Daredevil

This movie is an exciting and excellent movie. The special effects and lighting is amazing, and all in all, the picture is superb. Also, the theme is a good one - he is an underdog, being blind, and fights for the underdogs, considering his job as an attorney. But he proves that he is much better than that when he serves justice at night as Daredevil. I dearly love how he does several stunts and tricks.

It is exciting to watch him do insane stunts like jumping right off buildings and then regaining his balance. All the stunts are a piece of art! But maybe, next time, more criminals.

I applaud this movie and hope for a sequel!

I have to admit when I saw Daredevil in its theatrical release, I found myself underwhelmed by it. I loved the visuals, but I found the love story soppy and couldn't always make sense of the story. However, hearing so much about the Director's Cut being superior I got the DVD off my brother, and actually I really liked it. Daredevil is not what I call a perfect movie, I still did find the love story soppy and becoming dangerously close to flagging down the film and the soundtrack is rather dated and heavy for my liking. On the other hand, I loved the stylish visuals, the fresh, funny dialogue, that I could make much more sense of the story and could be more entertained by it and the characterisation of the titular character with him being vulnerable and flawed I found him very interesting. The other characters are not as well developed, but are enthusiastically performed. Colin Farrell especially is lots of fun, Jennifer Garner is decent and Michael Clarke Duncan is great as is Joe Pantoliano. The editing is good if occasionally rushed, and the action sequences are clear if not always very subtle. Overall, a good movie that fared much better on re-watch. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

When I heard about a directors cut to this movie I never imagined it would be so much better than the original release. Why must movie studios always feel they know better than the director. This film would have been much more successful had they left it alone, but by insisting on so many cuts and changes they shot themselves in the foot. All because they wanted a family friendly spider-man type film instead of the much more dark and violent world of daredevil. Every scene added to the film makes you wonder why they cut it in the first place. It isn't just about adding scenes though they have taken a couple out too. I can't imagine anyone who would miss the fireside love scene. I urge everyone who saw the theatrical cut to watch the directors cut. It isn't a perfect film but it's a more complete and enjoyable one. Also watch the documentary on the directors cut DVD and see one of the producers trying to defend the original release and then actually saying he thinks it is the better cut. I think he must be more blind than Matt Murdock!!!

This surprisingly dark and moody superhero yarn is a great and unexpected surprise – probably the most genuinely entertaining comic-book film to come out of Hollywood in the early surge of such movies. It certainly walks all over the likes of HULK and SPIDER-MAN. The fun aspect of the movie comes from a pleasingly witty script, which serves up crisp dialogue throughout; some surprising plot developments (coming from somebody who never reads any comics); memorable acting performances and a freshness which is more than worthwhile. The backstory of the main character is run through pleasingly fast, in about fifteen minutes (compared to HULK's forty-five). I don't want to spoil any of the plot, other than to say that this film takes a more adult, mature approach to the material – both in the depth of emotion of the characters, in the handling of death, and in the rather violent action sequences.

Said action – invariably incorporating martial arts, which is of course currently in vogue in Hollywood – is highly entertaining and the film as a whole is packed with special effects, which add to the impact rather than being really noticeable. The entire cast put in good performances, from Ben Affleck's subdued turn as the lead to the solid support of Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano and Leland Orser. Yet the most noticeable characters are Jennifer Garner as the truly electrifying Elektra, Michael Clarke Duncan as the impossibly imposing Kingpin, and best of all, Colin Farrell as mad henchman Bullseye. Farrell bags the best role in the film and really makes a meal of it, bringing humour to his psycho-schtick and enlivening the proceedings no end. The combination of the above factors serve to highlight DAREDEVIL as one of the triumphs of the Hollywood year!

Blinded by bio-hazardous waste as a child, Matt Murdock finds that his other senses have developed to the point where they afford him almost supernatural physical abilities. Years later, Murdock (Ben Affleck), now a pro-bono lawyer, takes on the guise of night-time vigilante Daredevil, using his powers to ensure that justice is always served. In doing so, he finds himself pitted against crime boss Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), his hired hit-man Bullseye (Colin Farrell, who hams it up wonderfully in every scene), and kick-ass babe Elektra (Jennifer Garner), who mistakenly holds Daredevil responsible for the death of her father.

The recent casting of Ben Affleck as Batman has been the cause of much controversy amongst comic book fans, but judging by Daredevil, the star's previous foray into comicdom, I'm not all that concerned, this fun movie proving the actor to be more than capable in the role of superhero. Affleck acquits himself surprisingly well as both the laudable lawyer and his leather-clad alter-ego, providing the character with the necessary depth and the required physicality.

If this longer version still proves less than perfect, it is not down to Affleck, but once again due to the script and the directorial style (I guess some things just can't be fixed). With an extra thirty minutes, The Director's Cut fleshes out the characters and makes more sense of the narrative, but at the expense of the pacing; in addition, the poorly lit visuals makes some of the action hard to follow (I understand that the look and feel is intended to emulate the style of Frank Miller's comic book artwork, which makes great use of heavy shadow, but director Mark Steven Johnson takes things a step too far).

Over the last decade, Marvel have gradually honed their product to meet maximum audience approval, boosting their budgets and throwing the best special effects available onto the screen, but as one of the earliest postmillenial attempts to bring their characters to the big screen (yes… Daredevil is already well over a decade old) this is still a serviceable effort, with only the occasional iffy CGI shot belying its age.