DD CBG Movie Review... reviewed by Maggie Thompson

[BronzeBruce13]

Daredevil

20th Century Fox

Color, PG-13, opens Feb. 14

Directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Comics credits: Stan Lee, Bill Everett, Frank Miller. Screenplay by Mark Steven Johnson. Starring Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios, Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin, Colin Farrell as Bullseye, and Joe Pantoliano as reporter Ben Urich

 

Ben Affleck in the Daredevil role was cover-featured in Entertainment Weekly for Feb. 7 with the caption, “Can the ‘sexiest man alive’ make Daredevil the next Spider-Man?” In the cover story itself, EW commented, “… moviegoers may get a jolt when they discover what a dark, gritty tale of vigilante justice Daredevil is. In a sequence the director calls his favorite, Affleck’s crime fighter pulls out loose teeth in the shower the morning after a brutal fight.” Which may account for some of the picture’s problems. There were bright spots in the preview showing: Braille-lettered credits, the young Matt Murdock practicing his powers, a perfectly executed brief guest shot with Stan Lee, effective but limited depictions of what the world seems like to Murdock, and a remarkably bright moment with Joe Pantoliono as a reporter getting information concerning Daredevil’s billy club from lab assistant “Jack Kirby,” played by Kevin Smith. (And there are comics tributes beside that. Paul Ben-Victor plays “Quesada,” for example.)

 

But.

 

The costume didn’t work: not the bodysuit, not the headgear. It was paunchy and puffy and almost ungainly. (EW described it at one point as a “sleek maroon-leather suit.” Sleek it wasn’t. Later, it described him on the set as “moving stiffly under huge padded shoulders and tromping around in boots that raise his 6-foot 2-inch frame another two inches or so.” Exactly.) The performer People magazine dubbed the “sexiest man alive” in December came across as unmemorable, and most other primary performances were only adequate (exceptions: Pantoliono as Urich and Duncan as Kingpin). Fight-scene physics alternated between confusion and unbelievability. There were no memorable lines.

 

The story alternated between predictability and bad decisions. “Predictability” comes from its basis in super-hero films combined with Frank Miller’s well-known story. (Miller himself is easy to miss, but he does get fleeting screen time — with his head punctured by a Bullseye missile.) But the -script just sat there, and the plot proceeded only by having the villain leave a calling card. The worst “decision” was to begin Daredevil’s career with deliberately, smugly killing a rapist. Yuck.

 

Will any attendee pay to see it twice? At least one online reviewer said he’d go again, but it’s hard to imagine that most viewers will.

 

Affleck told EW, “This movie’s more important to Marvel Comics than to anybody else, if you think about it. Daredevil is an experiment in, What if you have [a character] everyone doesn’t know about, that isn’t on the lips of everyone? Can you make that an event?” With the right material, sure. Men in Black, after all, did just fine. But this experiment is hardly such an event. As a routine action flick, it’s OK. As the sort of must-see entertainment that drives an audience to look at source material, come to comics shops, revisit the event for another couple hours’ entertainment — not likely. The answer to EW’s cover query would seem to be a resounding, “Nope.”

[aardvark88]

Even if the title character DD & the villian Bullseye look lame, ppl will still pay to see Jennifer Garner as Elektra & Duncan as the Kingpin. Affleck & Garner spent many weeks training & did most of their own wire stunts.

[FlComicFan]

I have a feeling its going to really suck and the Hulk doesnt look much better (the CGI looks horrible he looks like Shrek on steroids))

[BronzeBruce13]

We'll know in a week.

A forum CGI expert said the final touches to the CGI happen at the end after everything is approved. He said we should expect a quality upgrade in the final.

Just take a shot or 2 before watching it... the slight buzz may allow you to forgive the CGI more.

[MonumentalCo]

The scene in the Hulk preview with the tank is pretty bad. You can't swing a tank like that as you don't have the leverage and the tank turret would break off.

 

[blowout]

You can't swing a tank like that as you don't have the leverage and the tank turret would break off.

 

Don't think the film producers would make such a gaffe. I'm sure they have money in the budget to consult a physics expert for these types of issues and I'm pretty sure that centrifugal forces would stop the tank breaking up.

But then again maybe not.

[blowout]

The costume didn’t work: not the bodysuit, not the headgear. It was paunchy and puffy and almost ungainly.

 

I must say that from the trailers I have seen, the costume has always been the thing that worried me the most.

Ben Affleck in a leather suit = DD the gritty crimefighter we know and love?

 

I don't think so.

 

He kinda looks pretty camp to me, which doesn't translate into a crimefighter who instills fear into his enemies.

 

Having said all that, I hope the movie is still a good one.

[COI]

If nothing else, Jennifer will be nice to look at.

[blowout]

Yeah, thats pretty much sold me my ticket to the movie.

[MonumentalCo]

Anyone notice that some of the scenes in the preview have a Spider-Man type feel to them? Burning building....blades flying at DD.

 

 

[COI]

Yep. You might as well try to bank off of a winner.

 

I have a feeling this book is going to appeal more to people who know the story.

 

When I first saw the X Men movie, I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone who knows nothing about the characters. And if you do that, the movie becomes a very empty special effects showcase. This is where Spidey was a success. It had tremendous mass-market appeal, but that's just something the character always had. I don't think another comic movie will have the success Spidey has, but I guess that remains to be seen.

[MonumentalCo]

Spidey also worked very well because the average person could put themself in Peter Parker's shoes. People got to see a hero that had problems just like everyone in the real world. Actually having those powers complicated his life worse. I know a lot of non-comic people who saw this movie and that was one of the comments I heard the most.

 

Tom

[supapimp]

When I first saw the X Men movie, I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone who knows nothing about the characters. And if you do that, the movie becomes a very empty special effects showcase.

 

when i watched the x-men movie, that one scene with wolvie and rogue in wolvie's truck, when sabertooth ambushed them and wolvie flew out of the front windshield? i laughed outloud while everybody else in the theatre looked at me with astonishment cos i knew wolvie heals rather fast.

[supapimp]

BTW, i talked to one of my bro's the other day about ol' hornhead the movie and he didn't know that DD was blind! so i let him borrow the man without fear by miller and romita jr.

[cansecofan]

I can't wait to see this movie! The soundtrack rocks!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

-Adam

[aardvark88]

The DD movie is supposed to be PG 13 due to all the violence, beatings & killing that our " hero" perpetrates. Not suitable for little Johnny & Susie to see. This is not a gosh-darn wholesome movie like Spidey.

[FlComicFan]

yes it looks like they marketed it specifically to the 18-30 age group Gen Y? The scar on Bullseyes head instead of the costume is a giveaway I'm surprised Elektra is not covered in piercings and tats.

[BronzeBruce13]

Maybe you just can't see them unless she swings a high head kick. Some of the illustrations in her MK series suggest she has nothing on under those little flaps in fornt and back.. she may have piercings afer all and maybe a tattoo on her [!@#%^&^]... never know