DareDevil

What's the Plot?

Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. On the city’s streets gangs & hoodlums rule. Soon the criminals have to face fear as a new force makes his mark - DareDevil (Ben Affleck). By day, his alter-ego Matt Murdock tries to help the needy with his job as an attorney. But, just like Matt Murdock, justice can be blind and when justice isn’t served, DareDevil takes to the streets. It’s when the blind Matt meets Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), that things get complicated. While they begin to fall in love with each other, Elektra’s father becomes a target of the ‘perfect aim’ assassin Bullseye (Colin Farrell), who’s been employed by crimeboss Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), who runs the seedy side of the city. The four soon find their lives interlinked...

DareDevil (Ben Affleck)

The Review

Yes, DareDevil is another comic-based superhero. However, DareDevil is no Spider-Man. Yes, there are similarities between the tight-costumed clad men, but if you look closely enough you’ll also be able to see nods to the likes of Batman and The Crow, both comic-book adaptations. Opting for the story-telling in flashback form and the man himself narrating, we are given the relatively short story of how a young Matt Murdock became DareDevil with the aid of some neat but fairly graphic CGI, as the toxic waste travels through his eyes in into his brain and nervous system.

Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck)

From then on it’s down to the nitty-gritty with a buffed-up Affleck fighting for the audience’s attention against the other ‘in-yer-face’ characters. Duncan is the most under-used talent, with the promise that shined through in The Green Mile dimmed nearly to a point where you wonder why he has made it to the posters at all. However, the same cannot be said of the scene stealing Farrell and Garner. Farrell, just as Nicholson did in Batman, delights in his OTT villain role and gets to battle not just DareDevil in a fairly violent showdown, but also Garner in her seriously sexy leather outfit. Like a lot of the best large or small screen couples, it’s the flirting between Garner and Affleck that works the best (especially the fantastic duel between the two in a school playground involving see saws!).

Elektra (Jennifer Garner) and Bullseye (Colin Farrell)

The plot line, which not surprisingly isn’t taxing or complicated in any sense, is pushed along at what feels like break-neck speed at times. Indeed it feels like you’re being rushed to the next big action / fight / set piece sequence but, let’s face it, that’s what you want and expect. After all, it is a superhero flick! Like previous figure-hugging crusaders, the over-reliance on CGI lets it down somewhat, especially in the ‘leaping tall buildings in a single bound’ sequences. But that shouldn’t really detract from a solidly good, fun film that should have sights for both members of the opposite sex. Left wide open for a sequel, this is one reviewer who wouldn’t mind ‘seeing it’.