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All Movie Info
Starring:
Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau, Scott Terra, Ellen Pompeo, Joe Pantoliano, Leland Orser, Erick Avari, Paul Ben-Victor, David Keith, Frankie J. Allison, Kane Hodder, Lennie Loftin, Derrick OConnor
Directed By:
Mark Steven Johnson
Written By:
Mark Steven Johnson
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Daredevil (2003)
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I am the man without fear..
.. of being ridiculed for liking this movie. From what I have seen, it has been met with mixed reviews and was ultimately considered a flop at the box offices. This is one of those comic book movies made by and starring fans of the subject. When I see movies like that I realize they are going to be met with criticism because the mood and vibe of the movie is colored by the view of the director in regards to his/her likes and dislikes about the character.
The basic premise is about Matt Murdock, a scrawny boy who was raised by his father, Jack Murdock (aging boxer "Battling Jack") in a dark seamy area of New York referred to as "Hell's Kitchen." His father has a side job working at the local docks One day Matt goes to see his father at working at the local docks and finds out that his father was not working the as an employee, but rather trying to collect gambling money from one of the dock workers for the Kingpin. Matt is nearly struck by a forklift, which swerves to avoid hitting him and inadvertently strikes a barrel of toxic waste which sprays right into Matt's eyes, blinding him. He wakes up in a hospital room by extremely loud noises. He comes to realize that, while blinding him, the toxic chemicals enhanced his others senses to superhuman levels. After seeing what happened to his son, as a result of dishonesty, Jack decides to straighten up and start focusing on boxing, give up the life of a hired goon. He makes a comeback in his career and begins a winning streak which is unheard of from an older boxer. On the night of his biggest fight to date, he gets a visit from the Kingpin's men telling him that all of his recent fights were rigged and he needed to take a fall in this match. They tell him that he was being hyped as a sure thing in the betting pools so when he lost, anyone (Kingpin) betting against him would stand to make a small fortune. Jack agrees only to look out into the eyes of his son during the fight and go on to win. After the fight he is greeted at the back door of the event center by the Kingpin himself who kills Jack and leaves a single rose as a calling card. Matt, wearing his father red, horned boxing robe (which he later models his costume after) finds his lifeless father in the back alley realizing he is dead because he can no longer hear his heartbeat, and recognizes not only his fathers scent, but the scent of the trademark rose and that of the Kingpin still heavy in the air. He then vows to dedicate his life to serving justice, not only as a lawyer, but a brutal vigilante at night.
I really like the story to begin with, but I think that DD (Daredevil) being portrayed by somebody who is as much a dork fan boy as me (and pretty much every other comic book enthusiast) helps in the delivery. Ben Affleck (SMOKING ACES) does great as both Matt and Daredevil. He has the c*cky/confident demeanor needed to pull it off, not to mention the height (people don't realize how imposing he can be.) David Keith (FIRESTARTER) has been long referred as "the poor man's Patrick Swayze", but I think he fits the role of Jack Murdock perfectly (despite the obvious prosthetic chin added to resemble Affleck more accurately.) Jennifer Garner (CATCH AND RELEASE) has demonstrated in the TV series Alias that she can handle the stunts and fight choreography and pull it off believably. I think she really captures the essence of the character from how she plays her off as somewhat innocent, but having that drastically change throughout the course of the movie (in the comic she goes on to be as assassin after all.) Michael Duncan Clark (THE GREEN MILE) is an unusual choice for the Kingpin, not only due to ethnicity, but the fact that he is in much better shape than the comic book counterpart. The whole idea behind the character is that he outwardly appears to be a morbidly obese man, but in fact is more muscle than fat (going almost as far as being rated as having super strength in the comics.) He can handle himself in a fight, but prefers not to get his hands dirty. In this respect Michael Duncan Clark excels. My two favorites in this movie are my favorites because they, in my opinion, could have easily stepped right off of the pages of the comic. Jon Favreau (IRONMAN) as Foggy Nelson and Collin Farrell (MIAMI VICE) as Bullseye were the perfect choice for their respective roles and almost seem to be born for the parts (plus Farrell got to use his native Irish accent). There were many neat references to the comic book industry from the names Joe Quesada, David Mack, Frank Miller, Bill Everett, John Romita SR and Brian Michael Bendis being dropped throughout the movie as well as as Stan Lee's trademark cameo and Kevin Smith (CATCH AND RELEASE) portraying a morgue working named Kirby (in homage to Marvel artist Jack Kirby.) Overall I really like this movie and I think it has enough story/action/comedy/drama to satisfy fans from casual to die-hard.
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