Travis is four beers into the night and has decided to write about the 2003 Daredevil movie. Affleck smiles down upon him and upon us all.

On the last MacGuffin Men podcast that I attended, I (perhaps foolishly) defended the Daredevil movie against those that would lump it in with the likes of Ghost Rider and Howard the Duck. Since this is a film that gets trashed by so many people, I thought that writing a long-form defence of the film would have been a case of biting off more than I could chew.

Rather than subject myself to what have could ended up being several tortuous viewings (my memory of Daredevil was not entirely clear), I’ve decided to use the popular live-blog format for this movie in the hopes that it will be more entertaining for the reader than a holistic analysis would be. I will try my best to look at the film with fresh eyes, and hope that the booze doesn’t run out before the film ends.

Like any sensible moviegoer, Matt Murdock hates 3D.

00:00:00 – The DVD menu screen is terrible, although this is a trend I’m finding more and more with older DVDs. A lot of weird mugging shots of actors from terrible character posters zooming in and out. Note that this is the Director’s Cut of the film (which actually alters the pace of the thing quite a bit), so I can only assume that this is the Director’s original vision for the DVD menu. It’s play-movie time.

00:00:08 – Ah crap, I just realized that this is two hours.

00:01:20 – Lights in the CGI-NYC turn into Braille text, which then transform into credits. Good early emphasis on DD’s handicap, an explanation for which I assume we will be treated to shortly.

00:02:00 – As the credits end, we see flashes of the film to come as the camera pans up towards Ben Affleck perched atop a cathedral, clutching a cross – as per Kevin Smiths’ run on the comic book. I’m actually kind of impressed at the look of the backgrounds for NYC at night.

00:05:00 – Daredevil caught a lot of crap about Ben Affleck’s red-leather costume. In my opinion, his Thriller costume looks a lot more reasonable than Spider-Man’s shiny outfits in the Sam Raimi films. The framing sequence works nicely too.

00:06:31 – Jack Murdoch and Joey Pants are unsung heroes of this film. It is these character actors who really sell the concept of the world around Daredevil, and the circumstances that cause him to take up the mantle of the red Thriller jacket. His boxer dad under the thumb of the mob, making his son swear that he’ll never fight in the streets – Jack is more of a presence in this film and in the comics than Bruce Wayne’s parents (until Batman Begins). David Keith is spectacular in the role.

00:08:59 – Would it kill them to get this kid some red hair dye that doesn’t look awful?

My dad who is a boxer dyed my hair.

00:10:00 – Now we’re in the blind-zone. Screen goes black, sound FX are turned up super loud. Superman was born with powers and Peter Parker’s transformation was mostly pleasant – but Matt has to endure a whole new way of perceiving the world while he’s hospitalized. While it would be insulting to disabled people (some of which endure years of rehabilitation and PT) to say that this is an accurate representation of that experience, the ‘sonar vision’ that Mark Steven-Johnston has created works well to convey Matt’s new abilities onscreen. Portraying sound as flashes of light allows us a brief glimpse of images in the surrounding area crashing into one another. He hasn’t quite figured out how to separate these events in a coherent way yet.

00:12:28 – I’m glad that superhero movies mostly grew out of using terrible emo songs as lynchpins to their soundtracks. I’m bracing myself for Evanescence now. Dammit dammit dammit.

00:13:00 – “We made each other a silent promise to never give up, to be fearless… we were two fighters on the comeback trail.” Cheesy as it is, I think the line really works.

00:14:42 – It is really bothering me who the lead bully kid is. I’ve seen him before, and IMDB is giving me nothing! Either way I wanna punch him in the dick.

00:15:00 – This is the movie with the greatest number of creator cameos, spoken or otherwise. “You really think you won those fights? Miller? Mack? Bendis?” Seriously, there are no names mentioned in this film that aren’t major characters in the comics, or those of creators that work for Marvel Comics. Even Kevin Smith’s part is credited as ‘Jack Kirby, Forensic Assistant.’ I wonder if Jack would’ve done as many cameos as Stan Lee if he were alive.

00:18:15 – Boxing scenes look surprisingly good to me. I haven’t seen many boxing movies, so I’m not sure what the standard is. “This one is for you Matty.”

00:19:00 – While Bruce Wayne’s parents and Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben were taken from them by chance, Daredevil’s father was murdered for standing up for himself. Jack Murdock essentially chooses to die rather than work for those that would prey on him, even though he has a child to support. The comics (and I think in the film to an extent) illustrates the appeal of Daredevil as he’s been portrayed in the last 30 years. These are good Irish catholic boys that act and think in extremes, often in contradiction to themselves. Matt Murdock is a compelling and unique hero, but it’s easy to see why he does not have a large supporting cast, as I imagine this would be difficult to be around.

00:21:20 – Holy crap zoom in and hold on the Virgin Mary. Matt gets out of his steel vampire coffin. Not sure why it has to have so much water in it – wouldn’t he get sick a lot? Maybe the water is warm, or the radioactive isotopes enhanced his immune system.

00:22:00 – Crank the awful new-rock music in his apartment. Folding money according to denomination is a neat trick. Do blind people actually do this? Research team – GO [for free]!

00:23:00 – Add Jon Favreau and Paul Ben-Victor to the wonderful cast in a shitty basement courtroom (which is refreshing from the traditional old courthouse rooms we see in every other film).

00:24:00 – Please sign my petition against suiting-up montages.

00:26:00 – And weird biker bars that people can drag race into/out-of. This is not a real place in the world – this is a bar imagined by suburban moms. Unfortunately, these are the parts that people remember about this movie. And it just goes on forever, too.

00:30:00 – Subway tunnels use the same type of green lights as the courtroom. (Observation: COURTS ARE AS MEAN AS THE STREETS.)

00:32:00 – Enter: Joe Pantoliano AND THE GIANT FLAMING DD (FOR DAREDEVIL) WHICH PROBABLY TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT. He flicks a cigarette butt onto the subway platform which lights up a giant Daredevil insignia for some reason.

"I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore."

00:34:00 – Revelation: Matt is on a whole medicine cabinet of antidepressants, presumably to block out the sounds of people in danger. He hears a woman dying of a gunshot wound and decides to go to sleep, looking exhausted and hurt. This scene reminded me of Superman Returns when the Man of Steel floats above the Earth listening to an endless series of disasters, forced to choose among them. Murdock’s limitations are human, making the dilemma hit a little bit closer to home. Matt can never be satisfied with his work at night.

00:38:00 – Foggy talks about the “moral vacuum” they were taught about in law school (Would “moral relativism” be a better way to put it?), that enables them to get their job done without compromising themselves ethically. This is a very grounded perspective handed to a character that spends almost no time on it. Although to be fair, Foggy did not experience a woman dying next to him in the previous scene.

00:40:00 – Enter Jennifer Garner with weird contact lenses and more terrible music. Daredevil was always the horniest of the superheroes, and I mean that sincerely. While Batman’s creators have always gone back-and-forth on how much of his sexuality was appropriate to display on the page, there has never been any doubt about whose bed Daredevil’s boots have been under – Answer: EVERYWHERE.

00:42:00 – The playground fight scene between Matt and Elektra deserves every bit of criticism levelled against it. It does nothing for their relationship that something less flamboyant couldn’t have. Of everything so far, this is the only thing to really pull me out of the film. I am more aware than I ever have been that I am watching movie stars on a poorly constructed set. Also, after some re-reading, Jennifer Garner’s Elektra shares not a single personality trait with her pulp and paper counterpart.

"Every day I come by your house and I pick you up. And we go out. We have a few drinks, and a few laughs, and it's great. But you know what the best part of my day is? For about ten seconds, from when I pull up to the curb and when I get to your door, 'cause I think, maybe I'll get up there and I'll knock on the door and you won't be there."

[Sober edit: I realize that this position could be contested on the grounds that superhero films NEED to be more operatic, with larger than life physical conflicts acting as wild metaphors for their passion and sexuality. I am a person that believes that Batman & Robin and Batman Forever pull this sort of pseudo-Broadway act off, but Daredevil absolutely does not due to tonal inconsistency. If they wanted to do a singing-dancing or Bollywood Daredevil, I am all for it, but unfortunately this film for the most part wants to be a noir-action piece. Rightfully so, as the source material directly reflects that in a more convincing way. In short, if you’re going to do camp, go all out or there is no point.]

00:45:00 – Kingpin in the HOOOUSE! I think this is the first example of a character getting cast against their racial type in a Holywood movie, leading to rumours of Will Smith as Captain America (true story) and Donald Glover as Spider-Man (may that dream rest in peace). And – as ridiculous as it is that the Kingpin kills two of his bodyguards indiscriminately – it happens in the comics more than a few times.

[News Update: Recently it was announced that Lawrence Fishburne would be cast as Perry White, the traditionally white (and in my opinion, often boring) editor of the Daily Planet, in Zack Snyder’s new Superman epic The Man of Steel (to be released maybe never). As well, the new ‘Ultimate’ (Read: Alternate Universe) Spider-Man would be written as a half-black/half-hispanic teen named Miles Morales. Politics aside (The MacGuffin Men is a freedom-hating liberal smut rag), Michael Clarke Duncan’s presence in Daredevil brought a very welcome bit of personality to the whole affair. Fishburne’s track record suggests that he will be in a similar situation.]

00:48:00 – Coolio’s scenes were unfortunately taken out of the Theatrical cut. Although I’m generally all-for a director sharing their original vision with the world, we don’t learn much new about the main characters from these scenes. I suppose it is further proof that they are lawyers, for viewers that were skeptical.

00:50:00 – Enter Bullseye, played by master thespian Colin Farell. There are officially too many people in this movie. Maybe part of the film’s critical failure was the attempt to fit too many stories into a two-hour feature. You could easily make three significantly better Daredevil movies out of everything that goes on here – Matt and his Dad, Matt and Elektra, Matt and Kingpin, Matt and Bullseye, Matt and the reporter Ben Urich… This is a tightly packed film that almost collapses under its own weight, a-la Spider-Man 3.

00:51:00 – And yeah, Bullseye is goofy as all-hell, but it kinda works. He’s got a good crazy-eye (See: Horrible Bosses), and I kind of like a villain with a bit of levity once in a while, since Matt Murdock is so severe for the duration. His ridiculous wardrobe/attitude/facial-hair really sells his narcissism in a way that I think modern superhero films are generally scared to do.

00:55:00 – Oh shit… the girl Matt heard dying (before he entered his dracula-coffin/cryo-chamber) was supposedly killed by Coolio (Coolio NOOOOOOO!!!). Favreau continues to be a pitch-perfect Foggy Nelson.

00:57:00 – Bullseye versus old ladies on a plane. This guy will kill anyone while listening to terrible music. I honestly don’t know why this actor wasn’t considered a huge comic star early on. I don’t mean that in an ironic way – he’s got great comedic timing. [Sober edit: Probably need more proof.]

00:57:45 – Coolio’s name is Dante Jackson, which is the same way comic book writers name their characters: horribly. And Matt feigning his disability for sympathy in a courtroom is a nice touch.

1:01:50 – Rain falling on Elektra’s face in ‘sonar vision’ is one of the few moments of this romance that kind of works. The FX look a bit dated, but a very solid idea is there in which a (sort of?) blind-man sees a detailed image of this woman for the first time. Although these two MOVIE STARS eventually got married, it is a very different kind of chemistry than Matt and Elektra had in various comic book iterations. [Sober edit: Less adversarial.]

01:04:30 – This may have been the alley in which Catwoman received her powers. Maybe I’ll do a live-blog of Catwoman, which I have never watched ever.

Tune in next time for the epic conclusion of Travis’ live-blog of the Daredevil movie, with a summary of his thoughts on this film. It may just be coherent to read enough to the end and leave some hate-mail. Check back on Monday, true believers.