Reel News - 'Daredevil'

Reviewed byJustin Colburn

I was feeling a little apprehensive as I walked into the theater to see Daredevil. It's no secret I am an avid comic book reader and it's also fairly obvious that comics have become the next big trend in movies. The success of Spider-Man, Road to Perdition and Blade 2 last year helped pave the way for such projects as the Hulk, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, X-Men 2 and Daredevil. Most people assume I am happy about all of these coming projects, but they couldn't be more wrong. Movies that ride on the ebb and flow of Hollywood trends tend to be all style and no substance and that is what I fear most of these, including Daredevil, will be.

Many times in the past I've walked out of a comic movie disgusted at how much they've distorted the stories I read and enjoyed, anyone who reads is probably used to this, but it hurts even more for comics because they rarely make it to the silver screen. With this in mind I can firmly state that of all the comic movies I've seen Daredevil is the most true to characters and their past creators as well as being intelligently executed.

Setting plays an important part in any story and Daredevil is no exception, the wrong setting would have diminished the character's believability. By experiencing the feel of the dark and dangerous alley ways the movie does a good job of showing how Matt Murdock becomes a product of his environment. The costume and weapon designs were both done very well and it was obvious Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck put a lot of effort into learning what they were doing to make it look more real. Over the years I've become a big fan of Hong Kong martial arts movies, so there is a certain way I like to see action done. Daredevil didn't do it that way, I found their cuts to be a little annoying and the fighting a little hard to follow at times. What surprised me the most about the movie was the selection of music used; it was a little obscure and fit the scenes it was used in very well.

So, while I did enjoy Daredevil and I have a lot of positive things to say about, I would rank it as mediocre. My main reason for saying this is I don't think there is any re-watchability. Even as a comic book fan I have no intention of buying the movie when it comes out on DVD. If you are looking for a movie to see, something forgettable, something too light and simple that you can forget about when you leave the theater, Daredevil is what you are looking for.