daredevil

DAREDEVIL

Rating: C+

Daredevil, if you really must know, is Matt Murdock, a lawyer with a conscience. A run-in with a 55-gallon drum full of toxic waste left him blind as a kid, but for some mysterious reason it greatly enhanced his remaining senses to the point he can "see" with his ears and smell when it's about to rain. Now as an adult in the form of Ben Affleck, he gets his kicks by donning a red leather costume at night and swooping down on criminals from the rooftops of New York City's "Hell's Kitchen."

The movie starts out promising enough. After the background story is laid down, there are a few amusing scenes between Affleck and his law partner Jon Favreau, who looks like someone inflated him with an air pump. The initial meeting scene between Affleck and Jennifer Garner has a silly charm to it as the two playfully spar in the park among the see-saws (although relationship experts generally discourage hand-to-hand combat on the first date). We're introduced to arch-villain The Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), and his hired assassin Bullseye (Colin Farrell), a man who can kill you with a paperclip and relish doing it. All the elements appear to be falling in place for a rip-roaring action packed movie. And then... suddenly everything comes apart at the seams as if the screenwriter died halfway through the script and they adlibbed the rest with the cameras running. The cleverness in the early going disappears entirely, and characters just run into each other at random and proceed to do battle. New York City must be a much smaller place than I realized, judging by how easily these guys are able to find each other. Before you know it, the movie is over, and you're left wondering what the hell happened to it.

The visual effects are hit and miss. Some of the shots tracking Daredevil as he swan dives over the edges of buildings look pretty convincing. On the opposite end of the spectrum lie computer animated shots inside a cathedral that look like crap on a stick, in spite of deliberately poor lighting aimed at concealing the fact they look like crap on a stick. The action sequences are a similar mixed bag: an early bar fight is so chopped up by the editor that I defy anyone to tell me what exactly happened onscreen. All I know is that somehow all the pool tables end up ablaze, which is something that's not particularly easy to do. The fight scenes involving Jennifer Garner are the most palatable to watch, not because of her form-hugging outfit but because the kicks, somersaults, and knife play are considerably more interesting than cheesy CG shots of Daredevil swinging through the air on a wire. When Daredevil ultimately battles The Kingpin (as if you didn't know that was coming), the sequence is just plain boring from start to finish. Here, the editing isn't to blame so much as bland writing and an extremely weak concept.

Some random observations:

In a scene atop a building, Affleck explains to Garner that raindrops striking surfaces provide him with an aural image of his surroundings. As it begins to rain, we see Garner's face from his point of view (which in itself is a clever effect). But her eyes are very well-defined in this image - does this mean raindrops are bouncing off her eyeballs?
There's a scene at a funeral, where, believe it or not, it's actually not raining. At least for a little while. Then down come the torrents, and Garner hurriedly climbs into a limo after getting caught in the downpour. Cut to inside the car, and now she's completely dry. What's her secret?
If someone throws a knife at you, please don't try to catch it with your hand, for crying out loud.
Although he calls himself "Daredevil," a more apt moniker might be "Punching Bag." Every time he turns around in this movie, he's getting his ass kicked. Twice by a girl. Even when he wins, it's only because of outside interference. If I was ever in trouble, I'm not sure I'd want this guy rescuing me.
The shot where Bullseye presents his bleeding palms to the camera in a crucifixion pose should cause director Mark Steven Johnson to have his artistic license revoked.
I'm not sure why Jennifer Garner's character, bent on avenging the murder of her father, feels the best way to dress is in skin-tight leather with her cleavage spilling out. Is this some kind of girl thing? That being said, she isn't in the movie enough, although a final scene with Affleck finding a silver charm is already looking ahead to the sequel.
Joe Pantoliano in the role of a newspaper reporter is completely wasted in this movie. And when he deletes an article he's just typed into his computer, the stupid machine erases it one word at a time. This is an Apple thing - it has to be.

For those not in a hurry to leave the theater, there's an extra scene sandwiched in among the end credits.