Daredevil

Name: Daredevil
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy, Crime
Released: February 14, 2003
Duration: 103 min
Rating: 42
Cast: Ben Affleck, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan

2003

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 680 Ratings

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 680 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: February 14, 2003 | TV-14

Starring: Ben Affleck, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan

Summary: Ben Affleck stars as the blind Marvel Comics character who is a lawyer by day and vigilante by night.

Director: Mark Steven Johnson

Genre(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy, Crime

Rating: TV-14

Runtime: 103 min

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Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Kimberley Jones

In short, the actors deserve a big round of applause -– especially Affleck, for finally wiping the smug look off of his face (OK, 80% smug-free); Garner, for her dead sexy mix of attitude and adrenaline; and the grunting, googly-eyed Farrell, for … well, for being "fookin’" nuts, I guess. Read full review

James Berardinelli

It's an adequate superhero yarn, but, hopefully, it's not the best of the burgeoning genre that 2003 has to offer. Read full review

William Arnold

Its overall effect is distinctly underwhelming. Read full review

John Powers

Johnson clearly digs the idea of Daredevil as an agonized hero, slathering the screen with gloomy lighting and Catholic imagery, yet the movie has far less emotional weight than, say, "Spider-Man" (whose building-hopping pyrotechnics it often appears to be copying). Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Daredevil is the sort of half-assed, visually lackadaisical potboiler that makes you rue the day that comic-book franchises ever took over Hollywood. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Casting Affleck would have paid off had the conflicted, acerbic star of “Boiler Room,” “Changing Lanes,” or even “Bounce” shown up. Instead we're left with the cardboard hero of “Armageddon” and “The Sum Of All Fears,” a caretaker leading man wholly dependent on the quality of the movie around him. Sadly, there's not much of that. Read full review

Ed Park

Affleck and impressively amazonian Alias star Jennifer Garner (as the ninjitsu-savvy daughter of a wealthy tycoon) are lankier than "Spider-Man's" Maguire and Dunst, which is good if you like lanky, but their relationship substitutes cliché for chemistry. Read full review

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User Reviews

TylerDurden900

Jul 19, 2014

Daredevil is an excellent marvel comic and superhero movie. The movie received a lot of flak when it was
released. I don't see why, the movie is terrific. From the acting to the special effects, the movie hits the
mark. Daredevil deserves the utmost kudos for staying true to the darkDaredevil is an excellent marvel comic and superhero movie. The movie received a lot of flak when it was
released. I don't see why, the movie is terrific. From the acting to the special effects, the movie hits the
mark. Daredevil deserves the utmost kudos for staying true to the dark themes of the comic book.
Daredevil and The Punisher are the truest movies to the comic books and they both received low reviews.
The reviews mean nothing because both of the movies are magnificent. Both movies are 100 percent true to the marvel comics, A+ for both movies.… Expand

52 of 59 users found this helpful527

Perineum

Jan 14, 2020

Stunning -------------------------------------------------------------------

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ReubenIsAGod

Apr 21, 2014

Real guilty pleasure movie for me, just enjoy the movie for being so, Different, at the time of release it had to go up against the amazing spiderman 2 so, good job for being fun and mindless, this being the main reason why i love the film. The character of Daredevil is very hard to portrayReal guilty pleasure movie for me, just enjoy the movie for being so, Different, at the time of release it had to go up against the amazing spiderman 2 so, good job for being fun and mindless, this being the main reason why i love the film. The character of Daredevil is very hard to portray and i believe the film did a pretty decent job.
7/10… Expand

2 of 10 users found this helpful28

TheQuietGamer

Apr 22, 2017

Before finally finding success in the MCU, Marvel had a rough time bringing their characters to life on the big-screen with the same level of success Raimi's Spider-Man had. The Ben Affleck led Daredevil is the perfect example of that fact. It certainly tries to be good, but ultimately justBefore finally finding success in the MCU, Marvel had a rough time bringing their characters to life on the big-screen with the same level of success Raimi's Spider-Man had. The Ben Affleck led Daredevil is the perfect example of that fact. It certainly tries to be good, but ultimately just gets in it's own way at every turn.

The problem is that it's just so cheesy. The comics it's based on are dark, gritty, and violent. It looks early on like this is going to be the case here too. However, as soon as that first action sequence hits and we see the man without fear comically flying across the room the promise those noir-esque initially held quickly goes out the window. It's all downhill from there.

The action is a big problem. It's just too goofy and cartoonish. I honestly can't tell if the director was trying to make these scenes have a humorous tinge to them or not. Whatever the case it's certainly there. It's nice to see a superhero movie have a little blood though. You'll also see characters getting explicitly stabbed or having their bones broken. So at the very least Daredevil has a little more edge to it than other superhero flicks. A good thing as it fits the character.

The movie is sort of barebones in the plot department. Things move slow, the conclusion is rushed, and there are quite a few moments that just don't make any sense. The characters are fine though. The standouts are Jon Favreau as the comic relief and the sorely missed Michael Clarke Duncan who plays the film's underdeveloped main villain. It's also nice to see Jennifer Garner being so incredibly sexy onscreen. Everyone else is fine, but just kind of there. Of course they all get their fair share of bad dialog and one-liners so terrible you just can't help but laugh.

Speaking of laughter, that's something you may find yourself doing more times than you would expect. Unfortunately a lot of them are at the film's expense. As I've mentioned before, it's incredibly cheesy. This leads to plenty of unintentionally funny moments. When you bring the soundtrack into the equation though, it becomes outright hilarious. The movie uses a lot of hard rock as sort of a try-hard way to come off as cool, edgy, and capture that dark tone of the source material. It just doesn't work and bolsters the already cheesy tone. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the director's choice to use an Evanescence song during a funeral scene. I just couldn't take it seriously. Same for an already goofy action sequence where Elektra is training by awkwardly chopping up sandbags. Yet another Evanescence song and more unintentional hilarity.

Now, to be clear it's not that they are bad songs. I like Evanescence. It's just that the band's material already has a certain stigma to it. Their song Bring Me to Life is practically a meme for crying out loud and that's the one they used in the movie! Now, I know back in 2003 when this movie came out that wasn't the case for the song, but there's no escaping the how goofy it feels to try and use it for a serious moment today. Same goes for the whole soundtrack really. It's just clear that each song was picked to try and make the movie feel edgy. A whole heck of a lot edgier than it actually ended up being.

Oh, Daredevil. Bless it's heart it tries. It's clear that actual effort did go into this, but ultimately it was misguided and failed to do the character justice. There are a few good things here and there and I mean, heck, you can laugh at it, but it's just so bad there's no reason to watch it unless you just want to kind of torture yourself for about and hour and forty-three minutes. It would have been outright amazing to see a genuinely brutal, dark superhero movie hit the scene back in the early 2000s. Daredevil certainly tried. Unfortunately what we got ended up having the same tone as the Schumacher Batman movies, only somehow with extra Velveeta. That's just not a good fit for Daredevil or his fans, and neither is this movie as a result.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

J-Shap

Aug 27, 2011

For a superhero that's supposed to be so dark and tortured by guilt (emotional and Catholic), Daredevil is a rather goofy movie. It's dialogue feels like it was written by someone who had never read a comic book trying to emulate one, and scene after scene of forced drama (and by drama, IFor a superhero that's supposed to be so dark and tortured by guilt (emotional and Catholic), Daredevil is a rather goofy movie. It's dialogue feels like it was written by someone who had never read a comic book trying to emulate one, and scene after scene of forced drama (and by drama, I mean play a ton of emo songs).… Expand

4 of 13 users found this helpful49

The3AcademySins

Sep 10, 2019

2003's Daredevil is a terrible movie, but a brilliant comedy. In some ways, it feels like it could be The Room of superhero movies, but it does make a lot more sense than The Room. The soundtrack is hilarious, the moral ambiguity of the titular character is delightfully heavy handed, the2003's Daredevil is a terrible movie, but a brilliant comedy. In some ways, it feels like it could be The Room of superhero movies, but it does make a lot more sense than The Room. The soundtrack is hilarious, the moral ambiguity of the titular character is delightfully heavy handed, the action is fun to watch, and there is a lot of delicious scenery chewing from the entire cast. This is one of those rare 4/10 movies that I can watch again and again.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

voiders

Aug 26, 2013

Bad script, bad actors, bad felling, pointless.... The movie dont have any good point..
Unfortunately i had watch on the cinema. Was a wasteof money..

2 of 14 users found this helpful212

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22	#22 Most Discussed Movie of 2003
50	#50 Most Shared Movie of 2003