Daredevil [Director's Cut]

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Ben Affleck called him time spent as the title hero in "Daredevil" a humiliating experience. He didn´t specifically call the character the source of his humiliation, but was quoted in saying "Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn´t want to do again." However, Affleck´s turn as the blind-lawyer-turned-superhero was far from humiliating and the film is only dogged because of the other projects Affleck starred in during the same timeframe; specifically the horrendous films "Gigli" and "Surviving Christmas." I will admit that I was not a fan of "Daredevil" after seeing the neutered theatrical cut, but after revisiting the film via the thirty minute longer ´Director´s Cut,´ I can say that "Daredevil" was at worst an average comic book hero movie.

In an age where the Marvel universe is just exploding and Spider-Man, the Hulk and Iron Man have been reborn as hot franchises in Hollywood and at a time when DC Comics titular Batman crushed nearly all box office records, the comic book is having a renaissance in theaters. "Daredevil" was released during the build-up of this successful bubble and hit theaters in 2003, a year after "Spider-Man" made the comic book super hero en vogue. Writer/Director Mark Steven Johnson had intended to make "Daredevil" a darker film and more grounded in reality. However, the lure of a larger audience and higher grosses let to a large number of cuts and "Daredevil" was released as a shorter PG-13 film that is far less epic and not as gritty as the original screenplay and direction had taken the story and its lead character.

"Daredevil" is about Matt Murdock (Affleck), a blind lawyer who lost his sight during his childhood when his father Jack Murdock (David Keith) is seen being a tough guy and an accident causes radioactive material to be thrown into Matt´s face. When Jack amends his mistake by returning to the ring, he grows a stronger bond with his blind son, but Jack is killed for refusing to throw a fight. As an adult, Matt becomes a crime fighter who uses his heightened senses and ability to see through sound as tools to bring down those that outside of justice. Daredevil is viewed as a vindictive vigilante and the general public has difficulty in separating his intentions from those of the villains. The result of Murdock´s years as his alter ego is a heavily scarred body and an in-ability to become involved romantically with anyone or fully separate himself from his night job as superhero.

Eventually, Murdock becomes romantically interested in Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), the daughter of billionaire Nikolas Natchios (Erick Avari). Natchios is a business partner of Wilson Fisk (Michael Clark Duncan), who is viewed by the public as a very rich and successful businessman, but is in fact the Kingpin; a man who runs all of the organized crime in New York City. Natchios decides he no longer wants to be part of the Kingpin´s organization and outlines his plan to retire. The Kingpin is not willing to let his old friend walk away alive and Natchios is murdered. However, the Kingpin is known to murder a man and his entire family and a professional killer known as Bullseye (Colin Farrell) is called in to handle the dirty work. When Bullseye murders Elektra´s father, the appearance is given that Daredevil was the guilty party and Elektra unknowingly becomes pitted against the man that has captured her heart.

The film continues with Elektra and Bullseye both seeking to destroy Daredevil, but Bullseye´s primary objective being to kill the entire Natchios family. Daredevil had only been trying to protect Elektra and her father and must convince Elektra of his innocence while trying to protect her from the Kingpin´s killer. While this goes on, Murdock must keep up his front as a lawyer and help his partner Foggy Nelson (Jon Favreau) with their daily business while collecting fish and other unusual methods of payment as they defend the innocent of Hell´s Kitchen. Murdock must also keep his identity secret from prying investigator Ben Urich (Joe Pantoliano) while he attempts to discover the identity of the man who killed his father, the Kingpin. Kevin Smith, Stan Lee and Frank Miller have small cameos in the film.

The new ´Director´s Cut´ is a grittier and harsher experience that adds some key elements to the film. The largest inclusion into the new thirty minutes of footage is the subplot involving the trial of Dante Jackson (Coolio), a young African-American male who has been framed for murder. While the plot is not advanced by this subplot, it does flesh out the difficulty that Matt Murdoch has in balancing his everyday life with that of being the Daredevil. Coolio shines in this role and Jon Favreau is given a great deal more screen time and importance in this subplot. A little more violence is added to the film with the Kingpin particularly more evil. The fights are longer and more violent as well. Colin Farrell´s Bullseye is given a little more humor as he is shown trying to get through a metal detector and an F-Bomb makes one of the film´s cornier lines now a funny moment. Two notable deletions in this cut is the love scene between the lead characters and the scene of confession.

I enjoyed watching "Daredevil: Director´s Cut." The theatrical release didn´t leave me with a foul taste in my mouth, but it was far from impressing. This second version of the film corrects some of the shortcomings I had remembered and perhaps my couple years before revisiting the film had me prepared to enjoy the film just a little bit more. It has some very nice action scenes and a formidable cast. There is enough character background to aid those not familiar with the Marvel Universe and the story behind Matt Murdock and I felt the pacing and tone was similar to Tim Burton´s "Batman," although "Daredevil" is clearly the inferior film between the two. This is a fun romp and its lengthy running time of over two hours never felt long. In fact, I felt this film passed along smoother than the theatrical release.

"Daredevil" is an entertaining comic book adaptation that strives to be as dark and brooding as the better "Batman" films, but the theatrical release was too edited and forced into a PG-13 rating to be as effective as it could have been, which is proven by the Director´s Cut release of the film. It can´t hold a candle to films such as "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," "Spider-Man" or "Iron Man." It is roughly on par with the "Hulk" films and has a little more character and story than anything starring the big green brute. Some may complain about my comparing Marvel to DC Comics, but the "Batman" films would serve as an excellent blueprint if they attempt to reboot the "Daredevil" franchise. The actors do a fine job in the film and this is one of Affleck´s better performances. Michael Clark Duncan is wonderful and brutish as the Kingpin. The film has been often shed in negative light because of those ´other´ films starring Ben Affleck during a similar timeframe and it deserves perhaps a little more respect.

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