In twelve years time, Charlie Cox is going to make a fantastic Batman. If Ben Affleck's Daredevil is the cinematic equivalent of Batman and Robin then Netflix Daredevil, the first in a series of Marvel and Netflix joint ventures, is the television equivalent of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins with that gorgeous cinematic sheen.
Charile Cox plays Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer by day and a vigilante by night, who uses his other four enhanced senses to make himself a nightmare for the criminals of Hell’s Kitchen and an absolute migraine for the Kingpin of the crime world, Wilson Fisk, played by veteran actor Vincent D’Onofrio. Darker than anything has done before with the bloody and bone-breaking fight scenes, but it still keeps the comedic beats and rhythm of the cinematic universe with banter you’ve come to expect from Marvel coming thick and fast from the key cast.
Charlie Cox is the perfect balance of Matt Murdock's charm and Daredevil's raw aggression whilst Vincent D'Ofrino is channelling Marlon Brando as he brings a subtext of anger in every line that leaves his mouth. He has the ability to show the tenderness of Tony Soprano but also show that uncontrollable rage that made James Gandolfini’s character so memorable and this brutally is clearly shown through the slamming of a car door in episode four - truly inspired casting for the two leads. The show does well to show the dichotomy between the two characters as both want to save the city but have different views on how this should be done.
A show with the grit of The Wire, the intensity of The Sopranos, pinches of Law and Order but a personality unlike any of the other superhero TV shows. Agents of SHIELD, Arrow and The Flash are good for TV shows but Daredevil transcends TV standards and hits that cinematic standard with confident cinematography, complex fight choreography and brooding lighting and colour palettes that are only enhanced by the character development that can only be achieved in the time allowed in a TV series. The sound design really works for this series - they use heartbeats to present a characters state of mind and often use ambient sound to transition from one scene into the next.
Each episode stands on its own, the pacing is solid throughout with smaller story arcs threaded throughout that keep the whole story interesting without slowing down the momentum of the overall series.
For me, this is the definitive take on Daredevil and throughout the series I was trying to find fault and could not. Of course that doesn’t mean that faults won’t be there for others, but hopefully this is just nitpicking from hardcore fans. I can just hear them now saying things like:
“The Kingpin isn’t big enough, why doesn’t The Owl have a costume? Where’s Elektra? It’s too much like Batman! That character doesn’t die in the comics! There’s too much origin story! Why is it not exactly like the Frank Miller story? It’s not enough like Batman! Why doesn’t Tony Stark show up? Why isn’t Daredevil in the red costume from the beginning? There’s not enough origin story!"
Nagging from any hardcore fans aside, this is a great series with moments that will make you recoil in your seat because this is bloodier than any other Marvel venture. The fights pull no punches with the cracking sounds and blood splatters taking center stage. Daredevil gets Five out of Five stars (which is Four and a half more stars than Ben Affleck’s version originally got)
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