The Daredevil TV series is not the type of show you would want to watch with children. Netflix had the freedom to go darker. It is a show for the kids who grew up with the comics, who are now grown up. Expectations were high. Reviews by geeks on the Internet were favorable.
Charlie Cox (whose only movie I've seen was Stardust) is Matt Merdock, a blind attorney who lost his eyesight as a kid. His story is typical of comic books. I still loved it. Daredevil is one of my favorites as a kid. The Ben Affleck movie was panned years ago, but I kinda liked it too.
This Daredevil adaptation from Netflix is better. There was more time to explore and develop the characters. Foggy, Merdock's friend, keeps it balanced by giving us some good dose of comic relief. And Vincent D'Onofrio -- boy, he's good as Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. The Kingpin).
At first sight, we thought D'Onofrio was not fat enough. That's what I remembered. But from the head up, he was the Kingpin. There is a good deal of depth with his portrayal. I was expecting a more archetypal caricature of a villain. Lately, there aren't any of them. But this version of Kingpin is miles better than the movie. It makes an amazing origin story. The socially awkward but brilliant criminal mind's meteoric rise and fall in this first season makes a compelling story. You may side with Wilson a little here.
Issues:
Charlie Cox (whose only movie I've seen was Stardust) is Matt Merdock, a blind attorney who lost his eyesight as a kid. His story is typical of comic books. I still loved it. Daredevil is one of my favorites as a kid. The Ben Affleck movie was panned years ago, but I kinda liked it too.
This Daredevil adaptation from Netflix is better. There was more time to explore and develop the characters. Foggy, Merdock's friend, keeps it balanced by giving us some good dose of comic relief. And Vincent D'Onofrio -- boy, he's good as Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. The Kingpin).
At first sight, we thought D'Onofrio was not fat enough. That's what I remembered. But from the head up, he was the Kingpin. There is a good deal of depth with his portrayal. I was expecting a more archetypal caricature of a villain. Lately, there aren't any of them. But this version of Kingpin is miles better than the movie. It makes an amazing origin story. The socially awkward but brilliant criminal mind's meteoric rise and fall in this first season makes a compelling story. You may side with Wilson a little here.
Issues:
- Costume - I hated the final costume. I guess the evolution of the costumes from the start is interesting, but I liked Ben Affleck's costume more. Adaptations of comic books lack color. And the horns look a bit too ergonomic, not much like horns. I understand what they wanted, but I want devil horns! Dammit.
- Violence - There is plenty. There was a scene, where the typically calm Wilson Fisk loses it, then violently kills a Russian, by slamming a car door on him. It was gratuitous.
Despite my issues that will not be anything to most fans, the story was tight, the characters were interesting, and the fight scenes were pretty decent. I mean, compared to how fight scenes are choreographed these days, the dark theme was well-utilized to cut corners without being obvious.
No comments:
Post a Comment