Daredevil film review

certificate_15

DAREDEVIL

You don't have to know much about the comic character Daredevil before you go and see this film. In the tradition of most of Marvel creations, he's a young lad afflicted by issues at home who has a nasty encounter with some chemicals which consequently turn him blind. On the upside he also gains superhero senses which allow him to roam the streets of New York knocking out traditional baddies. So far so Spiderman, but the imagination, style and wit of Daredevil far outclass last year's megahit and make it one of the most surprisingly enjoyable films of the New Year.

Ben Affleck dons the leathers in the title role: an attorney by day (with a smashing comedy relationship with law partner Jon Favreau) and vigilante crimefighter by night. While knocking off petty criminals gains him some press attention, he desires anonymity, preferring his own company to any superstar status.

All of this changes when he meets and falls in love with Elektra (the stunning Jennifer Garner). When her father, a Greek tycoon, is killed by the city's notorious Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) she becomes next on his list. However, when Matt is implicated in the murder it seems that he will lose both his love and his privacy.

While the story seems perfunctory enough, writer/director Mark Steven Johnson adds a great deal of depth and style to keep this a pacy and highly enjoyable affair. The jokes come thick and fast, the photography of New York recalls films noirs of the 40s and 50s and the opening sequence has a David Cronenberg feel to it. What's more, you actually become involved in feeling something for the central character (sympathetically played by Affleck).

The film is also remarkable for the knockout, scene-stealing performance by Colin Farrell, as Kingpin's hired assassin Bullseye, a killer who completes his work by throwing things. Not perhaps the best idea you might think, but his ability with darts, peanuts, paper clips and pencils - coupled with some cheesy one-liners - make him the standout character of the film. He's one of the best screen baddies since the height of the Bond series, and finally Farrell shows just why everyone is talking him up as the next big thing.

Daredevil isn't going to change the world, and it does come replete with the now compulsory soft rock soundtrack. But, if it's thrills, laughs and an engaging storyline you are after, then you could do a lot worse.