Review 43: Daredevil DVD

Blindingly awful.

he Curmudgeon is a hard-hearted fellow at times, but even he can be crushed, his hopes and dreams scattered into tiny broken fragements on the floor. The US remake of Godzilla was one such disappointment, as was Star Wars Eps 1 and 2 and now - this.

For those that don't know - The Curmudgeon is a comic book movie collector. I get everything; movies, TV shows, 50's serials.. anything. Which means I have a fair amount of crap, and that's fine. I can usually tell if they're going to be awful, but I really didn't think Marvel's Man Without Fear would join the cream of the crap.

For the record, I really do enjoy reading Daredevil comics. Great character, some decent villains, nice "blind man" gimmick.. so when the news came out that there was going to be a Daredevil movie.. well, your ever-lovin' blue eyed Irresponsible Hate Monger was going to be front row centre.

And so, where to begin? OK, Daredevil certainly LOOKS the part. His costume and the effects are great, if nowhere near as jaw-dropping as (the earlier) Spider-Man. Bullseye, sans costume (a big shame) is the best thing in the movie, in that he's, what's the word? Ah yes - interesting. He's not anything like the Bullseye from the comics, but he's still the most watchable.

Elektra's in here too, and is about as interesting as watching bathwater pour down the plughole. As is Daredevil. In the comics he's brooding, but still funny. In this he's not even brooding - he's just boring. Ben Affleck really can't add "depth" to his actor's CV, because other than, well, doing what Ben Affleck does (do let me know what that is), he doesn't do much else.

The Kingpin is black, which is a bit of a weird turn but fair enough. And guess what he is, too? Yup - you guessed it - BORRRRRRING. He smokes a big cigar and throws a rose on his victim's chests (wrong villain, dumbasses) and that's about it. The Kingpin is a huge powerhouse of a man, very literate and, done right, could have been a brilliant villain (even the cartoon series has more depth than this version). Michael Clarke Duncan is a superb actor, but he's given nothing to work with here. It's a waste of an actor and a character.

So, we've got boring hero, boring love interest and boring villains. Uh-oh. What else? Oh yeah - the boring story makes NO SENSE. Matt Murdoch is blind but has a secret radar-sense that gives him abilities above that of a normal man. You get that word there, Matt? SECRET? Isn't it a bit of a giveaway to your powers and stuff to be staging a mock fight in a park with Elektra (that'll be an attempt at trying to build up some chemistry and interest in their romance - that failed), with backflips and running up ramps and God knows what else - in front of about 100 people watching? And not ONE person thinks "that guy isn't really blind", let alone, "oh, well - that'll be Daredevil, then".

Just one in a series of howlers that makes for one depressing mess of a film. I haven't seen the Directors Cut of this yet (it'll be bought one day). Unless the Director "Cut" the entire film I really don't know what improvements could be made. Come back Howard The Duck, all is forgiven.