My comment relates to the Director's Cut which is very much a different movie than the Theatrical Cut. But even this version doesn't make it a great movie. The story is actually not bad but let's address the elephant in the room - casting. Ben Affleck was somewhat in the upper echelon of Hollywood around the time but he does not carry this charachter. While his Matt Murdock is somewhat OK his Daredevil is plain and simply bad. His attempt at making him darker by speaking in a deep voice is futile. And there isn't much more. He just isn't convincing. But the miscastings didn't stop with him. Jennifer Garner - I loved her in Alias and was a big fan of her around that time. Playing Sydney Bristow should have given her some edge in the action department but she seems to be struggling here as Elektra. And you can't help but think it was Afleck who got her the job (althought their relationship began later). Again, not a convincing portrayal. And speaking of romance - I know it's part of the Daredevil story but I don't think it was a good idea to incorporate it in the first movie. In any case it was done in an awful way. Colin Farrell - here we have the case of a hero just being as good as your villain. And how good can your hero be when your villain is simply ridicolous? Farrell overplayed the part. Maybe this is how Bullseye is in the comics, I don't know. But for a casual viewer this villain becomes a joke. The only two parts I liked are Favreau, who is funny no matter what he does, and Clarke Duncan who is an imposing figure. So your three main characters are bad, there isn't a story in the world that can save this. Plus I felt no emotional attachment. I didn't feel Matt's pain, his struggles. When Elektra was killed, which should be a key scene, it left me cold. On top of all of that the movie didn't age well. In parts it looks older than it actually is. The curse of early CGI. This is one case where I am completely on board with a 55 % rating for the movie. I give it 6 but at least 1 or 2 points are for effort.
Review by FinFanBlockedParent2019-06-21T17:43:20Z
My comment relates to the Director's Cut which is very much a different movie than the Theatrical Cut. But even this version doesn't make it a great movie. The story is actually not bad but let's address the elephant in the room - casting.
Ben Affleck was somewhat in the upper echelon of Hollywood around the time but he does not carry this charachter. While his Matt Murdock is somewhat OK his Daredevil is plain and simply bad. His attempt at making him darker by speaking in a deep voice is futile. And there isn't much more. He just isn't convincing. But the miscastings didn't stop with him.
Jennifer Garner - I loved her in Alias and was a big fan of her around that time. Playing Sydney Bristow should have given her some edge in the action department but she seems to be struggling here as Elektra. And you can't help but think it was Afleck who got her the job (althought their relationship began later). Again, not a convincing portrayal. And speaking of romance - I know it's part of the Daredevil story but I don't think it was a good idea to incorporate it in the first movie. In any case it was done in an awful way.
Colin Farrell - here we have the case of a hero just being as good as your villain. And how good can your hero be when your villain is simply ridicolous? Farrell overplayed the part. Maybe this is how Bullseye is in the comics, I don't know. But for a casual viewer this villain becomes a joke. The only two parts I liked are Favreau, who is funny no matter what he does, and Clarke Duncan who is an imposing figure.
So your three main characters are bad, there isn't a story in the world that can save this. Plus I felt no emotional attachment. I didn't feel Matt's pain, his struggles. When Elektra was killed, which should be a key scene, it left me cold.
On top of all of that the movie didn't age well. In parts it looks older than it actually is. The curse of early CGI.
This is one case where I am completely on board with a 55 % rating for the movie. I give it 6 but at least 1 or 2 points are for effort.