It is true what they say; all good things must come to an end. And so ends Marvel’s streak of great movies (from the POV of not being annoyed with X-Men just yet) with Daredevil. The funny thing is the acting was very good all around (Sidebar time: I’ve never understood why people don’t like Ben Affleck so much. I don’t think he’s the greatest or anything, but I do enjoy him), the visuals were fantastic, and I even enjoyed the costume design. However everything else is so tragically flawed that it makes my head spin.
It feels almost as if Mark Steven Johnson (writer/director) thought the people in the theater would be blind just like our hero, as the first half hour or so is a flashback to a young Matt Murdock with a voice over from the elder version describing to us exactly what we’re looking at. Movies are a visual medium, Mr. Johnson, I trust that when I see a kid looking for his dad, that he’s indeed looking for his dad. Included in the flashback is a scene of bullies thinking a blind kid is a coward for not fighting them and yes they know he’s blind. Now I’ve met my fair share of bullies, but even the dumbest of them isn’t that dumb. He’s f’ing blind!!! And then there’s the name dropping, oh the name dropping, with a crooked boxing promoter naming off boxers who all happen to be named after people who’ve worked on the Daredevil comic at one point or another. Get it? It’s clever.
Fast forward to by far the dumbest scene in the entire movie, where our blind hero, Matt Murdock, spars with Elektra, who walked into a coffee shop smelling nice so Murdock went to talk to her, she then got up as if she was just leaving anyways and leaves so he follows her to get her name. Yes, basically she walked in, sat down, and walked out. Now back to the fight. They’re on a play ground full of kids and Matt, who the world thinks is completely blind, spars full force with this woman. Yeah, cause that won’t draw ANY attention to Matt. Oh, and of course this eventually leads to them taking the meat boat to tuna town later that night after they’ve known each other for maybe four hours, thanks Hollywood (this comment will make sense soon, just not in this review).
I can’t think of a good way to segue over to the supporting cast, so I’ll just use the awkward sentence I just typed. The supporting characters are cast perfectly. Michael Clark Duncan does a great job as the Kingpin, Colin Farrell basically plays himself but is a murderous psycho, and John Favreau as Foggy Nelson is hands down the only thing in the movie that is without flaw.
Want to read about more insipid things in this movie? Good, I have plenty.
So Kingpin decides to kill Elektra’s father for betraying him. He succeeds. He then sends Bullseye after Elektra because, “the Kingpin doesn’t just kill you, he kills your whole family.” Way to really stick it to the guy. Kill him and THEN take away what matters to him most in the world.
And then there’s the line that actually challenges Storm’s “Toad that’s hit by lightning” bit from X-Men:
Kingpin: How do you kill a man without fear?
Bullseye: By putting the fear in him.
Really? That actually makes sense to someone? Seriously there is no more expansion on that idea, they change topics of discussion after that to killing Elektra.
And while the effect of how he sees looks cool, it’s wrong. Clearly how he sees in the movie is sonar, in the comics it is clearly a radar sense that he has honed through a lot of meditation and training. But with the way it is in the movie, he is ridiculously susceptible to sound interference, which one would think his sensitivity to would just lead him to being deaf by now.
Lastly, Daredevil’s a ninja, not a brawler, oh and he doesn’t kill people!!! @$$holes.
Marvel Movie Score = 3
Why That?: The fight scenes were pretty cool, and like I said the acting was good. Also to be honest, Jennifer Garner got the movie two good points all on her own. Booyah! But there is hope in the near future… Stay tuned.
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2 comments:
What a sense of relief to read your review! I've cme across so many people thinking "it's so cool" that I though I was a martian! LOL
Now seriously, I'm well aware that movies usually have to change the original story to make it fir the medium... If you have to fit "les miserables or War and Peace within a 90 or 120 minute timespace, you have to cut inevitably.
But... I can't see the reason for the changes in the film version: i.e. the lucicrous scene of Matt and Elektra's first meeting. In the comics we got a flashback and we were told while Elektra could shale Matt so much: she was his first love from way back when he was at college. In the film, Matt just goes after her , after JUST having been in a coffee shop with her for teh first time ever!- because she smells nice (or maybe he has an extra "gorgeous chick-detector" besides the radar?).
What I dislike about the DD film, is that comics, unlike novels, are a more visual medium so, in a way, easier to translate to the silver screen than a novel. So why didn't they just take one good DD story (there are a good number of then) with an earlier introduction about how Matt lost his sight, got his radar, etc... with a few inevitable changes to make it work better in a film. But here the changes are many, and I don't see the purpose of them (i.e. the already stated alteration of te Matt-Elektra story, Elektra's father being a gangster's associate and not an ambassador, Matt killing people, etc...).
Re the cast, I'm not bothered by Affleck, and I think Joey Pantoliano is the right stuff for Urich, but... The ear-ring, bald shave, goatee, and cap with the peak backwards!... I undertsnd the film stylists wanting to "modernize" Urich's looks... but one of the charms of Urich in the comics is, precisely, that he is an old-style journalist: the Urich of the comics looks like someone who could write in "The Times", the Urich in the film looks like a tabloid-fodder guy.
And right about Favreau/Foggy... even though played as "Comic-relief-Foggy" (as in the old comics), Nelson comes as fairly decent portrayal. Still, I prefer the wiser and more clever Foggy of the more recent comics, as written by Bendis and Brubaker in the last 7 years: maybe because I think Foggy works better as Matt's pal who knows about his secret ID and can be more helpful to him as a consequence.
And yes, the depiction of Matt's radar as a "sonar" is questionable, though. With the radar, he still can detect his surroundings even if everything around him is silent: With the "sonar" (as seen in the film" he would have to make little noises all the time! (very inconvenient if you are intending to follow someone diiscreetly)
There's a positive thing I can say about the film, though: I've come across many people who started reading the comics after watching the film. Otherwise, I see the film as a great missed opportunity to make a decent superhero film... The source is still much better.
This movie was made specifically for Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith to make out in the theater during and that is all.
Director's Cut is better, but not good enough to warrant it's existence.
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