Saturday, April 18, 2015

DareDevil: Netflix Original and a Masterpiece in Red!


In a time when it seems every network is taking iconic comic book characters into television series it's a scary thought when yet another show hits the airwaves.

We have Gotham on Fox--which in my opinion got much better in the second half and could make for an exciting series if Fox doesn't fuck it up and cancel it out of the blue like I don't know Firefly! The CW has the Arrow and Flash which are my favorites and really do standout above  the rest--I mean who would have thought two shows on the CW would have produced such cult following and given us an amazing actor and person that is Stephen Amell(if you don't know what I'm talking about well then I'm sorry you're lose and do yourself a favor and check out Arrow and Flash!) and there's a rumor the CW is looking at yet another spinoff show with ATOM, Captain Cold and with Caity Lotz who played the Canary...


Now sure who she'll play or who she'll fit in considering she was killed off of Arrow what that's neither here or there at this point. The point is there are a number of shows to get sucked into if you're in love with superheros and comic books and now we have Daredevil on Netflix. 





Now I've mentioned this before I am not a huge Marvel fan--I've always been a much bigger fan of DC mostly because the characters and story lines are much darker. But here we have Marvel's Daredevil and in this current Netflix telling dark and slightly disturbing doesn't even begin to cover it.

The casting is spot on with Charlie Cox playing Matt Murdock/Daredevil. You probably recognize him from StarDust and Boardwalk Empire which he was amazing in. But it's his performance

as Murdock/Daredevil that has really thrusted him into a category of a select few. I think he really found his role. Cox is very convincing as Murdock the blind rather quiet defense lawyer who's just started his private practice with his best friend Foggy Nelson(Elden Hanson--who I'll always remember as Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks Movies!!!) 

He's grown up a bit since then but he's as charming as ever! Both Cox and Hanson have a great chemistry and really complement each other in a way that makes them believable. Other members of the supporting  cast include Deborah Ann Woll(Jessica from True Blood and I'm not gonna lie watching her cry regular tears and not blood ones--kinda weird!) But I like her in the role as Karen Page. I'm curious to see how her character develops over the series. And lets not forget the amazingly talented Rosario Dawson. 

Dawson plays Claire Temple a nurse who gets sucked into Daredevils world and helps stitch him up and becomes a love interest despite what Daredevil/Murdock believes!  

On the other side of good is the really bad and slightly sociopathic Wilson Fisk(Vincent D'Onofiro)


But what makes D'Onofiro so impressive isn't so much the rage he has and anger he possesses, but his other side--the side where he's calm and collective and meticulous. It's the calmness and almost shyness that makes him so dangerous. His casting was brilliant--D'Onofiro has always been a chameleon with his ability to transform into any character that he's taken on! 

What makes D'Onofiro's performance even more impressive is his character development---You know Fisk is evil and corrupt but the way D'Onofiro settles into the character--slowly allowing his true personality to come alive until it's explosive reveal in the last episode. It's this type of acting I admire and what makes me want to come back for more!! 

I think the root of the show is heart--it's clear Murdock wants to make his city better--but it also very clear it struggles with the line of right from wrong and justice verses vigilante justice. And Cox does a great job of toting that line but allowing the viewer to see there's a real internal struggle. But it's the supporting cast that holds this show together and perhaps it's safer to say this is an ensemble cast over just a show about one man with two identities.  

The show does a great job of giving the audience a full understanding of who Matt Murdock is and how he became Daredevil and it doesn't expect each viewer to know the origin or how the Daredevil story plays out--but it doesn't insult the view either. But this is not a show for the weak of heart or stomach--there are scenes like the one above that are rather gory and at times I found myself going omg I can't believe what I just watched. 

One of the best things the writers did---they held off on showing Murdock in the Daredevil costume until the last minute----the entire time I couldn't wait to see what he looked like and when the moment comes in the last episode it's amazing. It's not over the top--it's not too red or plastic---it's functional!! Although the little devil horns are a little silly but it's a great way to show Murdock has embraced his nickname the devil of hell's kitchen or should we say DAREDEVIL!