The only problem with Sam Raimi’s phenomenal version of
”
Spider Man,
”
which is now a certified classic, is that it has set the bar for
comic-book film adaptations extremely high. It’s simply the best
movie version of a comic stip ever made. The best thing about
”
Spider Man
”
is its attention to detail and its humanity, and these are
things that the clunky
”
Daredevil
”
definitely doesn’t have.
The only problem with Sam Raimi’s phenomenal version of “Spider Man,” which is now a certified classic, is that it has set the bar for comic-book film adaptations extremely high. It’s simply the best movie version of a comic stip ever made. The best thing about “Spider Man” is its attention to detail and its humanity, and these are things that the clunky “Daredevil” definitely doesn’t have.
A great comic book character created by the legend Stan Lee (Remember him in “Chasing Amy?”), “Daredevil” the film is a laughably bad rendering, complete with wooden characters, shoddy special effects, bad writing and campy diologue.
Altough I appreciated the effort to bring “Daredevil” to the screen, the film is hard to like. And the violence is so extreme that it’s hard to believe the film won its inappropriate PG-13 rating, but giving it an R would have kept its target market out of the theaters, and that is probably why the less-appropriate rating was given.
“Daredevil” has more in common with the darkness of Gotham City, a place that was given the Tim Burton noir treatment in the first two “Batman” films. Trying to recreate the “Batman” sense of dread and gloom, the director (Mark Steven Johnson) forgets to tell the story of Daredevil and gets lost along the way in mumbo jumbo special effects and a corny love story.
Writer-Director Johnson (the insufferable “Simon Birch”) has worked mightily to concoct a believable world of burglars, murderers and rapists out of control in the city that is only protected by one superhero, the enigmatic Daredevil who brings down bad guys with typical comic-book flair and style. He works for the poor and under-represented, striking quickly at those who dare to make life unsafe for the less fortunate.
Every superhero has a day job, and Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck), who is Daredevil by night, is a “poor” lawer when not out whipping the crap out of bad guys. Defending the helpless in court, he uses his superhero disguise to weed out those who escape punishment in the justice system.
The backstory on Daredevil’s character is interesting, if slight. A supposedly normal guy who bleeds and feels pain, Daredevil, after losing his sight as a young boy, feels his other senses hightened to help make up for his loss of sight. Feeling he must fight the good fight, he uses his remarkable new sensibilities to try and make a positive difference in the world.
A lot of things in the film just don’t make sense, and the script could definitely use a rewrite. He’s presented as an impoverished lawer who can barely pay his bills, yet he has a lair-style apartment with every James-Bond-style gadget you can think of. I know we’re supposed to suspend our disbelief when we go to a movie, but irrational story ideas pop up about every five minutes or so, causing major distractions.
Ben Affleck is simply the wrong choice to play Daredevil. He’s wooden and stoic, and recalls Michael Keaton’s one-note performances as Burton’s Batman. Affleck is simply not charismatic enough to bring an essential believability to Daredevil, which is a major problem for the film. In fact, he sinks it.
“Daredevil” will no doubt capitalize on Ben Affleck’s enormous universal appeal, but word-of-mouth should move it into second run theaters very quickly, followed by a quick move to DVD accompanied by the same hype we’re seeing in the ads for the film right now.
DAREDEVIL. Written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. With Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan and John Favreau. PG-13 (extremely violent, could be R), 105 minutes. Now playing at Bay Area theaters.
