- Film Review
- Reviewed By Andrew Collins
-
2 out of 5
There are redeeming features to this high-kicking Marvel comic adaptation - not least its strong visuals and attractive cast - but these do not add up to a satisfying whole. As a child, Matt Murdock is blinded by radioactive waste that simultaneously heightens his other senses. He grows up to be a New York lawyer (played by Ben Affleck) who doubles as a nocturnal, leather-clad crime-fighter. As the first instalment of a potential franchise, the film goes through the motions of setting up the story and characters, with the flashbacks to Matt's boyhood the strongest episode. Thereafter the narrative gets flabby - introducing a soppy love story involving Jennifer Garner of TV's Alias and a cursory game of cat-and-mouse against Colin Farrell's poorly sketched villain - and the action is sapped of clarity and subtlety by rushed editing and the relentless heavy metal soundtrack.
Plot Summary
Action fantasy starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Matt Murdock is a blind New York lawyer who fights crime by night as Daredevil using his surviving chemically enhanced senses. But crime lord Kingpin wants him out of the picture and hires psychotic hitman Bullseye to do the deed.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Matthew "Matt" Murdock / Daredevil
- Ben Affleck
- Elektra Natchios
- Jennifer Garner
- Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
- Michael Clarke Duncan
- Bullseye
- Colin Farrell (2)
- Ben Urich
- Joe Pantoliano
- Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
- Jon Favreau
- Jack Murdock
- David Keith
- Young Matt
- Scott Terra
- Karen Page
- Ellen Pompeo
- Jack Kirby, lab assistant
- Kevin Smith (2)
- Old man at crossing
- Stan Lee
- Quesada
- Paul Ben-Victor
Crew
- Director
- Mark Steven Johnson
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