Suvudu Universe

After the recent headlines, and subsequent internet vitriol, regarding Ben Affleck being cast as the new Batman for Zach Snyder's Superman sequel, I decided to review the movie Daredevil and give it, and Affleck, a fair shake.

It's just not a good movie, but Affleck really did the best to carry it as far as he could.

Basically, 3/4th of the way through the movie, I started writing this review instead of focusing on the rest of the movie. It's still playing in the background, but there are just too many things I needed to write down.

What bothers me most are the following points:

1. Boring and Pointless Action Sequences.

Familiarity with Hong Kong style action scenes as well as classic fight scenes from James Bond (From Russia With Love, Casino Royal) and the Rocky movies, have taught me that fight scenes in movies should be designed to tell a story, or reveal character points that could impact the plot.

The fight scenes in this movie are cold. Stylistically, the action scenes lack heart, passion, and even reason. The randomness of the camera movements create a distance from the violence and intensity that the actors are desperately trying to convey.

Further, absurd action scenes like Matt Murdock fighting Elektra in the middle of a children's playground distract from the characters and plot. Even so, the scene itself could have been used to develop the growing respect between them, as well as the spark of mutual attraction. There were a couple of seconds where you could see that it was an idea, but those flashes were buried in inconsequential acrobatics. So, this potentially fun and engrossing scene comes across as light fare and silly, with only lip service to the passion that was starting to build before the fight comes to an end.

The final battle between Daredevil and Bullseye also misses the point and opportunity to show a battle to the death between two borderline psychotics in costume, in a church.

2. Overall Tone

The directing and cinematography choices serve to distance the audience from the characters instead of letting us get inside the intense world that Daredevil inhabits. This is a world of corruption, waste and decay. We are allowed glimpses, but the characters, again, only play lip service to their situations. The clients that Murdock represents provide the closest glimpses, but there isn't enough to see that the corruption of the neighborhood is as bad as Murdock seems to think it is.

As throughout this movie, there are glimpses of brilliance, like the use of the radar and how Murdock/Daredevil actually sees. However, it also feels as though the director is quietly laughing with himself because he doesn't believe in the characters. There is a silliness to the scope of the movie, where it appears to be too much for the story that's being told. Remember, Daredevil was the vengeful guardian of a neighborhood of New York, not the whole city.

Definitely a missed opportunity. This also leads us to the following:

3. Emotional Investment

There is a lack of emotional attachment and investment in what the characters are going through. Elektra's situation offers the closest to an emotional core, but we are left wondering why Matt Murdock/Daredevil feels the need to use such drastic measures to provide his view of justice in this decaying world. He left a criminal to die, but why does he feel the need to do so?

For the best part of this movie, I've been asking myself "Why should I care?" Without that heart, everything else feels thin.

4. Actors

The casting for this movie is amazing. I've rarely seen a collection of this quality of actors together try to carry a movie that doesn't have a central heart to help them through it.

Colin Farrell is almost perfect as the half-cocked and unhinged Bullseye. Michael Clark Duncan was also an inspired choice for Kingpin and probably could have provided another level of sinister evil, if provided the material. Jon Favreau is awesome as Murdock's best friend and law partner, Freddy. Jennifer Garner was also an excellent choice and there are moments of depth of character that she was providing the director, but either due to script or editing choices, were cut short, or just given minimal follow-up.

Ben Affleck added a lot of nuance to this role, even without the emotional anchor of vengeance and overall hatred against any organized crime. The little details of living as a blind person was brilliant, and the chemistry that he had with Jennifer and Jon showed the promise of what could have been a strong character driven movie.

CONCLUSION:

Affleck was an excellent choice. Unfortunately, his efforts were undermined by script, directing, and overall tone.

Blaming Affleck for this less than stellar contribution to the Marvel movie universe is a disservice to movie fans and fans of the comic. Hopefully, Marvel has already figured out what went wrong and prepares the planned reboot with more care.

I can definitely see Affleck as a dark Batman, providing the script and writing quality are there for him. Considering his recent experience writing and directing great movies, I'm sure he has the wherewithal to speak up if it doesn't meet muster.