Daredevil (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
by Mark Steven Johnson
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DVD details
Actor: Ben Affleck, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Garner, Jon Favreau, Michael Clarke DuncanDirector: Mark Steven Johnson
Brand: FOX Home Entertainment
Writer: Mark Steven Johnson
Producer: Arnon Milchan
Producer: Avi Arad
Producer: Becki Cross Trujillo
Producer: Bernard Williams
Producer: Bill Carraro
Producer: Bruce Devan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Live, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
Published: 2003-07-01
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-29
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Daredevil (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Awful interpretation of a wonderful comic (updated review)
Summary: 1 Stars
Please note that this review is for the original theatrical release (which is, in fact, what this (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) DVD is. If you want the director's cut, you need to go to the entry which says, "Director's Cut"). I have not seen the director's cut, because I'm not sure if I can stomach more of the same movie, and I doubt that the cut could possibly fix the biggest glaring flaw in the theatrical release.
What's wrong with this movie, you ask? Well, let me start with a summary of just who Matt Murdock is in the comics:
MATT AND THE LAW:
Matt Murdock is a highly intelligent defense and civil attorney, who truly believes in the law.
As Matt Murdock, he largely defends people who are down and out. And, with few exceptions, he will even defend guilty people. This is because, more than putting criminals away, he needs to believe in the system.
As Daredevil, he always operates just on the right side of the law (unless one counts assault and battery, of course). He's a highly skilled martial artist (more on this later) - which is a good thing, since this means that he doesn't need to kill his opponents in order to win. Which is good, because refuses to kill. EVER. He doesn't believe he has the right to decide who lives or dies. He beats people up, sure. Sometimes (especially lately) he will even seriously maim people. But, no matter how much pain he's in, no matter how much grief and anger he's going through, he always stops short of killing, because he believes it's wrong. Always. Even when it comes to Bullseye.
Just to reiterate: Daredevil. Does. Not. Kill. EVER. No matter how much he may want to. If it seems like I'm harping on that fact, it's because I am. Aside from his tremendous compassion for strangers, the biggest thing that makes DD a *hero*, is his tremendous sense of justice and fair play, his willingness to hold himself accountable for his actions (even if he sometimes has to compromise ethically, he has to be dragged into it kicking and screaming), and his recognition that, no matter how much it hurts, he does not have the right to play judge, jury, and executioner. And I am absolutely APPALLED that the moviemakers did not recognize this.
If DD were to encounter a rapist who got off scott-free (which, incidentally, is a case he would never prosecute as Matt Murdock, since he is not a prosecutor, and even if he did, he would never give a closing argument so lame and devoid of logic), he would keep an eye (or an ear, as the case may be) on the guy, and wait for him to break the law again, and then pounce, and present the evidence to the authorities. He would NOT chase the rapist onto some subway tracks and then stand by and jeer while the guy gets run over by a train!!! GAAH! He didn't even do that in the comic when it was Bullseye on the tracks, and he had good reason to truly *hate* Bullseye! In one scene, the moviemakers managed to take every single thing that makes DD a hero, and turn it upside-down.
And I will never forgive them for that.
MATT AND HIS BLINDNESS, SENSES, AND MARTIAL ARTS SKILLS:
In the comics, Matt was hit in the face with a canister of radioactive waste, and woke up in the hospital blind, with all of New York screaming in his ears. This, actually, was well portrayed in the movie - for all of about 20 seconds (before he miraculously learned how to interpret and use an essentially completely alien set of senses).
In the comics, this was somewhat more realistically handled - Matt was terrified for weeks, before a rather abusive blind sensei by the name of Stick basically whacked him over the face and told him to grow up. Then he basically put Matt through months (or years, the comic isn't very clear on this) of boot camp, constantly pushing an eager-to-please Matt to higher skill levels. Matt EARNED those martial arts and acrobatic skills in the comic. They weren't just miraculously given to him.
MATT AND DARKNESS:
As far as I know, in addition to losing his father and finding his body after he'd been shot point-blank in the face (and keep in mind that blind people recognize their loved ones by touching their faces)...
Matt has lost at least 4 girlfriends (to death, as opposed to the countless girlfriends he lost because they left him or turned out to be psychotic killers). Two of them he loved with all his heart, and they were both slaughtered by Bullseye, right in front of him. Also, recently he's been placed in jail and forced to stand by, helplessly, and listen while Foggy got stabbed (apparently to death). Every time something like this happens, Matt goes through a dark, depressed period (which gets darker each time), where he withdraws from his friends and becomes overtly hostile to the people who want to help him. Each time, his actions become progressively more self destructive... and sometimes, downright bizarre, as he struggles to make sense of the chaos and pain inside his head.
...and yet, at the same time, he also becomes somehow *more* self-sacrificing, *more* compassionate to the strangers he helps, *more* determined to spare everybody else the pain that he's been through, and *more* heroic, with each new trauma. And then, through sheer force of will, he works his way through it, always keeping his actions on the right side of the law, and struggling to forgive the idiots who make his life a living hell.
-----
In other words, Matt Murdock, as portrayed in the comics, is a true hero, even though he's dark. A person who proves that even if you have darkness inside of you, you can, if not overcome it completely, at least keep it pushed down. He is a person who is worthy of tremendous respect... the kind of respect that many fans reserve for Captain America.
In contrast, Matt Murdock, as portrayed in the movie, deserves no respect whatsoever. He's a sadistic playboy who feels no accountability for his own actions. He is the exact opposite of the real, deep, tortured, generous, compassionate, intelligent, ethical champion of true justice that's portrayed in the comics.
And that is why I hated the movie. Dislike is far too mild a word. I HATED this movie.
Aside from the complete character asassination of one of the greatest heroes out there, there were a couple of other issues, many of which I imagine were fixed in the Director's Cut:
- The CGI which ignores little things like the laws of inertia and gravity (in real life, if you take a running leap, the leap will carry you forward. Not 15 feet straight up).
- The absolutely moronic playground fight, conducted in front of kids, out of costume, apparently because the fighters *liked* each other?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I wish so badly that the moviemakers had just used Frank Millar's "The Man Without Fear" as a script. That story was the perfect origin story to Daredevil, with *intelligent* action and solid (and true) characterization. I would have really enjoyed seeing that movie. Instead of struggling to get through it without throwing something heavy at my TV.
Description of Daredevil (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
DAREDEVIL SPECIAL EDITION - DVD MovieDarker than its popular comic-book predecessor Spider-Man, the $80 million extravaganza Daredevil was packaged for maximum global appeal, its juvenile plot beginning when 12-year-old Matt Murdock is accidentally blinded shortly before his father is murdered. Later an adult attorney in New York's Hell's Kitchen, Murdock (Ben Affleck) uses his remaining, superenhanced senses to battle crime as Daredevil, the masked and vengeful "man without fear," pitted against dominant criminal Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) and the psychotic Bullseye (Colin Farrell), who can turn almost anything into a deadly projectile. Daredevil is well matched with the dynamic Elektra (Jennifer Garner), but their teaming is as shallow as the movie itself, which is peppered with Marvel trivia and cameo appearances (creator Stan Lee, Clerks director and Daredevil devotee Kevin Smith) and enough computer-assisted stuntwork to give Spidey a run for his money. This is Hollywood product at its most lavishly vacuous; die-hard fans will argue its merits while its red-leathered hero swoops and zooms toward a sequel. --Jeff Shannon
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