The New Movie of the Week: Daredevil 2003

Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) as a boy is sprayed with radioactive chemicals after seeing his father, Jack (David Keith), acting as an enforcer for local crime boss Eddie Fallon (Mark Margolis).  He quickly discovers that although he lost his sight, he gained other abilities.  Enhanced senses which give him superhuman agility and a radar or sonar type power.  The two make a promise to each other, Matt will study and make something of his life, while his father will regain his past glory as a prize fighter and not work for Fallon any longer.  This, of course, does not sit well with Fallon, especially when Jack won’t take a dive during a fight.  This action changes Matt’s life forever.  Years later, Matt is now a lawyer mainly working pro-bono cases and only if they are innocent, which he determines by using his superpowered hearing to gage their heartbeat by day. At night, he dons a cowl and costume and seeks justice on those the legal system has failed.  He works with his legal partner Foggy Nelson (Jon Favreau) who has no idea of his alternative lifestyle.  In a chance encounter he meets and falls in love with Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), the daughter of a billionaire who crosses the current crime lord known as the Kingpin / Wilson Fisk (Michael Clarke Duncan).  Elektra is a trained fighter and when her father is killed and Daredevil blamed, she goes out for revenge, not realizing it is the man she has fallen in love with.  The real murderer is hitman Bullseye (Colin Farrell) who is an incredible marksman with perfect accuracy where he never misses…well almost never.  In a battle with Bullseye, Daredevil learns that Fisk is not only the Kingpin but also the enforcer who killed his father and after dispatching his opponent, he goes after the big man himself in a final showdown.

Daredevil is a 2003 superhero film released on February 14 of that year. It is based on the characters who appear in Marvel Comic books created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett.  The film received mixed reviews but did go on to be a commercial success becoming the second-biggest February release at that time.  It grossed a total of $179.2 million against a budget of $78 million.  A year later an R rated director’s cut was released garnering better reviews.  In 2005, a spin-off film starring Jennifer Garner as the Elektra character but was a critical and financial failure, but Garner did come back as Elektra one more time, in the 2024 Deadpool & Wolverine film.  Daredevil gets a bad rap as a terrible movie, with Ben Affleck even stating that he hates the film.

I am one of the few that actually really like this film and don’t understand what all the hate is about.  I do realize that had the studio taken the darker path and done more to the intense adult storylines, that the film could have been better received and given the comic book fanbase what they really wanted. That being said, the film, at least to me, is not bad.  We got Daredevil in an actual costume that looked good.  He had all his superpowers and used them a good amount.  Although they slightly changed his origin, for the most part that remained intact and represented the source material well.  Ben played the character well utilizing both humor and a brooding detachment that added a good deal of depth and heart to the character, and I am sad that most people, including Ben, don’t see that.  The beautiful Jennifer Garner is a good Elektra (in this film at least) and plays both a lover and a fighter quite well. Colin Farrell is just fun as Bullseye, being the more over the top character resembling an actual comic book villain. The story moves at a good pace and the movie, itself, has a good rhythm.  The fight choreography and overall visual concepts of the film are wonderful with some awesome, unique and beautiful cinematography. One of the negatives about the film is the overdependence on pop music instead of an original score.  Although I do like some of the songs the emotional impact was lessened by not tailoring the music to the film. In the end, I think that the audience and fans went into this film with unrealistic expectations for the time that it was made, and that disappointment tarnished the film experience for them.  For me, I like this movie and enjoy rewatching it from time to time.