Rating: Summary: Disgrace to the Term "Movie Novelization" Review: All I have to say, is thank the lord that Mark Steven Johnson can film much better than he can write. The writer of this novel was also the writer/director of the feature film which this is based. I am a comic collector. Plain and simple. And it gives me joy when I see a comic make it to the big screen. And when one does, I buy three things: The official movie poster, the novelization, and the movie on DVD when it is available. And this is one of the few times I've wanted to take that novelization back. The movie was great. Almost fantastic. I would defenitely have to say that the portrayal in the movie, the overall tone, made Daredevil one of the best movies of the year. But this book was horrible. It lacked detail, and proper description to create imagery, to create the movie in the readers mind. And that made the book horrible. Now, not everyone has the ability to describe something like Tolkien, but the settings were poorly described. Basically the extent of description in this book goes "the dark street. The tall man." Johnson's depiction of the film in writing is horrible, and definitely not worth the money.
Rating: Summary: Daredevil OK to buy Review: Definitely buy this book if you don't want to watch the movie. This particular book/episode is based on the Motion Picture screenplay by Mark Steven Johnson that was recently released to theaters everywhere. For a screenplay rendition, this book does a good job telling the story of Daredevil and, thankfully, leaves out the steamy scenes. My only objection to the book was its ocassional bad language (the story setting is in a "rough" place). Cox did an excellent job of describing the action scenes and describing Daredevil's handicap. I thought this was an excellent screenplay book and I would like to see Cox write his own Daredevil episode for a more mature audience, that is, with a more complex plot. This book tell the story of how Daredevil came into being and why. It starts at a point in the present and flashes back to the hero's childhood. We see him blinded in an accident and learn what drives him to become a vigalante in his adulthood. The story then jumps to a more recent past that leads to the opening scene. We are introduced to his professional partner and a new romantic interest. The complexities of his childhood become interwoven with his adult life as can only happen in a book, but it is an entertaining story. The ending has a slight twist and leaves the reader with a good feeling. Put this one in your shopping cart and enjoy a good story.
Rating: Summary: The usual tie-in dreck. Review: Media tie-ins are the redheaded stepchildren of the fiction section. Often written in extreme haste by work-for-hire authors with no interest in the project other than the paycheck it provides. While not the poorest example of a media tie-in, Greg Cox's DAREDEVIL, a novelization of the 2003 movie hit starring Ben Affleck, exhibits all the hallmarks of a hurried adaptation of a less-than-stellar screenplay. Authoring DAREDEVIL was surely a thankless task. The story upon which the book is based attempts to serve as an origin tale for the eponymous hero while shoehorning in a romance plotline that didn't appear until years later in Daredevil's comics continuity. Based on the writing in DAREDEVIL, Greg Cox has some skill as an author, but he falls into traps that often snare tie-in writers; unable to figure out a way to beef up the narrative presented in the screenplay, he leans on internal monologue and overly-florid prose to fill pages. Perhaps Cox did not have the time to invent original material to fill in the gaping holes in DAREDEVIL's story - media tie-ins are notorious among authors for their punishing deadlines - and if so he cannot be held totally at fault for the book's weakness, but when far better examples of the tie-in form can be found on the shelves, Cox's work simply pales by comparison. Chris Claremont's X-MEN 2, released just two months after DAREDEVIL, makes much more of a very slender screenplay. Great fans of the film upon which DAREDEVIL is based might enjoy this novelization, but those who haven't seen the movie, or who may have picked up DAREDEVIL in an attempt to get pleasure from the book on its own merits, won't find anything about which to get excited. Instead of papering over the shortcomings of Mark Stephen Johnson's screenplay, Cox's adaptation puts a spotlight on them. Readers aren't dazzled by incredible stunt work or special effects, and they don't have a hard-driving techno-metal soundtrack to keep their pulses racing. All the readers have are words and their imaginations, and when the framework upon which the story is placed is so rickety, the characterizations so paper-thin, the author must work doubly hard to make up the shortfall. It's clear from the pages of DAREDEVIL that Cox didn't make this effort. This is all the more disappointing due to the fact that Daredevil is a fascinating character about whom better stories have been told with even less space than in a 250-page novel. Brian Michael Bendis, in his "Underboss" and "Out" storylines in the ongoing Daredevil comic, brings real depth to the Man Without Fear, and Greg Rucka's take on the Daredevil/Elektra romance, entitled ULTIMATE DAREDEVIL/ELEKTRA, rings far more true than in Cox's DAREDEVIL. Of course, it's difficult to blame Cox. After all, it's impossible to tell under what circumstances the novelization was written, and the DAREDEVIL screenplay is clearly a poor effort. But sympathy for the author doesn't mean anyone must feel obligated waste time with his work.
Rating: Summary: The usual tie-in dreck. Review: Media tie-ins are the redheaded stepchildren of the fiction section. Often written in extreme haste by work-for-hire authors with no interest in the project other than the paycheck it provides. While not the poorest example of a media tie-in, Greg Cox's DAREDEVIL, a novelization of the 2003 movie hit starring Ben Affleck, exhibits all the hallmarks of a hurried adaptation of a less-than-stellar screenplay. Authoring DAREDEVIL was surely a thankless task. The story upon which the book is based attempts to serve as an origin tale for the eponymous hero while shoehorning in a romance plotline that didn't appear until years later in Daredevil's comics continuity. Based on the writing in DAREDEVIL, Greg Cox has some skill as an author, but he falls into traps that often snare tie-in writers; unable to figure out a way to beef up the narrative presented in the screenplay, he leans on internal monologue and overly-florid prose to fill pages. Perhaps Cox did not have the time to invent original material to fill in the gaping holes in DAREDEVIL's story - media tie-ins are notorious among authors for their punishing deadlines - and if so he cannot be held totally at fault for the book's weakness, but when far better examples of the tie-in form can be found on the shelves, Cox's work simply pales by comparison. Chris Claremont's X-MEN 2, released just two months after DAREDEVIL, makes much more of a very slender screenplay. Great fans of the film upon which DAREDEVIL is based might enjoy this novelization, but those who haven't seen the movie, or who may have picked up DAREDEVIL in an attempt to get pleasure from the book on its own merits, won't find anything about which to get excited. Instead of papering over the shortcomings of Mark Stephen Johnson's screenplay, Cox's adaptation puts a spotlight on them. Readers aren't dazzled by incredible stunt work or special effects, and they don't have a hard-driving techno-metal soundtrack to keep their pulses racing. All the readers have are words and their imaginations, and when the framework upon which the story is placed is so rickety, the characterizations so paper-thin, the author must work doubly hard to make up the shortfall. It's clear from the pages of DAREDEVIL that Cox didn't make this effort. This is all the more disappointing due to the fact that Daredevil is a fascinating character about whom better stories have been told with even less space than in a 250-page novel. Brian Michael Bendis, in his "Underboss" and "Out" storylines in the ongoing Daredevil comic, brings real depth to the Man Without Fear, and Greg Rucka's take on the Daredevil/Elektra romance, entitled ULTIMATE DAREDEVIL/ELEKTRA, rings far more true than in Cox's DAREDEVIL. Of course, it's difficult to blame Cox. After all, it's impossible to tell under what circumstances the novelization was written, and the DAREDEVIL screenplay is clearly a poor effort. But sympathy for the author doesn't mean anyone must feel obligated waste time with his work.
Rating: Summary: They must be kidding..... Review: No one it seems can write a good Daredevil story anymore. Not Kevin Smith, not Mark Miller, and not even Mark Steven Johnson whose film script is used as the basis for this movie novelization. It's full of hollow characters and under-developed plots that go no where, like the so-called Daredevil/Elektra romance....it is totaly unbelievable. It's really a laughable script that was made into a lousy movie and an even worse novel. No Thanks.
Rating: Summary: They must be kidding..... Review: No one it seems can write a good Daredevil story anymore. Not Kevin Smith, not Mark Miller, and not even Mark Steven Johnson whose film script is used as the basis for this movie novelization. It's full of hollow characters and under-developed plots that go no where, like the so-called Daredevil/Elektra romance....it is totaly unbelievable. It's really a laughable script that was made into a lousy movie and an even worse novel. No Thanks.
Rating: Summary: After all, it is only a screenplay-based novel... Review: Reviews are hard to write, so I'll make it short, sweet, and to-the-point. Daredevil is a good book for what it is: A screenplay-based novel. I wouldn't put it at the top of my list for books, but I wouldn't put it at the bottom either. This novel has more than the screenplay written. Daredevil has a sub-story which leads to the end of The Kingpin's assisstant. For anyone that doesn't want to see the movie, but is interested in what the story of the movie is, I reccommend it. If you have seen the movie and interested in how the author makes it into his own, I reccommend it. But, for anyone who is thinking about picking it up for a good read, I beyond all, DO NOT reccommend it.
Rating: Summary: After all, it is only a screenplay-based novel... Review: Reviews are hard to write, so I'll make it short, sweet, and to-the-point. Daredevil is a good book for what it is: A screenplay-based novel. I wouldn't put it at the top of my list for books, but I wouldn't put it at the bottom either. This novel has more than the screenplay written. Daredevil has a sub-story which leads to the end of The Kingpin's assisstant. For anyone that doesn't want to see the movie, but is interested in what the story of the movie is, I reccommend it. If you have seen the movie and interested in how the author makes it into his own, I reccommend it. But, for anyone who is thinking about picking it up for a good read, I beyond all, DO NOT reccommend it.
Rating: Summary: Why did they even bother? Review: The worst movie novelizations that I have read, and I have read alot. It didn't stay true to the movie screenplay. There was added scenes that were not in the movie. I got the book to read the movie (sorta' speek.) Overall: Don't bother!
Rating: Summary: THIS IS AN AWESOME STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Review: This book has an awesome story and I just can't wait until I can get to see it on the silver screen. If you don't have this book already you have to get it NOW!!!!!!!!
|