Daredevil (film)

Daredevil is a 2003 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil. Jennifer Garner plays his love interest Elektra Natchios, Colin Farrell plays the perfectly-aimed assassin Bullseye and Michael Clarke Duncan plays Wilson Fisk, also known as the crime lord Kingpin.

The film began development in 1997 at 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures, before New Regency acquired the rights in 2000. Johnson wrote the screenplay and pushed Avi Arad to be able to direct it as well. He chose to shoot the film primarily in Downtown Los Angeles despite the Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan setting of the film and the comics. Rhythm and Hues Studios were hired to handle CGI, and sound was done by Supervising Sound Editor John Larsen and Sound Designer Steve Boeddeker. The fight scenes were staged by Hong Kong action film duo Cheung-Yan Yuen (action director) and Daxing Zhang (fight coordinator). Varèse Sarabande released the score for Daredevil, composed by Graeme Revell.

Reviews for Daredevil were generally mixed or average, but did well enough to allow a spin-off film, Elektra, which was released in 2005. A vastly-different, R-rated director's cut of the film was released in 2005, including about 30 minutes of scenes cut at the last minute from the theatrical release.

Plot

The film begins in in medias res with Daredevil clutching a cross at the top of a church, bleeding. He begins to make his way inside the church, to escape from the police spotlights. He is too injured to continue and collapses. The priest of the church comes along, holds a candle to his face, calling his proper name. Matthew Murdock then tells the story of his life as it flashes before his eyes.

As a child, Matt often got into fights with the local bullies. His father, Jack, a washed-up boxer, demanded he never fight back, for fear that Matt wouldn't amount to anything, instead insisting he study and become a doctor or a lawyer. Together they lived alone, albeit happily. One day, Matt saw Jack beating up a stranger, proving that he was operating as an enforcer for the local mob boss, Fallon, despite promising Matt that he never would. A devastated Matt ran away, blindly stumbling into the path of a forklift. Swerving to avoid him at the last second, the forklift smashed into radioactive biohazard chemicals that spilled into Matt's eyes, blinding him. He cannot see, but his other four senses obtained superhuman sharpness, and he learned to perceive his surroundings by human echolocation. Blaming himself for his son's condition, Jack returned to professional boxing to regain his dignity; he was later murdered by Fallon for refusing to throw a fight. Wilson Fisk, the man who would later be the crime don known as Kingpin, gave the final death blow to Jack. Matt promised to fight evil and avenge his father.

Years later, Murdock works as an attorney in Hell's Kitchen by day, becoming at night the vigilante known as Daredevil. As a lawyer, Matt seeks to always defend those who are innocent of any crime, spurning all other clients despite the insistence of his partner Foggy that such behaviour puts their business at extreme financial risk. As Daredevil, Matt seeks out and punishes those who escape conviction in the courtroom under false pretenses. He fights crime in solitude, until he meets the martial artist Elektra Natchios. Murdock becomes infatuated with Elektra and courts her. She, eventually, comes to reciprocate his emotions. In the meantime, reporter Ben Urich, who has been investigating Daredevil, finds a clue that reveals Murdock as the vigilante.

After Elektra's father is killed by the Kingpin's assassin Bullseye, she believes the murderer to be Daredevil. Armed with two sais, she locates him and attacks, beating the reluctant Daredevil by stabbing a Sai into his left shoulder. She removes Daredevil's mask, revealing his true face; before explanations can be made, Bullseye attacks. A short battle ensues, ending when Bullseye kills Elektra with her own sai. Daredevil, severely wounded, sets out for the church where he collapsed at the beginning of the film. The church itself is Daredevil's sanctuary, concealed by Father Stevens, the priest shown at the opening, who is Matthew's guide and mentor. Bullseye tracks him down and they fight, with Daredevil defeating Bullseye by throwing him through the church window, where he lands on a car.

Daredevil then goes to Fiskcorp to fight Kingpin, beating him in single combat. Here it is revealed that the Kingpin's obesity is an illusion, created by a rotund stomach and the partial concealment of heavily muscled limbs. At one point in the fight, Kingpin gains the upper hand; unable to locate him, Daredevil breaks a water-pipe, causing the water to drench and thereby outline his enemy. He gains the information by which to strike Kingpin down. Matt had earlier used this method to gain a visual image of Elektra's face, which he believed to be very beautiful. Daredevil finally knocks Kingpin down by sliding between his legs and kicking his knees resulting in both of his legs being broken.

Daredevil spares the Kingpin after revealing his secret identity as Matt Murdock. The Kingpin promises him that he will be released from prison eventually and that Daredevil's secret won't be safe. Matt accepts this, choosing to meet the challenge when it comes. When Kingpin threatens to reveal Murdock's identity to the underworld, Murdock counters that if he did, the Kingpin would fall into disgrace for having lost a fight to a blind man.

Throughout the film, Murdock deals with the moral implications of being a vigilante, and tries to prove that he is not a villain. His decision to spare Kingpin is a means of proving the latter to himself, on the grounds that a villain would have killed his opponent. In the last moments of the film Murdock finds a good luck charm that is similar to the one Elektra showed him, suggesting that she may still be alive. The film ends with Ben Urich, who realizes that a man like Daredevil is needed, deciding at the last moment to delete the article he had composed, and even encouraging Murdock to carry on with his fight.

Cast

• Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock / Daredevil: An attorney-at-law with a disability. He was blinded as a youth in a radioactive accident that also drastically heightened his remaining senses and gave him a "radar-sense", which allowed him to perceive his surroundings. After this, he makes a silent promise with his father to "stick up for the long shots". His father is killed not long after and at that moment, he vows to seeks justice by any means. At night, Matt becomes Daredevil, and takes justice into his hands. Affleck was cast in October 2001. Vin Diesel was considered to portray Daredevil before him, but he opted to take a role from another film.^[1] Colin Farrell was also considered until Affleck signed.^[2] As a fan, Affleck made sure he had read every single issue of Daredevil, commenting that it was about taking what he knew as a fan and faithfully getting it on the screen. Joe Quesada considered it "serendipity in action" that Affleck is the lead role, as when he and Kevin Smith did the Guardian Devil series, they had modelled it on Affleck.^[3] Affleck said Daredevil was his favourite comic book as a kid,^[4] and explained why he took the role by saying "Everybody has that one thing from childhood that they remember and that sticks with them. This story was that for me."^[5] He also stated another reason, being "I didn't want someone else to do it, because I was afraid that they would go out and do it different from the comic and screw it up."^[6]
  • Scott Terra as Young Matt Murdock: As a youth, he has trouble with local bullies and a close bond with his father. This changes in different ways after the accident. Terra was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002.^[7]

• Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios: Daughter of billionaire Nikolas Natchios and the love interest of Matt Murdock. At a very young age she witnessed the murder of her mother, and since then her father has had her become highly trained in martial arts. For the role of Elektra, many actresses were looked into with considerations including Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Natalie Portman, Lucy Liu, Jessica Alba, and Katie Holmes.^[8] A short-list was eventually made, giving the choices of Jennifer Garner, Jolene Blalock, Mía Maestro and Rhona Mitra,^[9] with Garner finally becoming the actress to land the role.^[8] Garner said of the character, "I think she's strong and cool and beautiful and smart. She'd be a good role model."^[10] Garner noted that the costume would be different as Elektra often wears red satin, but in the film she wears black leather. Garner explained "the red would never have worked for hiding a harness, and I know this sounds ridiculous, but you have to protect your skin a little bit. They throw me around so much on the rooftop [that] I got cut through the leather, so imagine if I hadn't had anything."^[6]

• Colin Farrell as Bullseye: An assassin with perfect accuracy and deep-rooted pride of it. Bullseye is hired by Kingpin to kill Nikolas and Elektra Natchios, but when Daredevil gets involved and causes Bullseye to miss his target, he makes it his own personal vendetta to take Daredevil down. Farrell was attached to the role in December 2001.^[2] For the film, the traditional Bullseye costume was not used in the film, a reason for which Mark Steven Johnson credited Joe Quesada for talking him out of.^[3] Also, Farrell was encouraged to keep his Irish accent as this version of Bullseye is from Ireland.^[6] Farrell had to read into Frank Miller's Daredevil comics to understand Bullseye "because the expression on the character's faces in the comic books, and just the way they move sometimes, and the exaggerations of the character I'm playing […] he's so over-the-top that you do draw from that. But it's not exactly a character you can do method acting for... you know, running around New York killing people with paper clips."^[11]

• Michael Clarke Duncan as Wilson Fisk / The Kingpin: By appearance, he is an overweight corporate head that takes the name Wilson Fisk, but in fact he is the sole person running organised crime, under the moniker of Kingpin. Kingpin is the murderer of Matt's father, and the man responsible for the hiring of Bullseye, with intention of having the Natchios family murdered. Michael Clarke Duncan signed on for the role in January 2002, though he had been attached far earlier.^[12] When Duncan was cast, he weighed 290 pounds. He was asked to gain 40 pounds for the role in order to fit the physique of Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for 30 minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well as eating whatever he wanted. Despite this, Duncan's biggest concern was that he is black, whilst Kingpin has always been portrayed as white.^[13] He spoke on the fan's loyalty to the source material by saying "they watch movies to say, 'Hey, that's not like the comic book.' But I want them to get past that and just see the movie for what it is and see me for what I am — an actor."^[6]

• Jon Favreau as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson: Matt Murdock's legal partner and best friend, he is also used as a form of comic relief. Favreau joined the cast in February 2002.^[14]

• Joe Pantoliano as Ben Urich: An investigative journalist whose articles notably relate to Daredevil, and the Kingpin. During the film, he goes on to uncover a lot of information about the two. Pantoliano was cast in March 2002.^[15]

• David Keith as Jack Murdock: Father of Matt Murdock and a boxer, he is murdered by the Kingpin when he doesn't take a fall for a fight. Keith was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002.^[7]

• Leland Orser as Wesley Owen Welch: The number two of Wilson Fisk, but he doesn't like to be involved in the activities of the Kingpin.

• Erick Avari as Nikolas Natchios: The father of Elektra, who is murdered by Bullseye on behalf of the Kingpin.

• Ellen Pompeo as Karen Page: The secretary at Matt Murdock and Franklin Nelson's law firm.

• Derrick O'Connor as Father Everett: A priest of Matt Murdock's local church, where he sometimes goes to find solace.

Stan Lee, Frank Miller and Kevin Smith, each notable for their work on the Daredevil comics, also have cameo roles throughout the film.^[6] The Director's Cut version also features Jude Ciccolella and Coolio in a sub-plot removed from the theatrical version.

Production

Development

In 1997, 20th Century Fox optioned the rights from Marvel Enterprises, and Chris Columbus was chosen to direct the film. In 1998, Marvel was facing bankruptcy. During this time 20th Century Fox allowed the option to expire, so Disney began negotiations in order to acquire the rights. In 1999, the negotiations failed to work out so Marvel sets the project up with Sony's Columbia Pictures.^[16] During this time, Chris Columbus and Carlo Carlei co-wrote a script together,^[17] before Mark Steven Johnson got signed to write the screenplay. By 2000, Sony decided to cancel the project,^[16] as the two companies reportedly couldn't come to an agreement over Internet rights.^[18]

New Regency entered negotiations with a more satisfying offer, attaining the character rights from Marvel in 2000 to produce the film, with 20th Century Fox handling the distribution.^[19] Mark Steven Johnson had to pitch himself again in order to show he's suitable for the job, and became rehired.^[16] Johnson's script was turned in in 2001, which was praised by Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles.^[20] Prior to shooting, producer Gary Foster said that in comparison to other comic book-based films before it, this film would be "more character-driven ... darker ... edgier,"^[21] whilst Marvel Studios Executive Kevin Feige felt the script was one of the strongest comic scripts Marvel had received.^[22]

Filming

20th Century Fox wanted to start filming in Canada in order to save money. This plan was contended by Mark Steven Johnson, and the film's cinematographer, Ericson Core, after they found a preferred area for shooting around downtown Los Angeles' Arcade Building. Core noted that the appeal came from the "beautiful, old brick buildings and great rooftops," which they felt was perfect for a depiction of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, in comparison to the studio's choice where the filming would be done in Montreal or Vancouver. Due to their insistence, coupled with Ben Affleck's disinterest in filming in Canada (after having filmed there for his previous film, The Sum of All Fears) they were able to overturn the studio's mind.^[23]

When the look of the film was being decided, Mark Steven Johnson opted to use direct scenes from the Daredevil comics. Joe Quesada's artistic take in Guardian Devil was an influence on the film, with Johnson noting that they would "literally take out a scene from the comic book that Joe did […] Here's Daredevil on the cross, you know, it's that scene from 'Guardian Devil'. You just shoot that."^[3] Throughout the film, Ben Affleck had to wear "cataract milky-blue" contacts, which would effectively make him blind. This was considered great by Johnson, as it would aid his performance.^[24]

Effects

The sound plays an integral part in the film, as the superhero relies on it in order to form his 'radar sense'. Post-production sound was done by Supervising Sound Editor John Larsen and Sound Designer Steve Boeddeker and is heard taking place immediately after Matt's optic nerve is seen mutating. The mutating of the nerve was done by Rhythm and Hues Studios, who also worked on the radar-sense which became referred to as "shadow world." Shadow world was made using just CGI except in a scene where Elektra and Matt Murdock are in the rain, the scene was done using CGI over film.^[24]

Music

See also: Daredevil: The Album

The score to Daredevil was written by Graeme Revell, and was released on March 4, 2003.^[25] He was attracted to the focus of "human-ness" on the Daredevil, torn emotionally and physically by his superhero status. Avi Arad asked Revell to concentrate more on the emotions of Daredevil and Elektra, whilst Mark Steven Johnson wanted to stay clear from any gothic and action movie clichés. Revell tried to avoid too much individual motifs but some characters would have an identifiable sound, like Bullseye would have guitar undertones, while Kingpin would have bass beats. Guitarist Mike Einziger of Incubus collaborated with Revell for any additional rock elements. Revell thoroughly enjoyed working with Johnson, describing the director as "positive" and "responsive" when it came to experimenting (as opposed to feeling "locked in a box of preconceptions") which he felt lead to "cool stuff." Varèse Sarabande put together the score record.^[26]

Release

Marketing

Aside from expected TV commercials during such TV hits as Friends and Law & Order, as well as one in the second quarter of the Super Bowl, there was also a tie-in with Kraft, an in-store promotion at Wal-Mart, a marketing campaign with Hamilton Watch Company, who designed the watch Matt wears in the film,^[27] and a weeklong Daredevil segment on Entertainment Tonight.^[28] As part of an online form of marketing, a viral e-mail drive was started, where participants would be entered in prize draw where they could win things such as Daredevil t-shirts, Gameboy Advance games and cufflinks. To enter the drawing, the user to booked tickets for the film online, then passed an e-mail on to someone else, making them eligible. The idea was to encourage online ticket booking, which at the time was seen as a growing trend.^[29] The Gameboy Advance game was released on 14 February 2003, and was created by Encore, a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation.^[30]

Box office

Daredevil opened theatrically on 14 February 2003, on 3,471 screens.^[16] The film took first place in its opening weekend, making $45,033,454. At the time, it became the second biggest February release, behind Hannibal.^[31] By the second weekend the film saw a 55.1% decline in takings but managed to maintain the number one spot, beating new release Old School by $639,093.^[32] By the third weekend release, Daredevil saw a further 38.5% drop in sales, and so fell to third place at the box office.^[33] The film grossed over $102 million in North America, and over $76 million in the rest of the world, totalling the film's worldwide takings at just over $179 million.^[34] Avi Arad addressed the top spot success by saying "we are five for five with record-breaking box office successes and have two more Marvel releases slated for this summer. It's a testament to the broad appeal of these characters before mainstream audiences outside of the core comic fans. These super heroes have been successful within the Marvel pantheon for decades; it only makes sense that their translations to the big screen are just as fruitful."^[35]

Due to the film's violent scenes, Daredevil was banned in Malaysia. 20th Century Fox had appealed to Malaysia's censorship board to change its decision, hoping that the film would be due for release in Malaysia on 27 February 2003.^[36] Malaysian newspaper The Star also noted that the ban was due to the film theme being "focused on the dealings of a secret society," as well as some sensuality. The article criticized the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia for having these reasons to ban the film, but at the same time allowing films such as Final Destination 2, which contained violent content, and Infernal Affairs, which focused on the dealings of a secret society, before suggesting that the board should have considered banning The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for "having scenes containing violence using weapons and hands," a direct quotation of which the article cited as being another reason why Daredevil was banned.^[37]

Reception

Daredevil received mixed reviews from critics.^[38][39] Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 43% of critics gave the film positive feedback, based on 201 reviews,^[38] with a 44% rating from selected "notable" critics.^[40] At the website Metacritic, which assigns its own subjective rating out of 100 to each review, the film has received an average score of 42, based on 35 reviews.^[39] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of a possible 4 stars and called the film good, despite noting the almost typical superhero background. Of the actors, he stated that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were suitable for their roles, whilst Michael Clark Duncan's presence alone was menacing. He finished by saying "I am getting a little worn out describing the origin stories and powers of superheroes […] Some of their movies, like this one, are better than others."^[41] Houston Chronicle's Bruce Westbrook considered it "the best Marvel movie to date, it's as well-written and character-driven as some of today's Oscar contenders, and its story doesn't stall with hollow flamboyance."^[42] The Austin Chronicle's Kimberly Jones praised the film, the actors, and felt that though an unproven director, "Johnson has just signed his meal ticket with this marriage of big brains, big brawn, and – most happily – big heart."^[43]

Empire's Kim Newman gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and felt people "will like the characters more than the film," before adding that there are enough strong moments to guarantee a good viewing.^[44] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, considered the film held "unconvincing touches" but was more enjoyable than Spider-Man, as well as calling it as dark as Tim Burton's Batman.^[45] BBC film critic Nev Pierce believed the film had spectacular set-pieces, but felt there was no strong narrative arc to keep the viewer interested.^[46] The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern didn't consider the film to be original nor great, but felt it maintained "many grace notes, and interesting oddities."^[47] The Globe and Mail's Rick Groen said the film was "not woeful, not wonderful, merely watchable."^[39] The Philadelphia Inquirer's Steven Rea thought the film brought a variance of humour and violence, but felt it didn't work as well as it could have.^[39] James Berardinelli felt the film was merely a satisfactory superhero film.^[39] TV Guide's Frank Lovece noted that for a superhero film the characters are more grounded to reality, respectively, but also felt it was "a movie for grown-ups, not kids."^[48]

Particularly negative reviews included The New York Times' Elvis Mitchell, who said the film was "second-rate and ordinary,"^[38] whilst Variety's Todd McCarthy considered it "a pretender in the realm of bona fide superheroes."^[49] Time Out's Trevor Johnston praised Ben Affleck, feeling he "persuades us of the pain of sightlessness and supersensitive hearing," but also felt writer/director Johnson's construction fails all involved in the film.^[50] Slate's David Edelstein believed Johnson copied a lot of Batman, and concluded by saying "that's not so bad: The movie looks best when it looks like other, better movies."^[51] The Chicago Tribune's Michael Wilmington thought the film grabs the attention, but felt it doesn't reward it.^[39] The New York Post's Lou Lumenick panned the film, describing it as a "mind-numbing, would-be comic-book franchise, which often seems as blind as its hero -- not to mention deaf and dumb."^[39]

Director's cut

The director's cut region one DVD cover.

In December 2004, a director's cut of the film was released on DVD. This version added 30 minutes of footage not seen in the original, including an entire subplot involving Murdock defending a murder suspect played by rapper Coolio. Director Mark Steven Johnson clashed with Producer Gary Foster and the studio Twentieth Century Fox about the final cut of the film, with the latter wanting a fast-paced and shorter film. The reasons for the different cuts are thoroughly explained by Gary Foster and Mark Steven Johnson in a documentary on the making of the director's cut on this DVD. On September 30th 2008 the Directors Cut was released on Blu-Ray DVD. Online response to the Director's Cut has been mainly well.

Sequel

Kevin Feige has stated "there are many more stories to be told with old Hornhead and we'd love to tell them someday,"^[52] with Avi Arad further adding that the sequel will begin development once the rights go from 20th Century Fox to Marvel Studios.^[53] Ben Affleck stated that he would never reprise the role, "By playing a superhero in Daredevil, I have inoculated myself from ever playing another superhero...Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me and something I wouldn't want to do again soon."^[54] Director Mark Steven Johnson showed interest in returning to direct with the Born Again storyline,^[55] doing The Man Without Fear storyline or even rebooting the film.^[56] Michael Clarke Duncan stated strong interest in returning. Johnson stated that the villain Mr. Fear^[55] is a possibility to appear for the sequel.

Recently, Jason Statham has expressed interest at appearing in a Daredevil sequel. Statham reportedly said, "Could a British actor wear the red horns of the Man Without Fear?… Absolutely, just give me the chance, I would love to be Daredevil." Frank Miller added, "I think he should be Daredevil too."^[57]

In October 2008, 20th Century Fox executive Tom Rothman said that "a Daredevil reboot is something we are thinking very seriously about." Rothman added that "what it really needs is, it needs a visionary at the level that [The Dark Knight director] Chris Nolan was. It needs someone, it needs a director, honestly, who has a genuine vision."^[58]

References

Further reading

• Cox, Greg (7 January 2003) (Paperback). Daredevil: A Novel. Novelization of the film. Onyx. ISBN 0451410807. 

External links

• Official site
• Daredevil at Marvel.com
• Daredevil at the Internet Movie Database
• Daredevil at Allmovie
• Daredevil at Rotten Tomatoes
• Daredevil at Metacritic

• Daredevil at Box Office Mojo