"Daredevil" review

Daredevil (2003)

Directed by Mark Steven Johnson
Writing credits Mark Steven Johnson

Ben Affleck .... Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Jennifer Garner .... Elektra Natchios
Colin Farrell .... Bullseye
Michael Clarke Duncan .... Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin
Jon Favreau .... Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson
Scott Terra .... Young Matt
Ellen Pompeo .... Karen Page
Joe Pantoliano .... Ben Urich

I have collected many "Daredevil" comic books over the years. I have all of the Frank Miller "Daredevil" comics and I would consider them some of the best ever written. I went into the "Daredevil" movie with expectations for a cool flick. For the most part, I was satisfied. Here are my thoughts:

*VARIOUS SCENE SPOILERS*

First, I was struck by the amazing similarity the Elektra death scene in the movie had to the Elektra death scene in the comic. It was copied down to the last detail. Issue #181 had Elektra's death. From the ace up Bullseye sleeve to his saying of, "And for my next trick.", the scene was lifted word for word from Frank Miller's comic. They even had the bulge in Elektra's back from the sai just like in the comic.

Character thoughts: Of course the Kingpin was white in the comic but I think Michael Duncan did a good job. He had the menace of the Kingpin down. As far as Bullseye, what was up with his forehead? Why not give him his blue costume? This is the problem when you have a movie star as a villain. If you cover his head, people can't see him! Bullseye would have looked better with his costume. Elektra wore hot red in the comic. She had a great outfit. Where was her headband? Elektra still looked good in the movie but black leather seemed kind of plain. Red was hotter. Which brings us to Daredevil himself. Affleck did a good job. The costume looked good too. One thing that bewildered me was the amount of times Daredevil was unmasked. Everybody was tearing that mask off. Was it an excuse to get the movie star face on screen or is the movie Daredevil an incompetent dolt who can't keep his mask on? He needs to add a couple of buttons to the back of his mask.

One strike against the flick was the soundtrack. It stunk. Every time there was an emotional scene the soundtrack would blast out how the audience should feel. The song playing over the funeral was foul. The tune that was blasting out when Elektra was training also reeked. When we see the Kingpin for the first time, a song comes up, "I'm an outlaw!". The first appearance of Bullseye was accompanied by, "I'm an Irish thug!" or something like that. It wasn't good.

But overall, I enjoyed myself. There were plenty of good fights. "Daredevil" was a decent action flick.

SCORE: 2.5 out of 4 blind devils