Let's start this from the top. The year was 2003. Our spry young blogger was just an emo doofy middle schooler. And "Daredevil" had finally come to theatres.
I went to the old-school Harkins Christown Theatres (does anyone else remember that place?) with two friends of mine and sat through what I thought was a fun and enjoyable action movie.
That's right folks. I really enjoyed "Daredevil." The Ben Affleck one. With Jennifer Garner. It hurts me to think I enjoyed it.
Whenever I say something about enjoying it, a lot of people seem to look at me with disgust. Apparently it's my "that" movie — the one that I enjoy even though no one else does.
(For the record, my real "that" movie is "Super Mario Bros." with Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, but let's just avoid that.)
So two nights ago, I went to Bookman's in Phoenix and picked up a nice copy of a DD two-disc for 5 Whole Dollars, and last night I finally sat down to watch it.
Oh 7th-grade Dan, how I am disappointed in you.
Actually, it wasn't that bad. About 15 minutes in, when Ben Affleck was just punching people in the face and flipping around, I completely understood what my 7th grade self had embraced. It's a doofy movie, with a ton of action fighting, swearing, and jokes. It's the perfect thing for a 13-year-old nerd to really embrace.
Jon Favreau is great as Foggy, Joey Pants works as Ben Urich, and I personally thought Colin Farrell as Bullseye was just ridiculous and over the top enough to really succeed.
But there were plenty of problems. The action scenes just looked doofy to me now. Jennifer Garner fights in the exact same style she did for "Alias," which makes for great TV, but amateur for movies. Ben Affleck is really just a poor man's Batman. He even uses the whisper narration strategy that has become a stereotype of every modern superhero movie.
The one thing that really got to me was how hard they tried to show they knew comics. There were plenty of name drops of Dardevil writers/artists (if you know what I mean when I say Quesada, Mack, Bendis, Miller, Kirby and Romita, I worry about you) also quick cameos by Frank Miller and Kevin Smith. It feels like they thought that shout-outs were a proper way to relate to the comic fan base, but it just comes off forced and takes nerds like me right out of the movie.
Overall, was it as great as I originally thought it was? No. Was it ok? Yeah. There was plenty of potential that just didn't quite make it like it could.
So check it out if you've never seen it, and judge my opinion, at least I'm not going to talk about that "Elektra" movie. Yeesh.
Comic books are everywhere, and you don’t even realize it. Movies like “A History of Violence,” bands like Fall Out Boy, and television shows like “Lost” have all had some influence from comic books. Non-Required Reading is here to explain all the links between comics and pop culture that you might not even know about. Expect reviews, opinions, ideas, recommendations and more every Sunday! Any ideas for what you want to see? Contact me at djacka@asu.edu.
