"Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the Devil in them"
"Daredevil...Really?" That was the response from a lot of people when Marvel announced that Daredevil would be the first Marvel Comics show to kick off their future with Netflix. One of the reasons people were against the idea was because they detested the Ben Affleck movie so much. Then, after the movie company that owned the rights to Daredevil lost said rights because they couldn't come up with a script, it started to seem like there wouldn't be another Daredevil project. The assumption was then made that there was no way that Matt Murdock was a good enough character to make anything worth watching. Fast forward to April 10th, 2015 and everyone who has seen the show is been raving about how amazing it is.
Daredevil has far exceeded anyone's expectations. Respected websites have given it great ratings (IMDb 9.1 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 98%, and TV.com at 9.4 out of 10) and even people who don't know the character are enjoying it. For the fans of television shows and not comic books, the idea of a blind vigilante kicking butt all over the city is farfetched. Once you suspend belief and just enjoy the show, it wows people. Personally, as a fan of comic books, it was amazing what they did with Daredevil. With guys like Thor and The Hulk running around it's easy to forget that Daredevil doesn't have any real physical powers. Sure, he can hear your heartbeat and can smell that you ate a turkey club two days ago, other than that he's just a normal guy.
So when he gets punched in the chest or hit in the ribs with a bat he's going to be sluggish and he is going to feel it for a while. So during his fight scenes when he's losing, he doesn't miraculously jump up and defeat the enemy like Rocky. Daredevil has to rely on his wits and his enviroment to win the fights where he is outclassed and outnumbered. This gives the fight scenes and the show a more realistic feel and makes everything more exciting when you know the hero isn't going to just flat out dominate every fight.
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It's hard to find a flaw in this show. The biggest consern going in with a show like this was whether or not Murdock's supporting cast would be interesting enough for people to care about. It's easy to like Foggy. He's a funny and sweet guy. Kingpin is an aggressive and evil man and everyone loves a good villain. And Wesley was just a smooth man. The concern for this writer was Karen Page. There was a bit of ignorance that went into my concern.
She is definitely important to Matt Murdock's life, but would she be interesting or just another damsel in distress? Deborah Ann Woll did an amazing job balancing Karen being both Damsel in distress and woman who wasn't always looking to be saved by someone. Karen didn't fall over every two seconds when she was being chased and even learned after she was attacked the first time around and started carrying mace around since she realized she was a wanted woman. Kudos to Marvel for keeping women strong in the series.
"It's funny, isn't it? How even the best of men can be deceived by their true nature."-Wilson Fisk
Another great character was Ben Urich. Ben is an old school beat reporter. He hit the streets to get stories, talked to the mob and got information in exchange for money or giving the information, he put himself in dangerous situations to get what he needed to write his story, and he was a smart-aleck to everyone. The way he was portrayed in this show was absolutely perfect. Him and Kingpin possibly had the best moment of the show towards the end of the season. The two of them have a conversation that ends in an intense way. This left everyone watching know that nobody on the show is sacred and that anyone could die, leave, or vanish at any point during the show.
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Lastly, there was the Kingpin. Enough can't be said about the job Vincent D'Onofrio did as Wilson Fisk. He certainly didn't have the size that the comic book's Kingpin has, but he definitely did the character justice. When he was Wilson Fisk, you feel the passion in his words when he talked about how much he loved his city. When he talked to Vanessa before she became his girlfriend, it was clear that he loved her even before she helped change his life (for better or worse is debatable). When D'Onofrio shined best when he completely lost it and started to go crazy and beating people down. Everything about Kingpin in this show was about emotion. He did everything out love for his city and it shows in his actions. Some may say that his actions are a bit extreme, but when you're in love you go above and beyond to make your love better.
Rating: 10
All in all, this is a great show to sit down and binge watch. It's fun to watch with a group so you can enjoy it all together. Only problem with watching it with a group of people is that you might miss a thing or two while you're conversing amoungst each other, ordering food, or making jokes. Regardless, it's a great show to watch. Action, romance, superb acting, and a great story.
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