Feb 09, 2005 04:02 PM
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(Updated Feb 09, 2005 04:02 PM)
STORY
Oddly enough, I find that the most interesting stories ever told are those that are told in the most detached fashion. And this is where DAREDEVIL falls flat on its face.
Daredevil is a blind vigilante who is up-and-coming lawyer, Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck), by day. Matt Murdock loses his eyes in a freak accident as a young child growing up in a place called Hell?s Kitchen, his father is killed in a lonely alley and he cannot do a thing to save him. He sharpens him remaining four senses and soon enough, he develops a sort of radar sense that becomes his ?eyes?. He teaches himself to fight and deliver his brand of justice. As a lawyer by day, he doesn?t do all that great.
He meets and begins to love and admire a billionaire heiress ? Elektra N (Jennifer Garner). She is as much in awe of him as he is enchanted by her beauty. Her father respects her independence.
H. Fisk (S. Duncan Clark) controls the city?s scum and the big daddies as also the ultra-slick goons. And goes by the name KINGPIN. He orders mercenary, BullsEye (Colin Farrell) to kill Elektra?s father, who despite Daredevil?s intervention, dies by the same staff that Daredevil carries. Elektra sees this and swears vengeance against Daredevil. She is a martial arts expert who knows nothing of Daredevil?s true identity and mortally wounds him in combat. Only to realize that he is the one person she ever loved?
Bullseye kills Elektra in passing. Daredevil kills Bullseye. And finally maims the loathsome Kingpin. Life goes on?
WORTHINESS
I have been brought up on a staple diet of food, films, and books. Lots and lots of books. Around 250 comics at last count, and that?s just one genre of fiction. Daredevil?s first appearance on the silver screen disappointed me, to say the least. The effects were there but when was the last time you ever get overawed by the entire experience of watching a book and its character coming to life? I know the story and the characters really well and they have been reduced to dumbed-down caricatures in this movie. The story has gray shades to it, but the movie only deals with the Technicolor.
The fight in the park was so hilarious. I was snickering at the way the entire scene had been executed. Murdock and Elektra are checking each other out and are engaged in mock combat. Elektra is supposed to be this sly, conniving, vampish thing who is taken in by the DEVIL?s charms. Murdock?s heart holds nothing but lust before love makes inroads within. That?s how the real story goes. The movie shatters any and all hopes of seeing the screen ignited by a raw passion between two adversaries. No chemistry at all there.
Secondly, unlike Spiderman, Daredevil holds no superpowers and despite being a great acrobat, comes across as too unbelievable when he leaps off buildings. He may very well be ?THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR?, but some things are just impossible, even for a blind man.
Bullseye never misses. That is, until Daredevil ruins his clean sheet. He is a ruthless mercenary whose arrogance kills him. Colin Farrell lends the role of Bullseye a cheeky credibility. Kingpin (DCS) is the wrong color, and he is far more ruthless than is shown.
I?m guessing this movie was custom-made to cater to kiddies and the general crowds. It manages to successfully isolate those who thrive on realistic cinema - adapted or true-to-life.
Daredevil sets out on an ambitious premise and ends up with nothing more than a caricature. This is one comic-book adaptation you can definitely miss.
