Review: Netflix’s Daredevil

Greetings one and all, it is I, the Angry Webmaster, bringing you a review, (With no thanks to that thug, The Angry Systems Administrator), on Netflix’s newest original offering, Marvel’s Daredevil.

Last weekend I watched the entire first season of Daredevil and I was surprised at how much I liked it. While I am aware of the Daredevil story, I never read the old comic books, and I still laugh at the version that started Ben Afleck. The story revolves around Matt Murdoch, a man who lost his sight as a boy. Matt is a lawyer and seems to be well adjusted to being blind. He and his collage friend, “Foggy” open a law firm in the Hells Kitchen section of New York City.

While Matt is blind, (His optic nerves were destroyed in a chemical spill when he pushed a man out of the way of an oncoming truck and was splashed), his other four senses have become far more acute, to the point that he can “see” without using his eyes. (Think a combination of Sonar and Radar) He uses his ability to fight evil.

The bad guy in the series is Wilson Fisk played by Vincent D’Onofrio and played magnificently. Fisk is a wealthy and powerful man who controls the criminal element in the Hells Kitchen area. His plan is to completely rebuild the area and clean it up and he will use any means he deems necessary to achieve his goal.

The series takes place in the Marvel Universe, so you will hear references to other Marvel characters along with references to the battle of New York that happened in the movie, the Avengers. Because this is a series rather then a movie, and Netflix isn’t bound by the usual ratings systems put in place by Hollywood, the producers were able to develop a richness in the characters you don’t normally see.

D’Onofrio’s portrayal of Wilson Fisk is a case in point. You watch the character develop in the series and you see a man who thinks he is doing right, but is so flawed by what happened when he was a child that he is almost pure evil.

On the flip side, you have Matt Murdoch. He too is a flawed character but understands that he is. As Daredevil, he refuses to kill his enemies. He will beat them into a coma and understands that he is capable of going that one extra step. He also doesn’t seem to have a problem with some of his enemies dying indirectly from his actions. Murdoch also is Catholic and confides in his parish priest.

Joining Matt and Foggy as they try to take down Fisk is Karen Page played by former baby vamp Deborah Ann Woll. Karen Page stumbles on an embezzlement scheme where she works, and is set up as a murderer. Murdoch along with Foggy take her case and prove that she is innocent. She then comes to work for them at their law firm.

Again, we see the character development done by Woll. Her character is trying to do the right thing and keeps stumbling into one bad situation after another culminating in her killing someone. She is able to hide what she did, and while the audience can see it was a case of self defense, if Karen Page comes forward, at best she will be put in jail for the rest of her life. In all probability, she will be killed herself. The guilt at what she did eats at her.

The weakest character in the series, in my opinion is Franklin “Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdoch’s friend and law partner. He’s played by Elden Henson. I will be blunt that I was hoping this character would die a slow and horrible death at the hands of one of Fisk’s henchmen. I simply could not like the character.

The series is darker then the usual Marvel fare. One of the things many people commented on is the realism of the fights that Daredevil is involved in. Other then his increased senses, Matt Murdoch is just a regular guy with no super strength or magic hammers. You see him getting the snot kicked out of himself all through the series. He doesn’t just “bounce back” and you can see that in a few cases he is sidelined as his body heals.

I don’t know what the ratings for this series are, but judging from the reviews and word of mouth, I suspect they will be very good indeed. I see this as another addition in Netflix’s stable of original content along with House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. (Note, I have not seen Orange is the New Black) I expect we will see a notice that season two is in production fairly soon.

I highly recommend watching this series. It will be interesting of they do more formal crossovers with the rest of the Marvel universe. We shall see.

Thatisall

~The Angry Webmaster~

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