Daredevil (+ Director's Cut)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Daredevil.

In a post-MCU world, it can be difficult to remember a time when Marvel had licensed their properties to other studios in the 2000s, even more so the films that didn’t reach the same notoriety as some of Fox’s thirteen X-Men films or Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy at Sony. One of these films was Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck and released by Fox in 2003. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, it still saw some success at the box office, earning $178 million against a budget of $78 million, and spawned the Elektra spinoff film, itself a box office bomb. Based on the reviews at the time, as well as negative word of mouth and Ben Affleck earning a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor, I went in expecting a cinematic trainwreck on par with other duds like Batman & Robin or Fant4stic. Instead, I saw a film that, while flawed in execution, represented a bold step forward for grounded cinematic takes on comic book superheroes.

As a child, Matt Murdock (Scott Terra) was accidentally blinded by radioactive waste after witnessing his father Jack (David Keith) extorting money on behalf of mob boss Eddie Fallon (Mark Margolis, uncredited). Following the accident, Matt hones his heightened senses, including sonar-like hearing, while his father recommits to his boxing career, making a comeback as “The Devil”. When Jack refuses to throw a match, Fallon has him murdered, which motivates Matt towards a life of seeking justice. As an adult, Matt works as an attorney in Hell’s Kitchen during the day with his friend Franklin “Foggy” Nelson (Jon Favreau) and fights crime as the vigilante Daredevil. As Daredevil’s crime fighting puts him on the radar of Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), who controls all of the city’s organized crime, Matt falls in love with Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner) while Fisk hires Bullseye (Colin Farrell), an assassin who never misses a shot, to kill her father Nikolas (Erick Avari).

By night, Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck) fights crime as Daredevil.

While I can’t speak to film’s comic accuracy, as all of my information about Daredevil came from research for this review, I found plenty to like with the end result. Matt Murdock may have a similar backstory to Batman, which includes a lack of traditional superpowers, his life’s trajectory is different from the caped crusader. He didn’t come from wealth, and does a lot of pro bono work during the day, but he has a few unique gadgets that help him in his nighttime vigilante activities. Throughout the film, Matt has an interesting character arc where his actions contrast with his Catholic upbringing, which includes letting a man die and almost crossing the line further into becoming a villain before snapping back to his senses and realizing the true meaning of justice, which he upholds from then on.

Although dark comic book films existed before Daredevil, this one provides an early example of a grounded and realistic approach. Following an early fight, for instance, we see how fighting crime has physically scarred him and damaged him enough that he loses a tooth. His radar sense gives him a stronger sensitivity to noise, which comes up more than once as a weakness, so he sleeps in a sensory deprivation tank. Later in the film, a lack of fighting experience is shown with a realistic outcome. In his civilian identity, Matt displays some of the realities of living as a blind man, which includes a reliance on reading braille and folding different bills in different ways to tell them apart. Other superhero films have since improved on the concept of a grounded interpretation, including as early as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 (which shows the harsh reality of Peter Parker’s double life and the struggles that follow), but I can appreciate the steps that Daredevil took in showing that it could work.

Matt's activity as Daredevil has left him scarred.

Although the acting isn’t the best you’ll find in a superhero film, certain performances stand out. Ben Affleck does a decent job as Matt Murdock, both in his vigilante and civilian personas, but the most respectful aspect is his commitment to a respectful portrayal of a blind man, which included wearing contacts that effectively rendered him blind while filming less intense scenes. During some daytime scenes, Jon Favreau, who would later appear in the MCU as Happy Hogan, provides some levity as Foggy without coming off too “jokey”. The biggest praise, however, goes to Michael Clarke Duncan, who gives Kingpin an intimidating presence and has the physicality to match. Notably, the film also features cameos from Daredevil writers Stan Lee, Frank Miller and Kevin Smith, whose character bears the name Jack Kirby; comic book fans will also recognize references to Daredevil contributors Joe Quesada, Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita.

Michael Clarke Duncan was a perfect choice for Kingpin.

Though the CG may not impress as much today, it captures Daredevil’s sonar sense pretty well, especially when it rains. I also appreciated the attention to detail with the scars around Matt’s eyes, a byproduct of the accident that blinded him, and enjoyed the creative camerawork, both in and out of the fight scenes. While some may not enjoy the soundtrack as much due to its inclusion of many post-grunge and nu metal songs, they sounded oddly fitting at times, though House of Pain’s "Top o' the Morning to Ya" (omitted from the soundtrack with N.E.R.D.'s "Lapdance" and Dara Shindler's "Faraway") felt a bit too on-the-nose.

For all of its good points, however, Daredevil still has noticeable flaws that hold it back from true greatness. Between the Kingpin storyline, Bullseye’s attacks, the romance with Elektra and Daredevil’s origin and double life, there’s almost too much going on for the 103-minute runtime. This means that certain threads don’t get as much time as they deserve, like Matt’s job as a lawyer or the struggle between his actions and his Catholicism (an influence on his “no kill” policy), which also makes his relationship with a priest a little too vague apart from Matt’s regular confessions and the fact the priest knows about his double life. There’s also a clash in tone, as while the film goes for a grounded approach, that makes the sillier elements feel more out of place. Putting the romance with Elektra aside, which already muddies the waters on its own, Matt has a fight with her in a playground, which doesn’t seem like a good venue to show off her martial arts prowess, not to mention it comes off a little forced.

The biggest clashing element, however, is Bullseye. Colin Farrell went out of his way to capture the character more faithfully, but that results in a portrayal that’s still over the top by the film’s standards. That’s not to mention how in a film that emphasizes realism, it’s hard to treat a character who can kill people with paperclips or peanuts that same way, especially when the introductory scene has him do so in front of a crowd with no consequences. The film does do a good job at selling Bullseye’s skills, but he might have fit in better if the script took even a slightly different approach to the character.

It's hard to take a character like Bullseye (Colin Farrell) seriously in a film like this.

On a more positive note, Daredevil has had a legacy of its own in the years since its release. The film wouldn’t get any planned sequels or additional spinoffs, likely due to the failure of Elektra, and the rights reverted back to Marvel in 2013. This led to the successful Daredevil series on Netflix, which ran for three seasons and featured Charlie Cox in the title role. Although Affleck doesn’t look back on his role in the Daredevil film fondly, Cox notably liked Affleck’s performance enough that he drew some inspiration for his own performance from it.

Something not as many may know about is that Daredevil also helped launch the career of Evanescence, whose songs “Bring Me to Life” and “My Immortal” debuted in the film prior to their debut album, Fallen. Evanescence, an unknown group at the time, had a hard time getting radio play due to their unconventional approach to rock until the Daredevil soundtrack led to increased demand. Amy Lee, the group’s founder and lead singer, would credit Daredevil for letting them go from playing clubs to arenas in a matter of months and giving them early international exposure. In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, she stated, “Since we released (the song) on Daredevil it went all over the world, whether they wanted it to or not, so we had fans in countries we had never been to because they had the soundtrack and they heard it on the radio. So, it started blowing up all over the world and then we had a reason to tour all over the world. And that's how the whole international thing happened this early. Which is awesome.” While hearing “Bring Me to Life” in a serious context may bring out more than a few laughs now, it’s pretty cool to learn just how much of an impact a movie can have, especially with bringing a band some good and much-needed exposure.

In 2004, Fox released an extended Director’s Cut of Daredevil, which reincorporated 30 minutes of additional footage and altered or extended certain scenes. Among the various changes, this cut downplays the romance between Matt and Elektra, extends certain fights, adds additional scenes of Matt visiting a catholic church and restores a cut subplot involving Dante Jackson, a drug addict played by Coolio.

The Director’s Cut doesn’t fix all of the Theatrical Cut’s issues, namely how Bullseye’s character and the fight in the park feel silly within an otherwise serious superhero film, but it is a dramatic improvement. Downplaying the romantic element doesn’t completely remove it, but it does feel more natural in the context of the longer cut. Matt’s religious side is explored better with his visits to the church, as it better establishes his relationship with the priest and Catholicism. The biggest difference, however, is Dante’s storyline, which not only grants Matt’s civilian identity as a lawyer a bigger spotlight to help balance his screentime as a vigilante, but actually helps tie the rest of the movie together with better pacing and story flow. It truly felt like the film’s puzzle had found its missing piece.

Dante Jackson (Coolio) ties the film together.

Although Daredevil is rough around the edges, it’s not as bad as its reputation and is a good watch for its historical value. If you only watch one cut, however, the Director’s Cut provides a far more complete and compelling experience.