Take Spiderman's action sequences, add in the moral ambiguity of Punisher, generously soak in the darkness of Batman's Gotham, garnish with a side of good characterization and you have the new movie, Daredevil. This is a bit more than your cheap comic book movie.
The action sequences in the movie are great once the viewer suspends his or her belief in Newtonian physics. Characters jump like human crickets and slow motion is used to highlight all of the action. The cinematography looks better than Spiderman and only one or two sequences leave the audience wondering why the heroes look like a cartoon.
However, Daredevil separates itself from other comic book movies with a greater attention to characters, which makes it more than your average action movie. The story follows the life of lawyer/vigilante Matt Murdock, aptly played by Ben Affleck.
When Murdock was a child, he was accidentally covered in hazardous goo. This incident robs him of his sight, but heightens all his other senses to superhuman levels. He also gains a radar sense based on his acute hearing. By judging the sound around him, he is able to accurately gauge distance and "see" through walls, represented in the film by a cool-looking bluish strobe effect.
Those that are worried about the film representing superhuman senses in a primarily visual medium should not be. His sense of touch and smell are downplayed, but his aural sense is brilliantly represented through a collage of sounds that assault Murdock and the audience.
After a flashback explaining his powers, the movie fast-forwards to Murdock as an adult living in an alternate version of this world where everything is darker, the laws of gravity are looser, and pain from injury is smaller. Murdock meets sexy Elektra (Jennifer Garner), whose father is mixed up in organized crime with the Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan). Kingpin hires Bullseye (Colin Farrell), an insane assassin with perfect aim, to clear up loose ends. Murdock and Elektra fall in love, Bullseye shows up and battles ensue. The plot follows the comic book reasonably well and pays respect to the source material.
Ben Affleck gives a great performance as Murdock, showing a conflicted and tormented hero that inhabits a moral shade of gray. During several scenes in the film, Murdock is thrown into difficult situations and the character makes choices that defy the typical action hero stereotype. For example, in one scene, Daredevil is pounding on a small time hoodlum in his home and finds the criminal's terrified, crying son watching him as he hits him (Batman never had to watch the Joker's kid crying in the corner while he fought him).
Garner pulls off the attractive ass kicker she plays, but the movie hints at depth to her character that is never addressed. Duncan plays Kingpin with a silent cool that brings to mind Ving Rhames' character in Pulp Fiction. Farrell is a real delight to watch as Bullseye. He has the ability to make the viewer laugh and cringe at his antisocial tendencies and indiscriminate killing. Jon Favreau provides some funny comic relief as Murdock's business partner and Joe Pantoliano is solid as the reporter trying to track down Daredevil. And, for fans of the comic book, you should keep an eye out for the names and faces of writers and artists of the comic littered throughout the movie.
Yet, while this movie is generally positive, there are some negative aspects as well. First off, the love scenes between Elektra and Murdock were sub par. After a wonderful first meeting/fight, their relationship doesn't really work. It isn't bad on the level of Episode II, but it is weaker than the rest of the film.
One of the other problems is the clich?©s. For the most part, the script tends toward the unexpected, but every once in a while a corny line will slip in or cheesy pop music will play reminding the audience that they are watching a mainstream action film.
My advice: Do not see Daredevil if you are looking for a masterpiece of original cinema. Do see Daredevil if you are a fan of the comic, you want a fun movie, or if you are looking for typical Hollywood fare with a bit more depth. Daredevil is one of the best comic book movies and a standout action movie.
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