Daredevil

The origin is usually similar: A traumatic event in childhood, often due to a loss of parents, make future superhero traumatized in some ways but with supernatural powers in others. “Daredevil,” released in 2003, came out of the Marvel Comics story in the same period as “Spider-Man” and both were changed by accidents, which gave Peter Parker his spidey-sense, and blinded Matt Murdock but made his other four senses oversensitive. They grew up together in Marvel comics, sometimes sharing the same journeys, but you won’t seem them socializing in the movies because their rights are owned by different studios.

Roger Ebert said in his review, “"Daredevil" stars Ben Affleck as the superhero, wearing one of those molded body suits that defines his six-pack abs but, unlike Batman's, doesn't give him dime-sized nipples. His mask extends over his eyes, which are not needed since his other senses fan out in a kind of radar, allowing him to visualize his surroundings and "see" things even in darkness.”

By day, he is a lawyer in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan. By night, he tells everyone, he stalks the alleys and rooftops, seeking out villains. There is no shortage, however most of the city’s more profitable crime is controlled by the Kingpin (the late Michael Clarke Duncan) and his chief minister, Bullseye (Colin Farrell).

There must be a woman, and in “Daredevil” there is one (Ebert noted, “only one, among all those major make characters, although the fragrant Ellen Pompeo has a slink-on).” She is Elektra Natchios, played by Jennifer Garner, who, like her classical namesake, wants to avenge the death of her father. By day, she is pretty much the same she is by night. Ebert said, “She and Daredevil are powerfully attracted to each other, and even share some PG-13 sex, which is a relief because when superheroes make love at the R level, I am always afraid someone will get hurt.” There is a really beautiful scene where he asks her to stand in the rain because his ears are so sensitive they can create an image of her face from the sound of the raindrops.

Matt Murdock’s law partner is Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, played by Jon Favreau. He has little suspicion of who he is sharing an office with, although he picks up fast. Another main character is Ben Urich, played by Joe Pantoliano, who works for the New York Post, the newspaper of choice for superheroes.

Daredevil has the ability to jump off tall buildings, leap through the air, bounce off things, land lightly, etc. Ebert admitted, “There is an explanation for this ability, but I tend to tune out such explanations because, after all, what do they really explain? I don't care what you say, it's Superman's cape that makes him fly.” However, comic fans study the mythology and approach with the same amount of academics. It is uplifting, in the realm of inexplicabilities, to ace a limited topic within a self-contained universe. Really understand why Daredevil defies gravity, and the location of the missing matter making up 90 percent of the universe can be put on hold.

Ebert said, “But these are just the kinds of idle thoughts I entertain during a movie like "Daredevil," which may have been what the Vatican had in mind when it issued that statement giving its limited approval of Harry Potter, as long as you don't start believing in him. Daredevil describes himself as a "guardian devil," and that means there are guardian angels, and that means God exists and, by a process of logical deduction, that Matt Murdock is a Catholic. Please address your correspondence to Rome.”

The movie is good. Ebert credited, “Affleck and Garner probe for the believable corners of their characters, do not overact, are given semi-particular dialogue, and are in a very good-looking movie.” Most of the tension takes place between the characters, not the props. Of course, there is a fancy formal ball where everyone is invited (Ebert noted, “Commissioner Gordon must have been at the rival affair across town”).

Affleck is in his area in stories this large, having before tried to save Baltimore from nuclear annihilation and the world from “Armageddon,” but Garner, Farrell and Duncan are actually newer to action films, despite Garner seeing Affleck off at the station when he took the train from Pearl Harbor to New York, and Duncan was Balthazar in “The Scorpion King.” They play their roles more or less as if they were real, which is a novelty in a movie like this, and Duncan mainly has a presence that makes the camera want to take a step back and protect its barrier.

To summarize, the movie is worth seeing, better than we expect, more fun that we deserve. Ebert said, “I am getting a little worn out describing the origin stories and powers of superheroes, and their relationships to archvillains, gnashing henchmen and brave, muscular female pals.”

Ebert continued, “They weep, they grow, they astonish, they overcome, they remain vulnerable, and their enemies spend inordinate time on wardrobe, grooming and props, and behaving as if their milk of human kindness has turned to cottage cheese.” Some of their movies, like this one, are better than others.

People really thrashed this movie when it came out. My brother and cousin went to see it in the theaters, and they didn’t like it. I saw it as a DVD rental from the library, and I found myself enjoying it. I don’t understand why people hated this movie. I liked the action, the main actors did a good job, and it was a nice origin movie. I’m not really familiar with the actual comics, so I can’t say if it stayed true to the comics or not. Still, I say give this movie a chance and judge it based on your own thoughts. Because I believe people will enjoy this movie if they just enjoy themselves.

Next week, I’m going to look at a Kevin Smith movie that I really enjoyed in “Ben Affleck Month.”