I love TV. I grew up on Nick at Night, Saturday Morning Cartoons, and TGIF. In the last couple decades, I feel like Television shows have been getting better than in previous years but cable shows have been killing it. Shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Sopranos, and Game of Thrones have shown us that cable and premium channels have the best series. Lately Internet services like Netflix and Amazon have stepped up to the plate as well with shows like Orange is the New Black, Alpha House, and House of Cards. I have been given the opportunity to watch the brand new Daredevil series and I took advantage of it. I watched it this last weekend and I want to encourage everyone with a Netflix account to check it out.
I want to give you a brief history of Daredevil before I review this series so you will know where I am coming from. If you wish to see a nice YouTube video on Daredevil’s history, I will put the one made by VariantComics at the end of this review. The commonly accepted history is that as a boy, Matt Murdock was blinded by radioactive chemicals enhancing his other senses. His father is killed by the mob and Matt decides to use his abilities to train in martial arts to become a vigilante to protect his home, Hell’s Kitchen.
The comic was always gritty, serious, and heavily crime oriented. I loved the Daredevil comics as a kid and I was even excited when the movie came out with Ben Affleck. Needless to say that movie was horrendously disappointing, but I didn’t hate it was much as everyone else. When I heard in 2013 that Netflix was making a show, I was really excited about it and I was really hopeful. Marvel has been getting better and better with their movies and haven’t really had a true dud since.
Overall, the Daredevil Netflix series was fantastic. Great acting, well thought out story, beautiful cinematography, and wonderful choreography. Charlie Cox, who I haven’t seen in anything before, was quite good as Matt Murdock. He was believable as both the hero and the man without having to use the “Christopher Nolan Batman Voice”. The standout for me was Vincent D’Onofrio. I have loved him in everything I have seen him in and he doesn’t disappoint. He plays the Kingpin perfectly and there are times where I get so wrapped up in his scenes that I lose my place in the other plot threads. If nothing else, the casting for this series was amazingly well done. As a side note Rosario Dawson and Deborah Ann Woll are great actresses and shine here as well.
I loved the choreography as being more realistic than a lot of the other Superhero shows. Daredevil has always been a hero that took a beating and this show sticks with that very well. Murdock isn’t some invincible martial arts master that never gets touched. He commonly gets the crap beat out of him because he’s just one man. He has enhanced senses and agility but he isn’t Spiderman. He can’t lift a car, fly, or shoot beams out of his ass. He’s just a dedicated dude that can take as much as he can dish out. It’s impossible not to root for him. He’s this wonderful combination of Batman and Rocky Balboa.
If I had to nitpick one thing I didn’t like it would have to be the mask on the red suit. It just looks a bit weird. I don’t know if it’s too small for his face or it’s constantly sliding down but it makes his face look weird. I actually liked the one on Ben Affleck more. Beyond that I liked the Daredevil costume.
As always I am Tim McDonald, your movie watching stunt double. Hit me up on Twitter or Facebook to make suggestions or comments.
History of Daredevil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ISSwDXzv0
