Daredevil

It’s been a long time that I have sympathized so much with the hero of a movie. I was incredibly jealous of Matt’s blindness - at least he doesn’t have to watch hogwash like this. On the other hand, I wouldn’t like to be gifted with his acute hearing, since I would probably have gone stark raving mad listening to the teen hit-parade soundtrack. That devil should be rotting in hell, with Johnson rotting with him. And they could take Jennifer Garner too, in fact the whole cast for good measure. Maybe only Farrell deserves to be left behind on the earth’s surface. In any case, this is a criminal failure at depicting one of the few engaging superheroes who, when approached seriously, darkly and in psychological noir style (hi there, Bendis), he doesn’t even need his action superhero alter ego. (27.03.2008)

For the first half I enjoyed how briskly and insightfully it was filmed. But then I got bored with it and even the great Farrell couldn't save it. The fight scenes have pizzazz, Daredevil's perception was well presented, but the rest wasn't worth much. It needed more action and less posing and pathos. Bullseye had very little space and Affleck doesn’t fit in the role of a super-hero, although he wasn’t that bad. (15.06.2003)

If the rule applied that the better the villain, the better the movie, Daredevil would be the best comic book adaptation. But even Colin Farrell, who thoroughly enjoys his role as Bullseye, cannot save the unremarkable action. On the other hand, I can't say that I was bored, even though Affleck wanted to push me in that direction. Critics of Ben's acting always made me laugh, but here, unfortunately, he truly is a tragic blind hero. In combination with an unexpectedly overly romanticized central storyline and the absence of Daredevil's typical grittiness, this was a missed opportunity, and combined with the Elektra spin-off, it was a perfect blind alley. (13.05.2006)

I don't like Ben Affleck, and comic book adaptations that endlessly variate the decoction of Burton's Batman get on my nerves... that's why I don't really understand why I liked Daredevil so much. Perhaps because the blind hero is a nice guy, Farell is true to tradition excellent, the music is listenable, the choreography standard (albeit chaotic at times) and the atmosphere is decently darkened due to the tragedy at the end of the film. It cannot be overlooked that director Johnson is slightly above-average and does not offer us any great visual feasts, even using the gift of the main hero rather non-inventively. Despite this, Daredevil is a very pleasant and easily digestible film, which, while it cannot compete with the comic book elite, is good enough in its weight category. (06.11.2005)

Daredevil is a relatively entertaining movie with great jokes, but it’s unintentionally comical in the dramatic moments. Colin Farrell is great, Ben Affleck seems bored and Michael Clarke Duncan doesn’t fit in at all. And the action is routine. This is just an average comic-book movie and it’s the first one that made me want the bad guy to kick the main character’s ass, which surely was not what the filmmakers were aiming for. (19.02.2003)