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Daredevil
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As Always, a review of The
Film and The DVD (extras)!
The Film:
Daredevil is one of those
B-grade super hero action flicks which you're glad to have seen, if
just a little. On the one hand, it is very well polished,
with admirable FX and big name stars. It is about a comic book hero, whose fans will
want to see it. It stars Ben Affleck in the title role, whose fans will
want to see it. It stars Jennifer "Alias"
Garner in the supporting role, whose fans will want to see it.
Unfortunately, everyone else, at best, might want to see it. Let
the triad of fanboys refute this; it's still true.
Not that the story is not intriguing. Matt
Murdock (Affleck) is a man who, in his youth, was hit with some of that
typical mysterious sludge that all 1960's superheroes seem to have been
placed in contact with (a premise brilliantly parodied in the recent
comic-book-inspired action game, Freedom
Force). However, more realistically than most super-heroes who
come in contact with such sludge, he is rendered
blind, for life. On the plus side, his other senses have become super-powered. He is as
vulnerable to gunfire as you or me, yet has the added advantage of
hearing, smelling, and in a sense, "seeing" his opponents, even in pitch dark. His reflexes are
also extraordinary. He can even jump off buildings. Okay, so that last
part makes no sense, though one must cut a comic book movie some slack.
Of course, every solo-superhero film needs
a villain, and a "babe." The villain is a criminal
tycoon named Kingpin, who if memory serves, was portrayed in the
Spider-Man comics as an unrealistically obese, pasty-white dweeb. Here, he's played
by Oscar-winning actor Michael Clarke Duncan, whose performance will keep
even the biggest of comic book purists from complaining about how an obese
geek in the comics is suddenly a happenin' boy from the 'hood. As for the
"first babe," she's Jennifer Garner, as Daredevil's recurring
comic book squeeze, Elektra Natchios. Again, comic fans will tell you that Elektra is a raven-haired
latina. However, this casting snafu isn't as bad as when Spielberg cast a
spunky-haired Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell in Hook, so...whatever.
If the details of who-wants-what are
important: Elektra is trying to avenge her father's death, which she feels was caused
by Daredevil. Yes, you guessed it; she loves Murdock, loathes Daredevil.
This leads to a few nice romantic scenes, and a few really cliché fights
between Elektra and Daredevil. I don't know what to think of a comic book
film where the romantic scenes outshine the action, though again:
whatever. Such romantic scenes even include some well done FX. In one such moment, we see
Murdock attempt to
"see" Elektra by listening to the raindrops touching her
face. We "see" this ourselves, of a ghostly image slowly
being formed by raindrops into the face of Elektra. This is a nice scene.
Of course, the real culprit of her father's
murder is Bullseye, who is the perfect amalgam of this film's successes
and failures. On the one hand, Bullseye is a deadly assassin; on the other
hand, he's a guy who calls himself "Bulleye," with a laughably
oversized "bullseye" tattoo on his forehead. Such clashes of
over sentimentality with the story, yet comic book whimsy from the makeup
department, is the surest sign the crew behind this film didn't know if
they were making a comic book romp, or a
cartoonish Shakespearean tragedy. It deserves mentioning that Bullseye is
an excellently cast role, played in an oh-so-perfect performance by Colin Farrell
(Minority
Report). However, if you're going to have this guy's actions seem
so "serious," what's with the bullseye on his head...?
It deserves saying that many Daredevil
fans (like Harry Knowles) compare this film to Superman
or Batman. No; I thought of it more along the lines of The
Mask: well chosen stars,
some nice FX, and a well done publicity campaign. However, unlike that
cult classic Jim Carrey vehicle, Daredevil often takes itself way
too seriously. This culminates in an ending that, while I won't spoil it
here, tries too hard for melancholy, when a typical comic book film would
have gone for the typical "happy ending." It appears that even if Daredevil wins, he
doesn't win. Fans will tell you that's the point, since that's the way he is portrayed in the comics. I say: that's probably why the
comic is so unpopular. Consider that.
Daredevil, overly-sentimental finale
notwithstanding, is more than a worthy way to
spend a February weekend. It would be direct to video if released
during a summer movie season--particularly this summer, with a Matrix sequel,
an X-men sequel, and a Terminator sequel--
though in the barely-alive weekends prior to Oscar night, this was a nice treat. It's not perfect, though it's
a solid effort, and when it allows itself to be, it's fun.
---Techtite
The DVD:
Let's start off with the most noteworthy extra listed on the back of the
box: Jennifer Garner's actual screen test, for the role of Elektra. This
is of major significance --even for the agnostic viewer-- because it
seemed so, well, wrong, to have cast a non-latina in the role of a latina
comic character. Consider how rare it is for a latina actress to be offered a heroine role
--let alone a super-heroine-- and yet Jennifer got the part. However,
let's be fair: based on this screen test, it's
clear she performed well, making her casting choice make more sense. However,
the truth hurts: There is still a
very strong contrast between Jennifer and the raven-haired Elektra
from the comic book.
I'm just saying... Not that Jennifer
as Elektra was the most daring casting choice. That honor goes to Michael Clarke Duncan's
role as Kingpin. This, too, is given its own video clip on the disc, where
Duncan discusses the nuances of the character. Now,
don't get me wrong; this interview clip confirms for the millionth time how
Duncan is one whale of a great actor, and therefore, perfect for the part from a script
perspective...though not a comic
perspective. To see Duncan talking in front of a giant comic book picture
of Kingpin from the comic books --an obese, goofy-looking fat guy-- it's almost an insult to
say Duncan was
"right" for the role. He excellently portrayed an ominous
villain, yes; just not a good "Kingpin." Regardless,
neither of
these video snippets can compare to the impressive behind-the-scenes featurette.
No, this is not a fanboy talking here, either. I didn't "love"
the movie, and yet I'd still say this is one of the best behind-the-scenes
videos of this type. I don't know; it may have something to do with the
impressive video editing at work here. I never really considered until now
how important a video editor was for the bonus material of a DVD. In just under 59 minutes
you see what would've taken three hours for anyone else. It's perhaps the
one distinguishing reason to rent the DVD over the VHS version. I'm
serious. Added extras include two multi-angle dailies of key action scenes,
an HBO "First Look" special about this film, along with the obligatory film
trailers, photo gallery, and
music videos ("Won't Back Down" by Fuel,
"For You" by the Calling, "Bring Me to
Life" by Evanescence). Last thougn possibly best of all
is a short video titled "Moving Through Space: A Day with Tom Sullivan."
For those who don't know; Tom has been blind since birth, and was the consultant
used for Daredevil. This video is only 8 minutes; I totally recommend taking
the time to see it. A trio of
comic-related extras are also offered. There is a look at the comic-to-film process,
which is intriguing mostly because of the 9 actual artists in comic book history asked to discuss Daredevil,
including Marvel Comic legend Stan Lee. A separate featurette shows
the many ways that Daredevil's "hyper senses" have been
portrayed, in both the comic as well as the film. Capping off the comic
extras is a slide show not unlike trading cards, of each of the key
players of the Daredevil saga, which issue introduced that character, and
a short "biography." Mind
you, all the above extras are fit onto disc #2...but this
isn't to say the first disc is film-only. As you'd expect there is an
optional audio commentary, in this case by the film's director and
screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson,
and producer Gary Foster. There is also an "Enhanced
viewing mode," just like the one offered on Disc 2's behind the
scenes featurette. There's even an on-screen trivia track (not unlike the
one they included for Spider-Man)
where text balloons pop up whenever a worthwhile anecdote applies to that
scene. Though slightly politically incorrect, there's even a
"visually impaired track" option(!), though it turns out to be
rather sweet in its intentions; a narrator explains scene by scene what is
being shown on screen, in case you were to watch this film with a friend
who is blind. It is a cute touch, actually. This
isn't even getting into the DVD-ROM extras for computers with a DVD drive,
which offers a virtual comic book of the very first issue(!!!), a history
of the comic book to get non-readers up-to-speed, bios of your favorite
heroes and villains of the comic, a "sensory quiz," and even
wallpapers for your desktop background. In the end, this was another
exceptional batch of DVD extras, which once again coaxes me to wonder if I
should offer a split "rating" for DVD's; one for the film, the
other for the DVD extras. If I were to rate the extras separately, they'd
be a  Deep
Impact, without question. However, I still rate DVDs based on the
films alone, so that means this disc rates a:
| All text, Title
graphics, and pix not of reviewed products, are created by Techtite,
copyright 1999-2001; all rights reserved. Picture of DVD cover is used only for the purpose of review (and to make shopping for
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and the distributors of this product. For further "legalese"
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