Comic books seem to be the new source for movie material. But, the latest one to jump from illustrated pages to the big screen, “Daredevil,” falls short of the bar set by “X-Men” and “Spiderman.”
Ben Affleck stars as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer by day, and Daredevil, the superhero who uses his heightened sense in order to bring about the justice that doesn’t happen in the courts. Matt lost his eyesight as a child due to a chemical accident. However, it also caused his other senses to become more fine-tuned.
One day, Matt meets Elektra, played by Jennifer Garner, and falls immediately head over heals. Things seem to be going well until Elektra’s father is killed and Daredevil appears to be the murderer. During the course of the movie, Daredevil tries to prove his innocence in the eyes the girl he loves.
The plot is what you would expect from a movie involving superheroes and romance. At times, some scenes were a little cheesy and, for the most part, the film was predictable.
Even so, “Daredevil” was full of a few good performances. One such performance came from Hollywood’s rising star Colin Farrell (“Hart’s War,” “The Recruit”) as Bullseye. Whether it was intentional or not, his character provides some good comic relief. For a bad guy, you couldn’t help but like him.
Joe Pantoliano is another actor who put on a memorable performance. He played newspaper reporter Ben Urich who followed the Daredevil stories, uncovered the truth and, believe it or not, kept it to himself instead of printing it.
Affleck and Garner played their roles well, but this movie may not be the best example of their talents. Although the two accomplished what was needed for the roles, they just seemed to be below their usual level of quality work.
Michael Clark Duncan, best known for films such as “Armageddon” and “The Green Mile,” was a good choice for the role of Kingpin/Fisk. He might not have been in a lot of scenes, but he made those that he did appear in noticeable.
Some of the best scenes were the small ones that, had the film been running too long, wouldn’t have made it out of the editing room. Interactions such as the ones between Matt Murdock and his partner Franklin Nelson, played by Jon Favreau, added nice touches to the movie.
One of the best parts in the movie was a pratical joke involving mustard being substitued for honey, which backfires, leaving Franklin with a bad taste in his mouth. At times it was the little scenes that were more memorable than the major events in the movie.
Overall, “Daredevil” was simply okay. Fans of the comic may enjoy going to see it a little more, even if it’s just to see how close the storyline is to the original one from the comic book itself. In the end, it just doesn’t compare to its predecessors. Anyone who saw “Spiderman” or “X-Men” will leave the movie theater feeling a little disappointed. “Daredevil” might be worth seeing, but it can certainly wait, even if it means you don’t see it until it is released to rental stores.
