D is for Daredevil

September 2024 Movie Challenge-Day 4

We’re solidly into the first week of the month and I hope you are enjoying the challenge so far. Don’t forget to subscribe so you can get all the new posts delivered to your inbox each day.

Ben Affleck must enjoy playing superheroes.

Today we’re jumping ahead in time 83 years from our last film and taking a look at one of the much maligned early 2000s Marvel films from 20th Century Fox, 2003’s Daredevil starring Ben Affleck. This is not the fantastic Netflix series of the same name that is now available on Disney+ starring Charlie Cox in the lead role. That series has a wonderfully dark and gritty feel to it that makes you feel like the things happening in that world, while wild and improbable, are in fact possible. Affleck’s Daredevil on the other hand feels so superhuman that it’s hard to take anything in this film at face value.

Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of heavyweight acting talent in this film. Affleck has never been nominated for an Oscar for acting, but surely will when the right role allows him to shine. Jennifer Garner (Affleck’s one time partner who appears as Elektra in this film) was in the middle of being nominated for four straight Golden Globes for her role in Alias on television when this film came out. Michael Clarke Duncan (this film’s Kingpin) was just a few years removed from an Oscar nomination for playing John Coffey in The Green Mile and probably would have been nominated several more times if not for his untimely death in 2012.

Colin Farrell (Bullseye) was into blockbuster films around this time (Minority Report in 2002, S.W.A.T. also in 2003, Alexander in 2004, but has shown his range in recent years and been recognized for several roles over the past several years. And the last two to mention are Joe Pantoliano and Jon Favreau. The latter has never received any major recognition as an actor, but has certainly gone on to be a force in Hollywood, changing the face of Christmas movies, superhero movies, and Star Wars over the last two decades. Pantoliano similarly has never been nominated for major awards, but just keeps cranking out solid supporting performances. He’s the actor who you see and think “hey, that’s the guy from…” (insert The Matrix, Memento, The Fugitive, Bad Boys, The Goonies, etc.). He’s never really been a lead, but he makes a fantastic supporting character and can do both good and bad.

So why doesn’t the film work with all this great talent?