you can't see the moves the movie spent most of its budget on.
Working with the action-fantasy genre doesn't absolve you of good directing and a strong script, and that's where Daredevil's weaknesses add up.
Still, it's good that the superhero universe is so personality driven; Affleck and Garner, in the scenes where they're alone or together, manage to kindle a vital spark out of a generally mishandled movie.