| Written by Zalasta,
on 29-10-2003 09:05
|
Published in : Reviews, Movies |
Live action comic book adaptation is a genre that had its shares of hits and misses, with the latter outnumbering the former. For each success, there are two others that failed to live up to the fans' expectations. Currently riding high on Spider-Man's box office accomplishments, many have great hopes that this year's lineup, namely Daredevil, X2, The Hulk, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, will not disappoint.
"Lawyer by day, judge and jury by night."
Like many superheroes before him, Matt Murdock leads a double life. In one of those lives, he defends the innocent in court. In the other he is known as the Daredevil, a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands and punishes those that take advantages of the loopholes in the justice system. The unique thing about Murdock is that he is blind, an unfortunate result from a childhood chemical accident. To compensate the loss of sight, the rest of his four senses are consequently heightened to help him navigate his environment, acting like radar that works in a similar way to the bat sonar.
"A man without fear is a man without hope."
Surprisingly, Daredevil isn't a simple crime fighting fare or a showcase of good vs. evil. Beneath those familiar themes is a struggle with the meaning of justice and revenge. As expected, the obligatory introduction for the protagonist is there for the benefit of those that are not familiar with the comic. Even though one can't really fault these sequences for being formulaic (i.e. guy gets hurt, guy obtains superhuman abilities, and guy learns how to perfect these skills), suffice to say the movie does an adequate job of presenting the character of Daredevil to the audiences.
I admit to having doubts when hearing Ben Affleck was to don the costume as Daredevil; he just does not look like the superhero type to me. However, as the film progressed, I became more and more convinced that while he may not be perfect for the role, he did a fantastic job with it. Affleck was able to translate Murdock's loneliness, his playfulness and his inner struggles to the screen. He is a complex hero filled with the most basic of human needs, he is as fallible as you and me, and he does not always make the right choices. The lovely Jennifer Garner plays the tough and resilient Elektra, Murdock's love interest in the movie. I really appreciate the time taken to develop their relationship with each other, and the chemistry between the two leads is definitely there.
The characterizations of the villains, on the other hand, were rather weak. This is not to say that the performances by Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin and Colin Farrell as Bullseye were bad, but little screen time were devoted to them to flesh out these personalities, which could be the intention of the director for all we know. Nevertheless, the supporting cast is a strong one; I especially liked Jon Favreau in the part of Murdock's good-humored partner, Franklin Nelson.
The veteran Hong Kong master Cheung-Yan Yuen (brother to Woo-Ping) provides the action choreography, evident in the amount of wirework present in the movie. Personally, I think the film benefited from such collaboration, and it certainly made the fighting sequences much more exciting and stylish to watch. However, some of the editing of the said scenes left a lot to be desired, for example, the confrontation in the bar at the beginning was hectic and poorly lit, it is hard to appreciate what you cannot see.
Not a comic reader myself, I cannot say whether Daredevil is a faithful adaptation of the source material, but I can tell you that I enjoyed every minute of it. The movie is not without faults, yet I truly believe that it is everything Spider-Man was and more. It has action for the guys and romance for the women, come to think of it, Daredevil may not be a bad choice to spend part of your Valentine's Day. It is fun, charming, and a touch sinister. I really think Marvel has another success in its hands. Be sure to sit through the credits, there is an additional scene you don't want to miss.
- Zalasta
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