(If you ever were curious how Ben Affleck looks in a full leather bodysuit, wonder no more…)
CAST: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano, Erik Avari.
DIRECTOR: Mark Steven Johnson
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and one pretty convincing reason to date a blind guy - straight ahead…
IT’S LIKE THIS: Smokin’ hot lawyer Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) was blinded when he was just a kid. Filled with remorse, his pops (Keith David) trained Matt to make up for his loss of sight - by beefing up his strength and other four senses. Then Matt’s pops gets offed by some underworld baddies. The result: Matt grow up into a blind adult who dresses up at night in a leather outfit, calls himself “Daredevil”, and goes out looking for trouble. Hmmmm. In San Francisco, that’s called “cruising”. Meow. Anyhow, Matt/Daredevil runs afoul of a mob kingpin called, uh, Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), as well as the dude’s number one assassin: a batshit crazy Irish dude called Bullseye (Colin Farrell). Add to that a smart-ass associated named Franklin (Jon Favreau), a journalist named Ben Ulrich (Joe Pantoliano) who is determined to find out Daredevil’s true identity, and a love interest in the form of fiery and intense Elektra (Jennifer Garner), and you can see that Matt/Daredevil is one blind dude with a lot of obstacles in his way. Good luck with that, dude.
THE DUDE (OR DUDETTE) MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Daredevil, and to a lesser extent, Elektra. These two could save my ass any day.
EYE CANDY MOST LIKELY TO FIRE UP A WOODY: Ben Affleck’s nicely lean and lanky frame fills out that leather suit quite nicely. Nice pecs on that guy. While Jennifer Garner no slouch either in her catsuit. Are you surprised these two eventually hooked up and produced gorgeous kids?
MOST INTENTIONALLY HAIR-RAISING SCENE: Bullseye killing an obnoxious bar patron with a paperclip. Don’t ever underestimate lowly office supplies. They can actually kill you, apparently.
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY HAIR-RAISING SCENE: The Kingpin strutting his stuff to prove what a stud he is. He’s not. So not.
HOTTEST SCENE: Matt and Elektra sparring and fighting (read: foreplay) in a playground. If this is how rough they get each other BEFORE they get it on, I want to be a fly on the wall when they actually fuck each other’s brains out. A fly with a video camera.
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: Will Daredevil triumph over Kingpin and Bullseye’s dastardly plans? Will Ben discover that Matt is actually Daredevil? Will Elektra and Matt hook up? What happens when Elektra’s dad is killed by Bullseye and frames Daredevil for it? Will Elektra exact vengeance on an innocent man? The man she loves? Or will she realize the truth before its too late? Will Matt confess to her who he really is? Or will he continue to prowl the city streets at night, looking like an escapee from a gay S&M club? Whatever. He looks hot in that shit. That’s all that matters…
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH “DAREDEVIL”: If you like assured, confident superhero movies that balance humor, action, and sensitivity perfectly. And if the sight of Ben Affleck’s lean, lanky frame in a leather suit is enough to make you pick up the phone and dial a bootie call. Ditto, Jennifer Garner’s tits in that tank top.
WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY “DAREDEVIL”: If you’re one of those die-hard Batman fans who refuse to accept any potential substitutes. Or if Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner just don’t do it for you. If so, I ask: are you a eunuch?
FINAL ANALYSIS: Essentially a variation on the “tortured-soul-who-becomes-crime-fighter”, DAREDEVIL succeeds because of the confidence exhibited by the script, director, and cast. They know they’re not presenting anything too new (except, perhaps, for the novelty of a blind superhero), but instead decide to tell their story in a skilled way that honors the characters, plot, and source material. Director Mark Steven Johnson understands that you have to be connected to a character to be pulled into a movie. He wisely shows us the origins of Matt’s blindness, as well as how that affects him (the loss of his father, the sharpening of his senses). The result: by the time Matt grows into an adult, we are invested in his fate.
Another reason DAREDEVIL succeeds more than it has a right to is the central relationship between Matt and Elektra. It helps considerably that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have considerable chemistry together. Indeed, these two would eventually end up getting married years later. Watching them onscreen together, you’d have to be (pardon the pun) blind not to see the electricity between them. Matt and Elektra’s “dance of attraction/retreat” is the engine that pushes DAREDEVIL forward.
Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan are solid as the two main villains of the piece. Farrell in particular continue to trade successfully on his handsome intensity to make an indelible onscreen presence. Jon Favreau and Joe Pantoliano provide nice comic touches as the two men trying to look out for Matt. Favreau is especially likable.
In the end, DAREDEVIL is a good superhero film. It doesn’t try to beat the BATMAN or SUPERMAN movies at their own game, but instead seeks to inhabit its own niche. Wise move.
