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Year:    2003
Studio:  20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises,
         Marvel Enterprises
Feature: 3/5
DVD:     3/5

Another movie based on a Marvel Comics character, Daredevil follows our eponymous hero as he fights crime in New York's Hell's Kitchen area. Ben Affleck plays Matt Murdock -- blind lawyer by day and red avenger by night.

The main plot of the movie is Daredevil's war against the Kingpin, played by Michael Clarke Duncan. But nobody knows who the Kingpin is so for most of the movie Daredevil is battling the Kingpin's hired assassin, Bullseye (Colin Farrell).

We also see a lonely man who can't seem to keep any relationship going for long. Still thinks start looking up when Matt meets Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), daughter of billionaire Nikolas Natchios (Erick Avari). Tragedy ensues when Elektra's father is murdered and she thinks Daredevil did it. So she goes after the killer using the martial arts skills instilled on her since childhood.

This movie did fairly badly at the box office. The special effects are uneven, sometimes ok and sometimes rather bad. The storyline is dark and gritty which after X-Men and Spider-Man was probably jarring to the audience. And it doesn't have what I'd call a happy ending. If you think about it the movie does reflect the comic book fairly well but it's not one of Marvel Comics most popular characters.

Still, it's an ok movie. Jennifer Garner looks amazing. There are some cool scenes and if you go in with low expectations I think you'll like the film.
Extras

Enhanced Viewing Mode

A subtitle track with eight break-out scenes explaining the special effects. I find that doing it this way is annoying since you're bound to miss at least one, which I did. After seeing seven of them I'd say they're not interesting.

Audio Commentary

An audio track. Writer and director Mark Steven Johnson and producer Avi Arad are conversational and rather loose. Lots of swear words and they explain why some things were done their way. After listening to the commentary I at least appreciate the movie a bit better for what they were trying to do.

Text Commentary

A subtitle track. Little bits of trivia. Points out the Marvel in-jokes, guest shots, name references. Also points out in which Marvel comics characters first appear or have significant storylines. I would say this track is for the Daredevil readers.

DVD-ROM (Windows)

History of the Comic Book
Character Information: Daredevil, Elektra, Bullseye, Kingpin
Multimedia: Web comic, Wallpapers for the four main characters
Links: movie web site, x-men 2 movie website, marvel comics
Sensory Quiz

Overall the DVD-ROM extras are Flash-based suckage.
Copyright (c) 2005 Kevin C. Wong
Page Created: December 25, 2005 Page Last Updated: December 25, 2005