| DAREDEVIL |
| Starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell, Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano Directed by Mark Steven Johnson **� out of **** With Daredevil, the people behind the film didn�t make nearly as much of the material at hand as they could have. What could�ve been a tragic-romantic, dark film is in final analysis nothing more than 105 minutes of poporn munching. X-Men set the bar; Spider-Man lacked the brains but had twice the fun; Daredevil is the weaker of the three, despite an engaging theme (the vigilante hero who looks into the abyss and isn�t necessarily cautious enough to know that the abyss looks back) and cool, top-of-the-moment stars. The film is packed with enough possibilities and character arcs to fill at least two hours, but they settled for 105 minutes. The end result � while entertaining � comes across as an assembly of missed opportunities. In addition, some scenes are so cheesy they could attract mice. And as much as I hate saying this, all the really good parts are in the preview. Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) lost his sight at a young age, but gained severely enhanced senses in exchange � his hearing is the most important of all. He literally sees through what he hears. By day, Murdock is a lawyer who stands up for those who can�t buy their way out of trouble or are swindled by those who can. By night � cue clouds crossing ominous full moon � he�s a �guardian devil�, Daredevil: judge and jury for those the law can�t rightly deal with but deserve punishment. The film opens with our hero in costume and in bad shape. �They say your whole life passes in front of you when you die,� is one of his first lines. This leads to the origin part of the film, about the boy who became an inner city warrior. This part of the film is well presented, and we get a good idea of the man at the core of the superhero. There is talk of a one-man crime king, the so-called Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), who runs all the crime in New York. Murdock is out to discover him, but two figures complicate his quest for justice, one good, one bad. The good is Elektra (Jennifer Garner from the fabulous series Alias), who matches Murdock in hand to hand combat every step of the way. Their �getting to know each other� is one of the standout scenes of the film. The bad is Bullseye (Irish bad boy Colin Farrell), hired by Kingpin to take out unwanted individuals who pose a threat to the Kingpin�s way of life. Bullseye is an assassin so adept at his profession that he�d long ago left guns and knives and now kills with pins and cards, which present more of a challenge. And he never misses. In a superhero movie, the right casting counts for a lot. Affleck is a fine Daredevil, and I found myself completely comfortable with him for the first time since he started topping high-profile films. The gorgeous, lithe and seriously able-bodied Garner is an equally impressive Elektra. It is a shame that her character is reduced to one true action sequence and looking beautiful the rest of the time. Afterwards I sat back in my chair angry that Elektra, a fiery spirit, was so wasted. On more or less the same level, Farrell�s Bullseye is more the kind of guy you�ll savour a Guinness with than run away from. His grunting and face-pulling makes Bullseye Farrell�s weakest performance yet. Maybe I just wanted something different; I don�t know the comic that well and for I do know, Farrell nailed it. But his wah-wah-boo didn�t sit well with me. Finally, Duncan is the Kingpin in all his criminal, huge glory. Sadly, the confrontation between him and Daredevil is not the wham-bang jawdropper you�d hope for, but a subdued mano-el-mano. The special effects are on par (the CGI is better than Spider-Man�s) and the action choreography are impressive in a post-Matrix kind of way. Daredevil�s way of �seeing� in the rain is a very accomplished effect that immediately puts us in his shoes. When the effect is repeated, it doesn�t lose its novelty. But with four characters of which three demand much more screen time, the film falls short on its promise of winning characters who truly deserve our attention. X-Men achieved more with more characters in less running time, while Spider-Man�s main characters (Peter, Mary-Jane and Norman Osborne) were efficiently outlined and developed. Daredevil can only compete with those films with its electric soundtrack. With the blind crusader behind us, hopefully The Hulk can live up to expectations. And according to the preview attached to Daredevil, X-Men 2 will blow us away come May. COPYRIGHT CW BROODRYK 2003 |
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