A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Daredevil

Date Viewed: 2/15/03

Details:

Ben Affleck

Jennifer Garner

Michael Clarke Duncan

Colin Farrell

Director: Steven Johnson

Score: 1/2

The Review: Hero, heroine, evil doers, a dark secret, an even darker metropolis, strange talents, weird skills and lots of bizarre costumes, all wrapped up by Marvel Comics. Yes, it's time for yet another superhero movie.

Of course the hero (Affleck) -- and heroine? (Garner) -- are played as a heavily conflicted individual(s) with major personality flaws inflicted from growing pains (or in the case of Daredevil, by that ubiquitous evil catalyst, radioactive waste); nothing is ever simple, and after all, it worked for Keaton's Batman, so why not try it again? Of course the hero is misunderstood and misinterpreted by the people he's trying to protect; you can almost imagine the Disney "lonely angst" song that will be the first musical number accompany the translated and light animated version. And of course the villains are played way over the top (Duncan and Farrell); but caricature is expected -- extreme goodness must be counteracted by extreme badness, the ying must balance the yang, yada yada.

Not bad, though; and it works. Although the rating may not reflect fine nuances, I preferred Daredevil to Spider-Man in many different ways. The heroic role requires more weight (as well as humor) from Affleck than Maguire ever brought to the creepy crawler, and Garner as the heroine and lover is altogether more attractive, and her character a better foil for the hero, than Dunst (although both look good in the rain). The plots are both exaggerated, but here we require no mad scientist and bizarre pseudo-nanotechnology to move the story forward. And the SFX are better used and much less distracting; the visual effects engendered by the rain are excellent, and lend a bit of verisimilitude to both the malady and Daredevil's extended senses.

And this movie adds yet another tick to the tally of reasons why it's a good idea to stay and watch the closing credits in their entirety. A bit of humor, yes, but more as well.

27-Feb-03

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