Daredevil (TV)

From iGeek
Jump to: navigation, search
Daredevil.jpeg


I've been watching this on Netflix. I have to say, it's growing on me as the best in the Marvel genre (at least on Netflix).

While I wasn't really a fan of the idea of Daredevil. Blind Justice was a movie in the same genre that I liked, and it felt like a rehash, though I suspect it's the other way around. And I taught Martial Arts, and the idea of the blind Master, who overcomes his disability, sort of never really clicked with me. (There is a way to fight blindfolded, but they don't do it right). Yet, this super-hero isn't imbued with as unrealistic gifts, and has a mortality and fragility that make the story more suspenseful and interesting. And the fight scene's are really well choreographed.

Fighting blind: We used to play with a drill in Martial Arts, and fight blindfolded (or in low light) -- you have to be careful (easy to hurt people by accident). But one of the keys is you can figure out direction easier than people think -- and you rush them and make contact and then keep something in contact with them -- you can read where they're moving or what they're doing even with just a finger on them. So a blind guy would use a more touch and close range style than the distance flashy acrobatics. So it looks good, and I like watching them. But I still I would have used more the aikido, and grappling kung fu systems, than the American'esque Wu-Shu acrobatics. Yeah, I know, "that's your biggest problem with a super-hero show?"


It has the Law and Order:Criminal Intent guy (Vincent D'Onofrio) with a lot more weight and a lot less hair, doing an absolutely brilliant job of playing the villain (Wilson Fisk). But there's a depth and motive behind his amorality, that's way deeper than most super-hero shows.

I don't normally call out actors, as the best they can usually do is stay out of the way of the story, or convey the right emotions (in a few exceptional scenes). But so much of this story seems to be about him and the dynamics of the crime syndicate he's controlling, that more of the series is riding on his character than even the hero's. And all the acting in it so far seems really good (with the exception of a couple over the top clichés in the villain category). You really sort of understand (and thus like) where many of them are coming from, and why.

I really liked Season 1: the film style, pacing, story, characters, acting. And it got like 98/96 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Season 2 felt a little more derivative, and Foggy was getting on my nerves a bit more (a little whiney), I wasn't as impressed with it (still watchable, but not as great). I liked Season 3 back up to Season 1... but the character is a little too goody-goody on the other Netflix/Marvel series he's showing up in. So he's starting to wear thin.

References