FilmCritique
By Cole Smithey
Darkness Mauls Ben Affleck Is The Superhero In The Goat’s Blood Suit developing his other four senses and kicking the butts of his former bullies, while his dad makes a short-lived boxing comeback by refusing to throw the big fight for his mob bosses. It’s not the smartest thing for Jack to do, but the consequences give Matt the impetus to fight crime as a revenge-based value that dates back to Batman’s origins. The adult Matt lives a customary superhero solitary lifestyle, with a rack of back-up costumes and weapons in a dark penthouse where he re-energizes for his busy dual life. One reason for the movie’s thin rendering of Matt’s personality is that he interacts primarily with his longtime friend Franklin ‘Foggy’ Nelson (Jon Favreau - “Made”), whose fraternity brother disposition diminishes Matt’s IQ whenever the two share a scene together. Even the romance that boils between Matt and Electra lacks an essential physical connection between the lovers who barely even kiss. However, their relationship makes for a key element in the visual effects department when it’s revealed that Matt can use his hyper-acute “radar sense” of hearing to “see” Electra when raindrops fall on her face. It’s this “Shadow World” of perception that allows Daredevil to dodge bullets and leap fearlessly between buildings when he’s imposing justice on New York’s underworld. “Daredevil” hits high gear when Kingpin calls in Bullseye (Colin Farrell - “The Recruit”) to assassinate Electra’s father for his recent withdrawal from Kingpin’s organization of crime. Colin Farrell brings a clever inventiveness to the few scenes that he has, and it’s the film’s most glaring flaw that the psychotic but incredibly accurate Bullseye isn’t allowed a larger stake in the movie. The beautifully choreographed fight scenes between Electra, Daredevil and Bullseye are mesmerizing for their spectacle and ruthlessness, but lack the gravitas that more screen time for the villain would have provided.
Last year’s “Spider-Man” is a tough act to follow and even though both are Marvel Comics characters, with “Daredevil” cutting closer to the darker aspects of its hero’s tragedy-ridden existence, “Daredevil” lacks the benefit of homespun civilian life of Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker. As a blind attorney, Matt Murdock (Affleck - “Changing Lanes”) only takes on “innocent” clients, something he ascertains by listening to their heartbeats with his overdeveloped sense of hearing. But there’s only one courtroom scene of Murdock the attorney in action, and his law skills are anything but impressive - he loses the case. The lack of scope into Murdock’s character, along with similarly absent layers in ancillary characters like Matt’s fighting machine girlfriend Electra Natchios (Jennifer Garner - “Alias”), or the evil Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), subtract from the film’s surprisingly fatalistic narrative. Nevertheless, “Daredevil” offers a few atypically Hollywood surprises that comic fans will savor. Director/writer Mark Steven Johnson kick-starts the inaugural “Daredevil” movie with an urban gothic image of our hero perched atop a Catholic church spire from which his thick blood runs in a steady stream down the face of the building. Cut to an obligatory introduction to Daredevil’s childhood in which 12-year-old “A” student Matt Murdock (Scott Terra - “Eight Legged Freaks”) lives in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen with his single, washed-up-boxer dad Jack ‘The Devil’ Murdock (David Keith - “U-571”). Matt suffers at the hands of some neighborhood bullies before discovering his dad dishing out some mob related physical punishment. Demoralized and panicked, Matt runs in the way of a truck and a barrel of bio-waste is punctured, spraying toxic liquid in his eyes and on his back. Soon, the blind Matt is
e G T u E B zz D
Cat Woman’s got absolutely nothing on this leather-clad bombshell
Daredevil (´´)
Ben Affleck is a few years too young to properly play a superhero so ensconced in self-doubt at the resolute effectiveness of his vengeful actions. When Matt goes to give confession - something he does frequently -- there’s so much responsibility placed on the priest as a surrogate father that it undermines Matt’s maturity as a crime fighter. It’s noble that Matt searches his soul over the human sacrifices that he consummates, but as a
by Maui’s hottest new way to meet singles!
Introducing Maui Time Personals. A fully
interactive mobile
dating service that makes meeting single people almost too easy. All you have to do is make a simple phone call. OK, you’re done! The rest is up to us. We take your information and match you up with other singles. And here is the best part, we contact YOU and you know how many matches you have. Try it
Join today and your FREE membership will start today!
18
FEBRUARY 20, 2003
film
let
and get connected.
1-800-710-8735
“man without fear” Daredevil should be more resolute. If the filmmakers take their time writing a better script for the next Daredevil movie, Affleck may mature enough to elevate Matt Murdock to a more dimensional character. As it stands, Ben Affleck, the momentary king of American pop culture, does an adequate job of representing the vengeful superhero in the goat’s blood red suit. And oh, what an impressively crafted suit it is.