Daredevil (2003)

Genre

Action | Crime | Fantasy

Director

Mark Steven Johnson

Country

USA

Cast

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano, David Keith, Leland Orser, Lennie Loftin, Erick Avari, Ellen Pompeo, Derrick O'Connor, Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Scott Terra

Storyline

Blinded during a chemical accident when he was a kid, Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) is a lawyer at day, and the vigilante known as Daredevil at night.

Opinion

Lot of my fellow reviewers say that one should watch the Director's Cut, because it adds 30 minutes and more sense to the film. I can only imagine 30 extra minutes of pain.

Dark and shallow, Daredevil is probably the most dull superhero film ever made. There is no story and no climax. Just a bunch of characters randomly thrown in the film, something happens - fights mostly - and that's it. End of the film.

I used to think Matt Murdock was a blind human, but according to this film he has superpowers. Otherwise how could he jump 50 or so feet in the air and land without breaking neither his legs nor his ankles? He can also climb high wall with no problems. Now, if those are not superpowers, I don't know what they are. Then other nonsenses about the character come in. He gets stabbed in the shoulder that knocks him down for quite a lot. Then, after Bullseye kills and throws Elektra off the roof - landing next to Daredevil, which was on the roof, if I don't go wrong - Daredevil magically heals, does some other superhero shit, and he defeats the bad guy(s). I almost forgot to talk about those weird Avatar-looking things Murdock could see when raining. 

The action sequences are not that good, having a fight between Elektra and Murdock that couldn't look faker, and a final act in where Bullseye faces off against Daredevil by breaking glass with a gymnastic move, to be envied by the world's best gymnasts, then catching the falling shards one by one, looking like a meth head picking up crystal meth. 

The acting. While he is convincing as the body of Daredevil, Ben Affleck delivers a painful performance. Jennifer Garner is too skinny to portray tough Elektra, and she has no chemistry with Affleck. Michael Clarke Duncan is great as Kingpin. Colin Farrell has had better days, but honestly Affleck's Daredevil is so unengaging you'll probably end up rooting for Farrell's character.