Rating: Summary: Boy From Hell's Kitchen Makes Good Review: Finally! A director and a cinematographer with the courage to use the whole screen, and not "play to the middle" for the standard screen DVD market and the late-night television crowd. Finally! A soundtrack that is natural and enhances a film, rather than distract from it. Finally! A film that made me forget "Alias" and that whole Ben/J Lo thang.Warning!! The promotion department and the media should CEASE AND DESIST from any and all comparisons to Spiderman. They are very different. The only thing that Spiderman, Smallville, and Daredevil have in common is the unique vision of their creators to both honor the original comic creators and bring a new vision of these mythic people and places. This film comes from a dark place of bereavement. Ben Affleck's performance of the battle-weary "guardian devil" was superb, and entirely believeable. And the whole screen lights up when natural beauty Jennifer Garner appears (minus that annoying old movie star filter that Alyssa Milano has taken to using)! That Fisk and Murdock are real men makes their faceoff even more frightening. And of course, none of it would have been convincing, if it hadn't been for the powerful storyline involving Murdock's prizefighter father. I especially liked the crusading reporter aspect, and the use of the church as a sanctuary and safe place. I'll admit that I'm at a disadvantage having never read the comic series, but I will now seek it out. It gave me a "reel" good feeling to see Stan Lee's name unfurl on the screen.
Rating: Summary: Ben Affleck, Phone Home! Review: I have a good friend who has been addicted to comic book heroes since childhood, and as he has matured into becoming a superb radical painter, he has been inspired by them to create his own pantheon of superheroes on canvas, with one loosely based on me, called the Rhino. So of course I had to go see this latest dramatization of one of the Marvel Comics stable of sixties and seventies action heroes, an essential part of that latest twist on the genre, with complex anti-heroes replete with a variety of twisted and tormented pasts, each trying to resolve their inner demons even as they wage a war for truth, justice, and the American way. Well, sort of. The new Daredevil movie remains true to the original comic book concept, but whoever decided on the cast of this project must have being 'doing lunch' out in La Jolla that afternoon that they discussed character requirements. Instead, it appears as though someone did a hasty demographic scan of the potential audience for the project and then decided to cram as much eye candy onto the screen as possible by way of the leading roles. Ben Affleck could have phoned in his role, so underplaying it that we're left wondering if perhaps he doesn't suffer from aphasia as well as loss of eyesight here. He looks and acts the part, but seems to be walking through the paces without much enthusiasm of conviction. Ben, phone home! Jennifer Garner, in her first movie since stirring in the runaway TV series, "Alias", fills the screen with charisma and sex appeal, but lacks the believable love connection to th Daredevil's alter ego to convince us she digs the guy. And Colin Farrell is so badly over the top as Bullseye that we wonder if he doesn't need a quiet vacation somewhere. Yet with all this said, this is a well-executed action movie, with some terrific and sometimes quite ingenious sequences and knockout fight scenes. The special effects are also well done indeed, and what can only be called the choreography of all this spectacular violence so well punctuates the other scenes, providing such an exciting and eventful rhythm to it that we often forget just how marginal the actors are in executing their roles. Almost...yet the movie works well enough and the actors are now becoming enough of a box office draw that we can expect a sequel or two to pop out of the woodwork in the next movie season or so. This is a good movie, but one that missed an opportunity to be much better had they given Ben Affleck some No-Doze and encouraged Farrell and Garner to restrain themselves a bit. Oh, well, maybe next time. Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: Best comicbook move since original superman Review: I just watched this on DVD and can't believe how much I liked it. The story is nothing new, it could have been pieced together from ten different films, but the acting and storytelling are very good. I'm not sure why I am surprised. I know all the actors in the film are talented and I usually enjoy the movies they star in. I just wasn't compelled to see this movie when it was it theaters. Now I wish I had. I liked the Hulk and Spider-man, but there were times during those films where I thought "come on already; get to another action scene". In Daredevil, I enjoyed the scenes between the action as much as the fighting. Not that the action wasn't good. It just didn't outshine the characters. I have never read a Daredevil comic. I didn't know anything about this superhero before this movie. But as far as films go I liked it better than Hulk, better than Spider-man, better than Batman. It's probably the best comic-to-movie film since the original Superman.
Rating: Summary: Good movie with a So-So plot Review: I love this movie because it has great actors and great action. Yet, as much as i like this movie, it does have some flaws which should be pointed out. First, the action sequences are great but can get extremely confusing due to the lack of lighting or confusing camera angles. Second, some of the dialogue and backgound information on the characters is a little rediculous. For example, why Daredevil becomes fearless all of a sudden just because he cant see. Other than that the movie is a great superhero follow up to the amazing Spider-man flick. I recommend it.
Rating: Summary: eh... Review: Short on story, but long on pretty action sequences, Daredevil seemed to miss the mark. It was too dark for Daredevil, but perfect for Batman. In fact, the entire movie is better if you skip the weak attempts at character devlopment, and pretend it's Batman on screen during all the fight sequences.
Rating: Summary: Amazing! Review: This film is considered "dark" to most NON DD fans...however most of the film is taken DIRECTLY from Frank Miller's comic book run...word for word in some parts! albeit Bullseye looks totally fem here! the tattoo on his noggin looks dumb! but the film is done brilliantly! no cheesy slow mo action junk.....quick and to the point....DD fights VERY fast...DD always gets compared to spidey....which baffles me DD came out the same time as spidey, just not as well known but a better character...This film pegs the "NEW" comics...mostly the Frank Miller Era....if you like good superhero flicks, are a fan of frank Miller, or Afleck/garner this is for you! some griped about afleck's ability to pull this off....I say he did Great! as a collector of DD comics this film does the books justice!
Rating: Summary: Really good, dark superhero movie! Review: Daredevil is the kind of superhero movie that Batman was. It's dark and engaging because of it. It draws the viewer in to the action by making it realistic in its own surreal-ality. Since every other reviewer will give you a synopsis of the film, I won't belabor that issue. Rather, I'll address the film and its actors directly. Ben Affleck is a good choice for the role of Daredevil/Matt Murdock, although I sure do wish that for this movie (and for him in everyday life) he'd had a better toupee, because it looked like a bad rug from the beginning and never changed its "fake" look. Also, Jennifer Garner was a great choice for Elektra. She's lithe and muscular all at once. Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan are also excellent choices for their roles. A few of my gripes are the fact that the fight sequences seem to be badly shot. I'm not familiar with this director. As I understand it, the second director is the one who actually directs the action and filming of fight sequences. Well the producers need to get the guy who was in charge of the fight sequences for Blade, because those scenes were well shot and directed - in Daredevil, it's as if we're not privy to the full action, by virtue of the way the sequences are shot. The story moves along quickly enough, but in earnest the finale of the film is something of a let down. I'll admit that I'm a bit jaded by most film's use of action to the very last minute, but here it could sure use a dose of that. All that said, Daredevil is a winner of an action film and a great winner in the superhero categorty. Marvel may have been late getting to the game with its roster of superheros to film, but once they did, they've done a really great job on the whole. You'll definitely want to check this one out.
Rating: Summary: Something missing... Review: While I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, there seems to be a few things missing from the DVD. I remembered seeing a few scenes in the theater that didn't appear on the DVD. This, along with a lack of any deleted scenes, are kind of disappointing, but overall this is a great superhero film. Now we can all watch this until Daredevil 1.5 arrives... :)
Rating: Summary: Impressive Review: I rented this movie yesterday when it first came out, and wasn't expecting much but I'd have to say I was impressed. I'm in the younger generation so I didn't have the comic books like Spiderman, The Hulk, Daredevil or X-Men available to me so I rely on the movies to tell some of the great stories. Director/Screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson did a wonderful job of that. He made it clear what had happened to Matt and how he lived his life afterwards. The action scenes were superb also with great fighting and matrix type slow motion. 12 year old Matt Murdock is a kid that gets picked on at school. His father (David Keith) tells him not to fight because he is going to become a "lawyer" or a "doctor" when he's all grown up. One day he takes a shortcut home from school only to see his father mugging and bullying a guy in the alley. Devastated from what he's seen Matt runs the other way only into a chemical drop off. He causes a semi to hit a barrel of chemicals and a spray shoots off into his eyes. He wakes up in a hospital with bandages over his eyes, and able to hear everything around him, even through the walls. Obviously his other 4 senses have grown stronger with losing his sight. His dad comes to visit him and says a couple important things, "I'm sorry" and they made a promise that neither of them would ever give up. Keeping their promises the father goes back into his old profession, a prizefighter. Even though Matt is blind his other 4 senses create a radar type vision so he can see some things. He makes a promise to himself that he would live without fear for the rest of his life, and starts practicing martial arts and fighting. One night his father is visited by a guy named Falon or Vallon before a fight. He tells him to take a dive in the fight but keeping his promise to Matt he doesnt give up and wins the fight. Afterwards out in the street the father is beaten up by 2 guys and then killed and a red rose is left on the body. Years later, when all grown up Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) is a lawyer during the day and Daredevil at night, being a lawyer helps him pick out his victims for the night. All he wants is justice. He sleeps in this coffin type thing with water filled up to his ears, because if he were to sleep on the outside he could hear everything going on outside. He wakes up and goes over to his shelf and takes a 10 dollar bill out of a box and folds it lengthwise and then pulls out a 5 dollar bill out of another box and folds it the other way, so he can tell which one is which. He goes to work that day and goes to court to defend a purgery victim. Matt ask him a question and because of his advanced hearing he can hear his heartbeat and can tell if he's lying by his heartbeat speeding up. Later that night Matt has his justice against this guy and leads to a great action scene. The next day while at lunch with his assistant (talented Jon Favreau) he smells this woman from outside the diner. She walks in and Matt follows her and just wants to know her name. He grabs her, she says "I don't like to be followed and I don't like to be touched," then they pull out the martial arts on each other. After they're done she says "Elektra Naccios" (played by Jennifer Garner). She is the daughter of a billionaire that is in trouble with the Kingpin (Micheal Clarke Duncan), the king of crime in Hell's Kitchen. He has been squealing to the papers about the identity of the Kingpin. The Kingpin hires Bullseye (Collin Farrell) to assassinate Naccios. I won't tell the rest. Ben Affleck and Collin Farrell hand in the best performances, while Jennifer Garner seems out of place but still is great to look at. Micheal Clarke Duncan hands in a worthy performance also. Also love the cameos by Stan Lee and Kevin Smith, great. Mark Steven Johnson does a great job adapting the comic to the movie. Darker than previous comic book movies, including more violence and murder. Not as good as Spiderman in my opinion but a must have DVD. Daredevil is a badass. Looking forward to more movies done by Marvel.
Rating: Summary: Huge Disappointment! Review: JENNIFER GARNER DIES!!! And there was no character development...the movie was too fast in the storyline....oh wait, there wasn't one..."wam bam, thankyou mam"....enough said.
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