Movie Review: Daredevil

Daredevil

Comic book characters have been lucrative movie fodder in recent years (witness the record-setting box office prowess of Spider Man, and the success of movies like X-Men). While Daredevil is certainly a natural to be brought to the big screen, the difference in quality of the three Batman films should have showed filmmakers that you can't assume the character alone is sufficient. Alas, they didn't learn and Daredevil - filled with potential as a concept - falls flat on its masked face in this cinematic incarnation.

Matthew Murdock (Ben Affleck) always promised his second-rate boxer father that he'd make something of himself. Those dreams are very nearly crushed when he is blinded as a 12 year-old as radioactive waste is spewed into his eyes. To make up for the loss, his remaining four senses increase in sensitivity to a superhuman level. None of this is enough, though, to save his father's life. Matthew grows up remembering his promise to his father as well as his own desire to see justice served. So he becomes a lawyer who takes only innocent clients by day, and the crime fighting Daredevil by night. Just as Matthew meets the beautiful Elektra (Jennifer Garner), however, he is forced to fight the leader of all crime in the city, the notorious Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan). But to get to Kingpin, he and Elektra must take on Kingpin's hired hitman, Bullseye (Colin Farrell).

There are some cool special effects in Daredevil, most notably the aerial work. Elektra's martial arts skills are also fun to watch. But most of the fight scenes are so overly choreographed and so ham-handedly edited that it's easy to see the hits that never land, and the characters often appear less than enthusiastic. I'm the first to admit that Ben Affleck looks really, really good in tight red leather, and that Jennifer Garner is one seriously in-shape girl. But neither is good enough - or good looking enough - to rescue an abysmal script, a weak story, and the largely lousy direction and editing. Forget the downtrodden. Somebody ought to rescue this film!

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Daredevil is rated PG-13. There is a good deal of violence, some of which is moderately graphic, but no rough language or nudity. This isn't a movie for little kids, and older kids - with the possible exception of Daredevil fanatics - aren't going to be able to get into the story enough to enjoy the movie. Grown-ups should probably just skip this one all together. I spent most of the movie tapping my foot, waiting for it to be over.