Yum, this crow tastes good.
I can admit when I am wrong: The Daredevil movie didn't suck.
I'm not letting it off the hook, though. It has some serious flaws. Of the last five comic book movies to come out ("Daredevil," "Spiderman," "X-Men," "Blade 2" and "Road to Perdition") it ranks only above "Blade 2."
Still, it didn't suck.
The flaws in Mark Steven Johnson's "Daredevil" are large ones, and they can mostly be attributed to Johnson himself, who both directed and wrote the movie. A rushed plot, misrepresented characters and bad choices mar an otherwise well-done adaptation.
For starters, the Kingpin doesn't work. I would argue that Kingpin is one of the few Marvel characters, such as Black Panther and Sunfire, who is race-specific. Even if you ignore the race-factor, the character isn't done justice by Michael Clarke Duncan or especially Johnson's script.
Duncan's Kingpin doesn't brood enough. He's spontaneous; we never get a sense that he has a master plan. It is hard to believe that Michael Clarke Duncan can make your life a living hell when he shows off his lovable teddy-bear grin.
What really works against Kingpin in this movie is the film-making. He is too well-lit; he should have just been a shadow behind a desk. Also, we never see evidence of his crime empire. Worst of all, Vanessa Fisk is absent. In the comics, Kingpin is not just "all about the business." In the comics, Kingpin loves his wife. That element of depth is tragically lost in this movie. Instead we get a two-bit villain worthy of a Schumacher Batman movie.
There were other huge filmmaking issues that must be addressed. Johnson crammed way too much Daredevil material into one film and it's noticeable. Maybe the greatest offense is the soundtrack. Bands like Nickelback corrupt the viewing of the film. What this movie needed was a musical score. Daredevil had no theme, and all heroes need musical themes.
So, with all these complaints, why did I like the movie so much?
I was taken aback by the darkness of the film. The marketing of this movie did not reflect the product at all. Some marketing genius knew guys like me were going to see it anyway and marketed to a mass-audience. Not since Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" has a super-hero movie been this dark.
Ben Affleck was good. Really, really, good.
It's sick, but it's true: Affleck is everything that a geek could ask Matt Murdock/Daredevil to be. He broods and then he broods and when he finishes brooding he dwells on dark thoughts. He can't get love right. He brushes aside his friends. He is very, very violent.
Most of all, I believed Ben Affleck was the man who put on a suit and fought crime not because it was the heroic thing to do, but because it purged him of his anger. Affleck nailed the part of Matt Murdock/Daredevil the way Tobey Maguire nailed the part of Peter Parker/Spiderman.
Add to that a phenomenal portrayal of Bullseye by Colin Farrell (stay past the credits for a treat) and Jennifer Garner's eye-popping "performance", and you get a pretty good adaptation of a Marvel comic book.
But for the record, I bet the Daredevil sequel is going to suck.
Write to Mouse at bbmcshane@bsu.edu
Visit http://www.classicalgeektheatre.com
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