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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Daredevil
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  out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
3 stars out of 4
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Building on the success of "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "Blade," this is
the newest action-adventure fantasy based on a Marvel Comics character.
Daredevil, known as the Man Without Fear, is the night-prowling vigilante
alter-ego of attorney Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck), who was blinded at age 12 by
radioactive waste. As a result of this injury, his other senses have amplified
to superhuman level. When she's not trying to kill Daredevil, Matt's girl-friend
is Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), who is out to avenge her father's death.
They're lovers/adversaries. Then there's the formidable druglord Kingpin
(Michael Clarke Duncan) with Colin Farrell as Bullseye, his psychopathic,
relentlessly ruthless assassin. Credit writer/director Mark Steven Johnson's
("Simon Birch") casting: Ben Affleck's a major celebrity these days with his
fianc‚e Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Garner has a fan base from TV's "Alias," and
Colin Farrell's career is sizzling with "The Recruit" and the upcoming "Phone
Booth." Jon Favreau scores as Matt's law partner "Foggy" Nelson with Joe
Pantoliano as crime reporter Ben Urich. Cinematographer Ericsson Core captures
Daredevil's sonar "vision" cleverly, particularly in the romantic
raindrops-on-the-rooftop scene, and the stunt wire-work is amazing. As a parent,
however, I was uncomfortable watching this superhero take painkiller
prescription drugs; for the PG-13 audience, that's not a habit one wants to
encourage. And, unlike the crime-fighting comic-book hero, this darkly vengeful
Daredevil allows a man to die on subway train tracks, taking credit with a
flaming DD. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Daredevil" is a stylized,
hard-edged, sinister 7, aimed more at adults than kids. So is it "time to give
the Devil his due"?
Copyright © 2003 Susan Granger
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