What's The Bottom Line special Super Saturday presents Daredevil

presents

Daredevil (2003)

Starring Ben Affleck (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Good Will Hunting), Jennifer Garner (Alias and Juno), Colin Farrell (Phone Booth and Total Recall) and Michael Clark Duncan (The Green Mile and Sin City)

Introduction

Welcome to another SUPER SATURDAY, this week I decided to pick a film that's at least 10 years old. I didn't know how old Daredevil was! It's 11 years old! It only seems like 5/6 years ago it came out. But, this is an interesting bunch of actors playing these leads. We have Ben Affleck who is now playing the newest Batman, but here he is playing Daredevil. Then, Jennifer Garner's character Elektra Natchios who actually had a film purely on Elektra's character, but it wasn't that great if am honest. Then, Colin Farrell plays a great Marvel character called Bullseye. But, this is the most interesting character....Michael Clark Duncan plays the iconic Wilson Fisk or as most people know him as Kingpin. Now, I purposely picked this film because it goes against some of the Marvel appearances. For example, Kingpin isn't even an African American, so to pick Michael Clark Duncan is interesting because it's going against the character profile. So, let's go into this blog with an open mind, first and after thoughts. But, the facts should be a juicy one to get into here.

First Impressions Before Seeing The Film?

I thought this would rock my socks off! LITERALLY. I mean, what more of an awesome Marvel character could you ask for? I only seen a few of Daredevil appearances in the Spider Man cartoon series, but come on! Matt Murdock is a blind crime fighting machine who helps the people in Hell's Kitchen (NOT THE TV SHOW) and New York City, hense why Spiderman sees Daredevil from time to time. Plus, he is called "The Man Without Fear". Which, is a bit ironic because that's how we see Batman really. But, I was looking forward to seeing The Kingpin in action played by Michael Clark Duncan, I know Marvel likes to change it up. So, I want to see how Michael Clark Duncan portrait of the Kingpin is. But, I want to see the relationship between Elektra and Daredevil as well. I mean, there's always that element of chemistry so I wanted to see it happen slowly. I was looking forward to see the actual fighting scenes and how they would use Daredevil's abilities. I wanted to see some special effects used from this because Daredevil can see people through frequencies of sounds. But, one of the main things I wanted to see was BULLSEYE! This is a really great assassin and I would love to see Daredevil and him fight. Plus, curious about the soundtrack, I rarely speak about the soundtrack but I feel for this film, it needs a great balance because of how dark Daredevil can actually be, and how dark the character is. Because, Daredevil can be seen as a villain from Spiderman's universe, but then can be seen as a hero in this film and in the TV Series Daredevil. 

After I Watched The Film?

I felt that my expectations were made and expanded! Let's start with Michael Clark Duncan....He just plays this huge powerful corruptive Kingpin. I think he is better than the original character, he plays it extremely well and the touch of roses just gives this character that extra element to his personality. Then, Elektra....honestly not my favourite, but one of my favourite scenes and music was when she is getting ready to kill Daredevil. The music is Bring Me To Life by Evanescence. And, this film made me explore bands like Evanescenece and Seether, I think the balance of the dark music really heightened the movie because of the connections of the film. I would say Ben Affleck as Daredevil was what I expected, we saw some mystery, some strict order and we see him in different ways as well. Bullseye was everything and more of the character, Colin Farrell did play this character beautifully. Visually and scenery wise you be in amazement because they really thought of the character's history, the way Hell's Kitchen looks and how Daredevil fights crime. I mean, the actually cane of Daredevil is better than Batman's utility belt I think! This cane can fly out, attach to buildings and he can fly around everywhere, it can be a bigger cane to kick more bad guys butts! 

What Makes Daredevil Stand Out From Other Marvel Films? And, What Could They Do More To This Film?

I would mainly say in my personal opinion because Daredevil has that disadvantage but makes it into a strength. I mean, we see people having a disability with a disadvantage that's how society sees them. But, Daredevil makes it refreshing to see someone having a disability and showing the world it doesn't make a difference. And, I think it was trying to have that gore and darkness of Blade, but still keeping the character's origins in there. I think they should of done something about the actual character Matt Murdock as a person. Let me explain, I think we should of see something in a court room, or something to just show us is these two characters of Daredevil and Matt Murdock different? We only saw this, in the playground fight where Matt Murdock kicks Jennifer Garner's butt....well tries too. If they were going to do a whole reboot, I would aim for this, but to have a bunch more Marvel characters involve. And, the fact that if would be interesting seeing how Matt Murdock is portrayed in a  reboot. I think the costume and the look of Daredevil is spot on. So, while rebooting could be the origins? From child flash backs, to training, to becoming this Daredevil. Similar to Arrow I suppose. I think that would work, a torn Daredevil attire, and the cane not as fancy showing the before days of Daredevil.

Facts About This Film?

1. In November 2006, Ben Affleck stated that he would never reprise the role, having felt "by playing a superhero in Daredevil (2003), I have inoculated myself from ever playing another superhero... Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn't want to do again soon." It was confirmed in 2013 that Ben Affleck would take on the role of Batman in a future project. This just makes me question, why Ben Affleck wants to be Batman then? 
2. Ben Affleck was virtually blind as he had to wear heavy-duty contact lenses which blocked out most of his vision.
3. When Michael Clarke Duncan was cast, he weighed 290 pounds. He was asked to gain 40 pounds for the role in order to fit the physique of Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for 30 minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well as eating whatever he wanted.
4. Ben Affleck met his wife Jennifer Garner on the set of this film.
5. The film was originally envisioned as R-rated with nudity and hard violence.
6. The first time Colin Farrell had been able to use his own Irish accent in an American movie.
7. According to the DVD commentary on the theatrical release version of Daredevil, Dwayne Johnson's (aka "The Rock") cousin is in the bar fight scene. He is the one who says to Quesada, "Hey, boss. Who the hell is that?"
8. Matt and Elektra's playground fight took four days to shoot.
9. Stan Lee disliked the film, because he felt the film was "too tragic".
10. In the comics, the Kingpin is white, but in the movie he is played by an African-American, Michael Clarke Duncan. The studio was convinced to use Duncan after several white wrestlers gave poor screen tests.
11. Getting Daredevil's costume right was one of the hardest aspects of the production and took approximately 7-8 months.

My Rankings

IMDB users overall gave this a 5.5, and I can see why because this is actually quite a different take on Marvel, it's not for kids, it has a rating of 15, Blade has 18. I think if Marvel made Daredevil into an 18, with more violence, more everything I think it would of been a smash hit at the box office. I can see the potential in the film, some of the flaws needed to be seen. So, I give it a watchable 7 out of 10.

So, What's The Bottom Line?

If you like you're crime fighter with a cane fighting the love of his life, a guy with a bulleyes on his forehead and basically Michael Clark Duncan then this is the film for you. It does have some twists and turns that are interesting but it's very watchable not just for Marvel fans either.

Here is the trailer:

Here is the IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287978/

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