directed by Phil Abraham and various
written by Drew Goddard, Steven De Knight and various
When I heard that Marvel Studios had reacquired the film rights to "Daredevil" from Twentieth Century Fox, I was overjoyed, though I wasn't particularly thrilled when, after Marvel spent a year or so trying to figure out what to do with the property, they decided to make it into a television series, which would only be available via download from Netflix.
Having finally seen the thirteen episodes of season 1, however, I realize that the television format was one of the best possible things that could have happened to this character.
Daredevil is the story of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) a young lawyer from Hell's Kitchen who was blinded as a boy by toxic waste but left with the extraordinary enhancement of his remaining four senses. By day, Matt seeks to defend the oppressed with his fellow graduate of Columbia University, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson). By night, however, Matt dons a black mask and, using a truly formidable set of martial arts skills, wages war against organized crime in the Kitchen, much to the concern of the local crime leaders like Leland Owlsley (Bob Gunton) Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho), Nobu (Peter Shinkoda), the Ranskahov Brothers Vladimir (Nikolai Nikolaeff) and Anatoly (Gideon Emery), and the leader of them all, the enigmatic Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) who, for much of the first few episodes, is present only through his consigliere Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore). Murdock's self-imposed mission to dismantle crime in Hell's Kitchen has him busting up human trafficking and drug running operations, but what he doesn't realize is that Fisk's grand plan is bigger, and more destructive, than even the heinous crime already polluting the city. Taking Fisk down won't be an easy task, considering he has almost all of the police and judiciary in his pocket but Matt has a few allies, such as Foggy, the plucky Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), grizzled journalist Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall), and his mysterious blind mentor Stick (Scott Glenn), who may yet tip the balance in his favor.
After Mark Steven Johnson's disastrous "Daredevil" feature film starring Ben Affleck back in 2003 nearly ruined the character for non-comic book fans, I am happy to declare that this series has done for DD what Batman Begins managed to do for Batman after Joel Schumacher killed the franchise. More than simply bring the character back to life, albeit on a smaller screen, this series has imbued him and his world with the respectability and gravitas that his printed adventures have long warranted. Integrating the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is clear from the constant references to the climactic New York battle of The Avengers) has also helped ensure that this character is firmly anchored on an established narrative bedrock.
While showrunners Steven DeKnight and Drew Goddard take full advantage of the format to truly flesh out Matt's character, drawing from his truly rich history in the comic books, they quite cannily spread the snippets of his past throughout the series. The very first scene in the series shows the aftermath of the accident in which Matt loses his sight. It is an act of heroism, namely pushing an old man out of the way of a truck transporting toxic waste, that results in both Matt's disability and enhancement, but it is some hard, unrelenting training from a gruff, unforgiving old man that sharpens Murdock into a living weapon, and years of difficult experience involving pain and loss that ultimately spur him on to seek justice with his fists. All of this plays out in a brilliant parallel to the current goings-on of the series, and even as the audience sees Matt's decidedly unorthodox lifestyle unfold, we are made to understand why he does the things he does.
Daredevil has always been a particularly unique hero; he's the only one constantly conflicted by what he does. After all, seeking out and beating up criminals is not exactly consistent with Matt's duties as an officer of the court, and breaking criminals' bones is not exactly the turning of the other cheek that Matt's religion, Roman Catholicism, prescribes, and judging by the fact that the adult Matt's very first scene is in a confessional, and the fact that he spends several other episodes talking to a priest (Peter McRobbie) about his doubt and guilt, he is keenly aware of this. Cox, Goddard, De Knight, and their team of writers and directors clearly understand that this is one of the central aspects of the character, and their ability to convey this convincingly is as crucial to their success as the astonishingly choreographed martial arts put on display during most of the thirteen-episode season.
Special mention must go out to the actors for really immersing themselves in these roles. British actor Cox doesn't just acquit himself well as Murdock/Daredevil, he completely owns the role, and, if the online buzz is to be believed, he has guaranteed for himself a position of greatness in the hearts of fanboys everywhere along with the likes of fellow Brits-turned-comic-book-icons Andrew Lincoln and Christian Bale. He says the fact that he is, himself, a Catholic has helped him connect with Daredevil's inner struggle, but whatever his inner convictions, his ability to inhabit the character is vividly played out on the screen.
Of course, a comic book hero needs a truly formidable villain to define him, and Vincent D'Onofrio suits the role of Wilson Fisk to an absolute "t." This is no mean feat, considering that the Kingpin of Crime is nearly as iconic a character in the Marvel pantheon as old Hornhead himself (and arguably even more so, considering that he was originally created as a Spider-Man villain). Apart from shaving his head and putting on the considerable heft associated with the character, D'Onofrio creates a unique voice for Fisk, both physically and emotionally that captures the character's larger-than-life nature, though with his bald head he vaguely channels memories of his role as Private Pyle in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. D'Onofrio's triumph is that he manages to convey, in equal measure, Fisk's humanity and his utter repulsiveness. One can see where he's coming from and therefore empathize with him to an extent but can still also hate him to his core.
The good news is that, as strong as these actors are, they still receive able support from the rest of the cast. Elden Henson is particularly capable as Foggy Nelson, considering that he must not only serve as the constant comic relief throughout the series but must shift dramatic gears considerably later in the season. After all, as I said in one of my many reviews of the ongoing Daredevil comic book series, Foggy Nelson is Daredevil's oldest living supporting character and is, to Matthew Murdock, what Aunt May is to Peter Parker. In short, Henson has a lot to live up to, and while I wasn't always fond of the pseudo-hipster vibe Henson gives off with his long hair and line delivery, I think he did a commendable job with a character who could have been pure camp. Henson certainly isn't operating on the level of Cox or D'Onofrio, but he definitely keeps up with them. Deborah Ann Woll, last seen slinking onto the screen in True Blood, has a slightly different take on the character than I was expecting to see upon her introduction, but considering what she ends up doing in the comic books it seems the show's writers are keen on taking her in some interesting directions fairly early. They basically have the Silver Age "damsel in distress" bit play out in the first episode, after which it's a whole new ballgame. It was amusing to see their take on the Matt-Foggy-Karen love triangle, though Matt (for now) is mostly left out of it, as his romantic attentions are focused largely on the MCU's version of the Night Nurse, Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson). Though fans of the comic may be disappointed that sparks don't fly between Matt and Karen right away, I suspect the writers are saving that bit for later seasons, along with a lot of other goodies.
Apart from getting the main character and his supporting players right, though, this show deserves credit for taking some pretty daunting risks. In an era where the film editor is equally, if not more important to the presentation of a fight scene than the choreographers and actors, this show actually featured a fight scene between Matt and multiple opponents that lasted for three minutes, with next to no cuts, though there was the occasional (and very rare) wipe. I'm almost certain they would not have been able to pull off a sequence like that in a feature film considering that, as impressive as the fist fights in Captain America: The Winter Soldier were, they still suffered from quite a bit of the too-quickly-cut-to-see malaise that has been en vogue since Matt Damon started kicking everyone's ass as Jason Bourne at the beginning of this millennium. It's quite an impressive sequence all on its own, though other episodes feature more "conventional" fight scenes. Still, Matt gets hurt, and bleeds, unlike many of today's scratch-proof heroes. That's another refreshing change, really.
Finally, what really has me excited about the prospect of a second season is the knowledge that there is still so much more possibility in terms of the stories that can be told. Only passing mention was made of Elektra, the Greek assassin who was Matt's first great love, and that's surely something they could explore later on. Also, hints are dropped as to the existence of the ninja clan the Hand. Considering that one Japanese mosbster gave Matt a really hard time, a whole clan of ninja might make for some really spectacular season-long fireworks. Finally, there is plenty of room to tell arguably one of the greatest Daredevil stories of all time: Born Again.
Unfortunately, that second season is over a year away, but the good news is that all thirteen episodes of this small screen epic are quite eminently re-watchable, and to anyone who may have been disappointed with the box-office behemoth that is Avengers: Age of Ultron and is looking for something different from Marvel, I humbly suggest you grab yourself a copy of this.
10/10 (Yes, in my honest opinion the show is THAT good).
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