Which is pretty fucking remarkable, when you consider they were filming Superman II at the same time.
Daredevil (2003)
- Thread starter A beaker full of death
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Which is pretty fucking remarkable, when you consider they were filming Superman II at the same time.
I haven't seen the Director's Cut, but this is one of those comic book movies that is generally perceived as bad/a failure that I happen to personally enjoy (Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, and Batman Forever being others). I'm not really a big fan of either Ben Affleck or Jennifer Garner, but Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan more than make up for any issues I have with Affleck and Garner's performances.
This is why I thought the opening fight at the bar was so superior to every other action sequence in the movie - it's mostly live stunt-work, but just about everything else in the movie lays on the CG stand-ins pretty thick.
I've only seen the theatrical version and have little to no knowledge of the comic book.
I liked the various elements of the movie well enough, although the soundtrack and Jennifer Garner pretended to be Greek or whatever her family was supposed to be was silly.
But the overarching story just did not work for some reason. It was like major story beats and points were compressed or just straight out missing.
Daredevil beating Kingpin didn't feel earned, and worse it didn't feel particular important. Matt and Elektra's split and their reasons for staying apart(when they were clearly in love) just felt manufactured somehow.
Which I guess would be my major complaint with the movie overall, the story felt very manufactured and rushed instead of organic.
I liked the various elements of the movie well enough, although the soundtrack and Jennifer Garner pretended to be Greek or whatever her family was supposed to be was silly.
But the overarching story just did not work for some reason. It was like major story beats and points were compressed or just straight out missing.
Daredevil beating Kingpin didn't feel earned, and worse it didn't feel particular important. Matt and Elektra's split and their reasons for staying apart(when they were clearly in love) just felt manufactured somehow.
Which I guess would be my major complaint with the movie overall, the story felt very manufactured and rushed instead of organic.
They are, we mentioned up thread about 20+ minutes, including an entire subplot, were edited out. Watch the Directors Cut sometime.
I think part of the problem was Affleck's reputation at the time-the whole J.Lo mess made people sick of him by the time DD came out. (and that was even before Gilgi). Of course he ended up with Garner in the end....
Also he was one of Marvel's less-known characters, while the X-men and especially Spider-Man (pretty much the only Marvel successes at that point) were fairly well-known from at least the cartoons and more geared toward a general audience.
Also he was one of Marvel's less-known characters, while the X-men and especially Spider-Man (pretty much the only Marvel successes at that point) were fairly well-known from at least the cartoons and more geared toward a general audience.
It struck me very much as a paint by the numbers superhero film. Everything was fine. I thought it was relatively faithful to the Daredevil comics. I thought Ben Affleck was fine, etc.
The problem is the word fine keeps coming up over and over again. It didn't wow me. It didn't do anything to make the story memorable. I've heard the director's cut is better, so I might have to check it out, but its flaw was it wasn't compelling.
The problem is the word fine keeps coming up over and over again. It didn't wow me. It didn't do anything to make the story memorable. I've heard the director's cut is better, so I might have to check it out, but its flaw was it wasn't compelling.
Actually, X-Men were among the more obscure heroes in the general consciousness. Indeed, all Marvel heroes other than Spiderman, and MAYBE the Hulk (thanks to the tv series) were pretty obscure to the general public. Certainly Daredevil was well known to comic readers.
Excusing a comic books movie's performance on how well the property is known to the general public hasn't held much water since Iron Man.
Also, FWIW, a "to be continued" ending had been considered for Superman, involving the nuclear explosion in space freeing the villains at the end of the film.
Or you can make it look blatantly like you're setting things up, but it just serves to whet the audience's appetite if it's a well-received film--Batman Begins.
Also, FWIW, a "to be continued" ending had been considered for Superman, involving the nuclear explosion in space freeing the villains at the end of the film.
I enjoyed the film when it came out, and like others have pointed out enjoy the Director's Cut even more. I would have enjoyed a second outing, especially if they did Born Again which was going to be the plan. I'm looking forward to the reboot that is in pre-production right now. Should be interesting to see who they get to play Matt.
I think the Daredevil/Elektra & Elektra/Bullseye fights at the end are pretty CGI-free.
Well when your father is Erick Avari, expect some ethnic confusion. (Is he Greek? Egyptian? Indian?)
I would disagree that Batman Begins is blatantly setting-up a sequel. It's blatantly setting up the basics of general Batman mythology but I never get the sense that they are deliberately holding out on us just so that they'll have something left for the sequel. Even the bit at the end with the Joker card is something I take as more of a throw-away gag that they just happened to decide to follow-up on in The Dark Knight. When Batman Begins ends, I feel like I've seen a complete story and while I'm hungry for more I don't feel like anything has been left unfinished.
I need to rewatch Daredevil again (along with some of the other comic book movies mentioned here like Spider-Man). Daredevil was a movie that I didn't really like the 1st time I saw it. Then some friends dragged me to it because they hadn't seen it yet and I liked it better. A 3rd viewing in the discount theaters raised my opinion even more. By the time I got it on DVD, I was rating it as one of my all-time favorite movies, and that was even before the improved Director's Cut came out.
It didn't hold up quite as well as I was expecting the last time I saw it. I still like it. I'm just not sure it's an all-time favorite of mine anymore.
Some of it is just a matter of timing. When it came out in 2003, there weren't nearly as many comic book movies as there are now, particularly when it came to comic book movies that were this unflinchingly dark. You had the 1st couple Blade movies and that was about it. Now, we've also got Constantine, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, & the Chris Nolan Batman movies, to name a few. Plus, you've got a lot more superheroes now thanks to the Spider-Man sequels, Fantastic Four, the X-Men sequels, Superman Returns, and the larger Marvel Studios movie universe.
Still, I really like Ben Affleck as Daredevil. I think he perfectly captures the tortured side of superherodom in a way that is real rather than emo. *cough*Spider-Man*cough*. Jennifer Garner plays off him really well. Colin Farrell is clearly having the time of his life.
And I'm a huge fan of Jon Favreau as Foggy Nelson. He's hilarious and adds a much needed flash of lightness to this movie exactly when it needs it the most.
"Seeing eye dogs bond for life. Yours ran away. What does that tell you about how emotionaly available you are?"
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Matt. This doesn't look like a law office any more. It's starting to look like the set of goddammed Sanford & Son. Every time I walk in here I keep waiting for Lamont to walk down the stairs."
(I wish they would release an outtakes reel with all of the deleted Foggy Nelson stuff from the cafe scenes. According to Mark Steven Johnson, those scenes could have gone on for about 15 minutes if he wanted.)
^YMMV, but many of us saw the Joker card as saying, "You ain't seen nothing yet!"...and general movie audiences seemed to take it that way as well.
Had BB gone the DD route, they would've had the Joker in the first film. They saved the ultimate Batman villain for the sequel.
Had BB gone the DD route, they would've had the Joker in the first film. They saved the ultimate Batman villain for the sequel.
But why is that a good thing? Daredevil tells the story of Daredevil. That's what I paid to see. I'm not interested in franchises. A sequel should not be something that's planned in the first outing. Tell me a story. Make an integrated, coherent movie. Serials went away a long time ago.
I liked the movie just fine. It's quite a while since I've seen it, my major complaint was the red-leather suit which seemed to be too stiff and just seemed off. I would have rather seen it made of cordura or something. Not spandex but something form fitting and just a bit looser.
So that kind of bugged me all the way through, meanwhile I was enjoying everything else. Not perfect, but fully enjoyable. I would certainly have given it an A-.
So that kind of bugged me all the way through, meanwhile I was enjoying everything else. Not perfect, but fully enjoyable. I would certainly have given it an A-.
*Sigh*....You're right, of course...BB and TDK were horrible, horrible movies...travesties to the superhero film genre....Everyone around here tries to tell me that, but I just don't listen....
And aren't you still our resident crochety old man? If serials went away a long time ago, shouldn't you prefer them...?
^Those predate even me... if only slightly. Which doesn't mean I don't love the hell out of Kirk Alyn's Superman or The Adventures of Captain Marvel...
I don't know if I would agree with that. I have friends who are quite a bit younger than me and they really enjoyed the X-Men animated series growing up. I never watched it but by the time the X-Men movie came out there were probably a lot of people out there who knew them from the show.
and there was the X-Men Evolution cartoon as well.
i first heard of them in SM&HAF before then getting into the comics in the early 1990s and then watching the animated series.
i first heard of them in SM&HAF before then getting into the comics in the early 1990s and then watching the animated series.
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