Batman and Spiderman have both battled evil in big-screen Metropolis in recent memory. Now “Daredevil” brings us more of the same. It breaks no new ground, but it entertains. It also sends up flares regarding what’s wrong with so many movies these days.
There is the mandatory obtrusive soundtrack of forgettable songs and an assumption that dark, busy action scenes and excessive special effects are more entertaining than clever plots and believable scripts.
But more notable are the easy plot- and character-summary devices — from the introductory voice-over to the convenient answering-machine message that tells us all we need to know about the main character’s personal life.
Shortcuts.
The goal of films nowadays seems to be to cram as much as possible into two or three hours, then trim off about half an hour.
It is assumed that an audience will accept improbable occurrences and implausible relationships because we have been indoctrinated by 100 years of simplified movie plots. So directors and screenwriters don’t even try to explain things anymore. “Daredevil” is full of complicated characters who are not given time to breathe or grow.
Writer/director Mark Steven Johnson (“Simon Birch”) would have done well to stretch the story to the anticipated sequel, giving this film a smaller plot built around character development, then playing out the major conflicts in part two.
After spending a fair amount of time on the obligatory origin story, there is insufficient time to develop other characters. The relationship between blind-lawyer-by-day, vigilante-by-night Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil, aka Ben Affleck, “The Sum of all Fears”) and modern warrior-princess Elektra (Jennifer Garner, “Catch Me If You Can”) is so rushed that their first meeting becomes a strange ritualized courtship karate fight, suggesting a love/hate dynamic that suits the story without necessarily making sense.
It is similar with the bad guys; an understanding of their characters must be assumed. Both Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile”) as the Kingpin and Colin Farrell (“The Recruit”) as Bullseye do well to give their characters any depth in very limited screentime. The audience should feel let down by just a few hasty fight scenes.
Similarly shafted is the very funny Jon Favreau (“Swingers”), who is allowed only a few running gags as Murdock’s law partner. And in the always-essential role of the reporter bent on discovering the hero’s secret identity, there’s Joe Pantoliano (“The Matrix”), who fits the bill nicely as one more good actor who can’t possibly find room to operate in this crowded cast.
The mood of the movie stays nicely dark in spite of the Hollywood insistence upon comic relief. There is good action, though it often takes the form of unconvincing CGI. And the plot, though spotty, suffers less from outright contrivance than most adrenaline-based films. So what you get out of “Daredevil” depends on your expectations.
There is the question, then, of what a superhero film is supposed to be: Is it about taking characters out of the comics and making them convincing as real people, or is it about making big, live-action cartoons? If you want reality, “Daredevil” falls short. But Mark Steven Johnson wasn’t striving for reality; he was settling for yet another exciting action film with all the prerequisites: violence, love, revenge and some more violence.
Mission accomplished.
Grade: B/C
