After the horrendous outing that Daredevil once had in the hands of director Mark Steven Johnson and star, Ben Affleck, the franchise finally gets a deserving reboot exclusive to streaming service, Netflix. It has been out since last weekend, but we have just finished watching the series in its entirety yesterday and here are the top 5 things we love about this reboot for the once called, Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. We’ll try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but we do apologize if we divulge something in our excitement.
Gritty, Glorious Action…and a Whole Lot of Heart
We are often presented with highly entertaining fight choreography when we watch movies or TV shows based on graphic novels. While the same can be said for Daredevil, we appreciated its grit. There’s a roughness to Netflix’s Daredevil that gives the action the believability it deserves and for a superhero show, the action is truly refreshing!
Not a lot of wires (or wire-fu) were used nor were there a lot of matrix-like slow-mo in place. The one-take 4-minuter Old Boy homage fight scene on the 2nd episode is a perfect example of the action that you’ll see throughout the entire show. What we love about Daredevil is that Matt isn’t some beefed up Asgardian or a Super Soldier that when beaten and stabbed would get a few scrapes here and there. The blows here are earned….and felt. There are real consequences when he misses a step or gets hit or worse –stabbed.
One take, no cuts!
Oh btw, squeamish people beware, the action here is strictly for adults only (A little bit of gore and a whole lot of blood). Do not let your kids watch this show.
Perfect for a Weekend Binge
It may have taken us awhile to get through the series’ 13 episodes, but if you’re having a lazy weekend in and your mate is down for some unbridled geekery then Daredevil is something you should keep on your list; heck, don’t keep on your list. Watch it over the weekend and prepare to order out as you do. You can make up for the gym time another day. You deserve the break.
Abilities in Full Display but in a Tasteful Way
“Tell me Father, do you believe that the Devil walk among us?”
When we last saw Daredevil on screen, they spent a considerable amount of time/money to be able to show viewers how Matt Murdock sees the world. We don’t know if it was budgetary concerns or a deliberate choice by Daredevil’s production team, but as far as I can remember they only showed how Daredevil actually perceives the world though his enhanced senses in one very brief moment. They explain it rather well in this series, but we loved the fact that they didn’t have to break out the CGI at every opportune moment. In fact, there was very little CGI done; that we know off anyway.
Amazing , Well-Paced Storytelling and Characters You’d Care About
Every character counts!
There are no wasted characters on Netflix’s Daredevil. Everyone you see on screen, you’ll most likely care for – even the extras like Mrs. Cardensa (Judith Delgado) or Father Lantom (Peter McRobbie). The writing is just superbly sharp filling in little-to-no loopholes that usually beset other comic book shows.
At 13 episodes the show methodically gave ample time to develop a lot of the recurring characters and build up our main ones and they did so beautifully!
They did not linger too much on past events that shaped protagonist, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), or antagonist, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), and each episode left you hanging just enough to leave you wanting more but extremely satisfied if you have to get whisked back to reality.
It Expands The MCU
Can you spot the easter eggs planted across Daredevil?
They could’ve decided that Daredevil lives in his own tv-universe but to consciously include the show in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe , that is a pretty steep gamble — one that’s (fortunately) paying off quite well. This just shows that you can create varying shows with varying tones for varying audiences and still include all those stories under one coherent storytelling space.
Not only is this genre expanding, Daredevil showed that audiences care for “B” heroes as long as the narrative stays true to their character and it is presented in a uniquely and genuinely entertaining way. The show breaks from the mold and the usual formula of tv-shows and people are reacting to it with a fervent passion!
Daredevil builds up to this in a couple of year’s time! More superhero goodness!
Daredevil is the first among 5 Netflix Marvel originals. The next would be A.K.A. Jessica Jones to be shown later this year and will be followed by Luke Cage and Iron Fist for 2016 and a major pseudo-Avengers team up called The Defenders coming the year after. Take note of the dates and plot them along the main MCU just to make the viewing experience richer.
—
There you have it, if you need to binge-watch on a series this weekend, it’s this! So order in, geek-out with your friends and/or family and enjoy 13 episodes of unadulterated Marvel goodness!