As a young boy Matt Murdock (Scott Tena) was picked on by the school bullies and told not to fight by his father, a journeyman boxer who was killed by gangsters because he would not throw a fight. Matt, blinded by industrial chemicals as he ran after witnessing his father rough up a guy for the mob, grows up and becomes a lawyer. He decides that when he can't obtain justice being a prosecuting attorney during the day, he'll get avenging angel justice at night, as Daredevil. The loss of sight enhances his other senses of hearing, smell, touch and balance. Spider Man - with a definite edge.
The adult Matt (Ben Affleck) meets Elektra (Jennifer Garner) at a coffee shop and follows her, which she sees as stalking. They get into
a friendly kick-boxing match in a park playground, egged on by cheering boys and girls. Being evenly matched, they become friends and are soon lovers. Elektra's been learning how to defend herself since she was five years old because her father, a mobster, wants her to be a warrior and not a victim.
Bullseye (Colin Farrell) is a thug, with superhuman dart-throwing skills that are used to hurl whatever is handy at victims, which result in their immediate demise. When he gets a contract by Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) to kill Elektra's father, he's successful, but what she sees makes her think that DD rather than Bullseye committed the murder. She and DD soon battle each other only to have Bullseye intercede in a way that could be deadly to both Elektra and DD. Of course, she eventually realizes that her lover Matt is DD.
Although the blood and guts is not excessive, there is plenty of violence that is more than a little mean spirited. The message delivered is that when disputes can't be properly settled with negotiations in court, one can become a vigilante and be judge, jury and executioner, under the cover of darkness.
If you are a Daredevil comic book aficionado, you'll like the film better than we did. In talking with people that understand the history of this character, and the major differences between DD and Spider Man, the dark edgy violence and sexuality will be appealing. For us, going back to the rating board twice to get the rating changed from R to PG-13 was not enough to make this family friendly, in the manner that Spider Man was. While the violence and sex are no worse than in many video games, what's on the screen here only tends to reinforce that point of view.
We don't know if it's fair to say that this type of material in comic book form may be OK for the pre teen set (under 11), but taking the violence from that flat format and breathing life into the characters and their deeds on-screen should raise caution in parents. When brought to life on the small screen (video games) and big screen, pumped up bigger than life, it seems to not be just something that happens, but almost a peer value comparison with respect to morality and how one should act in society.
Jennifer Garner reprises her sensual kick butt role from TV's "Alias," and she is being groomed for a spin-off action flick of her own; as is Halle Berry from "Die Another Day". Colin Farrell is a terrific bad guy along with Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin, whose persona is perfect. Ben Affleck was good but George thought he was a little old for the role.
We "liked" Daredevil but were a little unsettled with the dark nature of the film. But when it starts out with a huge rat running around the streets of New York City, we can't complain about the movie not being true to the story.
Soundtrack
