After a
shaky start with the first episodes of Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel has definitely gotten the hang of this TV
business. For Marvel shows, I still
prefer Agent Carter, because
awesomeness, but Daredevil, the first
of several Marvel properties to debut on Netflix this year, is another knockout
for the brand. (It’s also worlds better
than the 2003 pre-MCU movie, but it wouldn’t have taken much to manage that.)
In a
universe with super serums and gods from other planets, Matt Murdock got his
powers the old-fashioned way: being exposed
to nuclear waste during a childhood accident.
The incident blinded him, but it boosted his other senses to superhuman
levels. He can eavesdrop on
conversations blocks away and hear a lie in someone’s changing heartbeat, he
knows how recently someone fired a gun from the smell of the residue on their
hands, and put together, his abilities create a pretty thorough impression of
the world around him. Fueled by his
laundry list of issues, which range from Catholic guilt to an inability to
block out the suffering he hears all over Hell’s Kitchen, Matt begins to head
down the vigilante route. By day, he’s
an ethical lawyer in a fledgling practice, and by night, he serves beat-downs
to gangsters and lowlifes.
Is it a
little eye-rolling that a blind man’s power is super-heightened senses? Of course – when are we going to get a
disabled superhero whose power in no way cancels out their disability? (I vote for pyrokinesis. That’s always a good one.) Still, I like the inventive ways the show
uses Matt’s abilities. It’s far more
varied and interesting than the 2003 movie, which spends most of its time
showing us how Matt “sees” echolocation-style.
The show also really demonstrates how Matt’s abilities do more than just
put him on a level playing field with his sighted adversaries; like any
superhero, able-bodied or otherwise, he’s legitimately “super.”
Additionally,
Matt more than earns his moniker. I love
the way we see how reckless he is, how he barrels into hugely dangerous
situations without any sort of armor or protection, and how much punishment he
lets his body take before retreating. The
action is both impressive and brutal, a lot grittier than the typical Marvel
fare. Likewise, the story goes to some
pretty dark places, in the plot as well as in Matt’s personal journey as a
character.
Charlie
Cox, who I saw earlier this year in The
Theory of Everything, does a nice job as Matt, skillfully driving home the “lone
wolf with a death wish” angle. Vincent D’Onofrio
joins the proceedings as Matt’s chief antagonist, and Rosario Dawson has a
decent recurring role. The real
revelation for me, though, is Elden Henson as Matt’s legal partner Foggy. That’s right, the former Bash Brother from The Mighty Ducks is just fantastic. Right from the pilot, when he’s not-so-subtly
trying to turn Matt off of the pretty woman Foggy is after, his delivery of, “And
she kinda told me she thinks blind people are ‘God’s mistake?’” makes me love
him forever.
Nitpick,
though – why does no one mention the
fact that Daredevil’s mask doesn’t have eyeholes? We
know why, obviously, but nobody wonders what’s up with that?
Warnings
Some fairly
serious violence, dark themes, swearing, drinking and drug use, and sexual
content.
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