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Daredevil (tv 2015)

Totenkindly

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Releasing on April 10, 2015.

Considering how poorly the movies "Daredevil" and "Elektra" did in the cinema years back, plus lower-profile actors in this upcoming series, it was unclear how to assess the production.

However, the first few episodes are actually helmed by established director Phil Abraham and Adam Kane, who have done quality work on Mad Men, Orange is the New Black, and Hannibal. So that suggests maybe at least the production quality will be decent and thus it will come down to more whether than is a Marco Polo or a House of Cards (vs being the Flash Gordon 2007 reboot in disguise).

The first three Daredevil episode titles and directors are revealed — The Beat

EDIT: Note that this thread has spoilers, a few later on being large ones.
 
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prplchknz

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could be another buffy. though first time hearing about this. But the film buffy did abysmal but the show become a cult classic so not sure, :shrug:
 

Totenkindly

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Watched the first two episodes. I'm liking it.

The leads (Cox, Woll, Dawson, Henson) are pretty good. Really impressed with Cox as Matt Murdock.

Drew Goddard worked on this for awhile (I think he wrote the first two episodes) until he left to helm the Sinister Six movie. But... really good so far. I'm pretty familiar with Daredevil and own much of the Miller run, and have read some other runs from other time periods. The comic's cool in its limited scope -- Daredevil's really focused on a particular part of NYC and helping average people from normal-type crooks, in general, although of course there were always some core villains that came through, and of course the Kingpin.... but in general it's not like mutants or hardcore scifi powers, he's just a blind guy who happens to have heightened senses and great athletic ability and trained by the masters (Stick, etc.)

The pilot had a few weak/generic moments, but overall just was really interesting... and the fight scenes are really gritty and feel pretty real and work in Daredevil's abilities believably.

The second episode ends with a great battle that's all one take, it reminds me a bit of the hallway fight scene in Oldboy -- and it seems pretty realistic (at least if you believe a blind guy can take on nine guys in that setting). He does a lot of disabling moves, so that he's only ever facing two guys at once, the disabled guys eventually get up and come after him again but he wears them all down, and he himself is taking advantage of every momentary breather... both to get in a quick respite plus to sucker them into coming at him. The choreography is really great. And Cox's build is really great for Daredevil, the way they silhouette him against things.

Foggy always came off a little more IxxP in the comic, here he comes off as pretty crazy ENTP to me. It's an interesting take on him -- he's one funny remark after the next and high energy. Karen seems pretty consistent with the comic, although I think she's a little more introverted in the comic. But they all seem to have decent synergy. Again, I have to say that Cox is really good. I hadn't even heard of him before but I think he was well-cast.

Looking forward to watching the rest.
 

Totenkindly

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I've watched about five episodes.

It's definitely better than Xena and the Star Trek episodics, but it's not as good as Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Hannibal, True Detective, and more serious TV dramas I've seen. Its quality tends to fluctuate between the two while never quite achieving the latter.

Pretty much any scene Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock) is in is pretty great. He just elevates the show. Dawon and Woll are solid too. You can tell they are all experienced actors, they seem to inhabit their roles.

Henson (Foggy) is still kind of one-note, and while he's charming and fun, he seems to pause slightly (as if he is thinking) between each speaking bit he has, it's too one-note versus him seeming to respond naturally. Ironically, it seems even worse to me in regards to D'Onofrio as Kingpin... which is surprising, since D'Onofrio has a long range of acting experience even if he's never quite been an A-lister or a movie opener. I know they're trying to express Wilson Fisk as socially introverted and a man who bottles (and then sometimes releases) his emotions because he doesn't know how to process them... however, D'Onofrio is coming off more like he's either forgotten his lines or is very uncomfortable with the character. He still seems like he's trying to think about how to be the Kingpin, rather than simply being the Kingpin. They might have done better with a less name-known actor who just could inhabit the character.

Daredevil has never really been about epic adventures, he's more the guardian of Hell's Kitchen with some interesting ninja background pieces, and his main opponents have been lower-key villains in general; you're not going to see epic Avengers battles here. So that doesn't surprise me. But the baddies do seem very thuggish and a bit underwhelming at the moment, especially with D'Onofrio being a bit "off". The city crime council doesn't seem very threatening to me.

I still think the fight scenes are great and haven't really had issues with seeing what was going on (to the degree that is realistic). Physically, Cox does inhabit Daredevil well and strikes the perfect profile.

So I'm hoping they at least finish the season well. I think they've got the basics of something good, but pieces of it are still unfinished / not yet synced up.
 

JocktheMotie

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I really enjoyed it.

I also think the fight scenes are great, and even if they're a bit embellished at times it's largely okay. Oddly, the best fight scene in the whole series I think was in episode 2 or 3; the long single take brawl. It has a very "Bourne Identity" style of combat, good sound, and is fun to watch.

Cox is easily the most captivating character in the show and he's very good. His opening monologue in the confession booth is great. I agree with D'Onofrio that at times his character seems forced. Especially in scenes when he's speaking another language, he seems like he's just repeating lines he's being fed from an earpiece. My favorite scenes of his are when he loses control and demonstrates his surprising physical strength. I think if you interpret his general awkwardness as him trying to retain some composure in the face of upsetting situations it makes a bit more sense, but I more often found his portrayal distracting rather than natural. I never really got the sense he was a criminal mastermind either, he was always more threatening as a physical presence which I think is a bit off. If anything I found his assistant, Wesley, a far more competent and interesting villain character.

That being said, I blitzed through these and really, really enjoyed them. Looking forward to more.
 

Totenkindly

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Yeah, the Cut Man fight scene was very awesome. I had also just watched Oldboy (2003) earlier in the week and it reminded me of the hall sequence there -- one long take, with a lot of "down time" scattered throughout the fight. That fight was a left-to-right scroll, this one focused on the central hallway with two side rooms that momentarily would obfuscate the fight, but I think that made it more interesting.
 

Ene

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I've only seen the first two episodes and already I'm wondering if Elektra will be brought into the mix. Also, what's your take on Matt's personality? I love the flashbacks to when he was a kid. I liked it when they did that in the comics, too.
 

Totenkindly

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Well, the character typing discussion is over here:
http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/popular-culture-and-type/76057-daredevil-netflix.html

If they continue with the series, I think they should hold off for awhile. Give Daredevil time to find his own feet and explore and get established. Elektra is an assassin for hire, like Bullseye; maybe they would feasibly show up later in Season 2 or in Season 3, if they're going to show up.


I like shows with flashbacks, I was a Lost fan (where the backstories were generally pretty great). I'm also into shows organized by things (like theme) versus straight chronology.
 

Totenkindly

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Just watched episode 6. It was a pretty definitive episode for me and stepped up my interest... the story seemed to be becoming more textured.

 

Totenkindly

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The "Stick" episode was really good, although the choice of weapons in the opener was rather contradictory.

Scott Glenn was apparently not the first choice, but I think he was the better choice based on my knowledge of the character... and he actually was pretty true to the book in terms of tone. (Stick was cool for being "Bad Teacher" thirty years before JK Simmons in "Whiplash.") Really interesting episode.


---

Daredevil: Charlie Cox and Rosario Dawson Interview
 

Totenkindly

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Finished the series last night. I think it was a really great Season 1, albeit flawed... some episodes were really good, a few were more conventional and lost some of the nuance gained in the best episodes. I'm glad I watched it and look forward to the next season.

A lot of my opinions actually ended up being reflected in the AV Club episode reviews, if you've read those.

Spoiler discussion here:


Based on how Season 1 ended... not exactly sure where they are going in Season 2. I think they wanted to produce a self-contained storyline in case they didn't get renewed. They can reexpand stuff of course, but they've got a fairly clean slate at this point.
 

TreeBob

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I've only seen the first two episodes and already I'm wondering if Elektra will be brought into the mix. Also, what's your take on Matt's personality? I love the flashbacks to when he was a kid. I liked it when they did that in the comics, too.
They have confirmed that Elektra won't be brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (At least for now). They are tied up doing Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and then finishing it off with Defenders (In that order).
I suppose they could cast her in Season 2 but I somehow doubt it. They'd be better off saving her for her own show in my opinion.
 

Riva

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Watched the series and loved it.

Perhaps it would be more realistic if he started killing people instead of knocking them out with really hard punches.

Stick was more realistic in that regard; whom I though was really awesome and sexy by the way despite his age.

Fisk seems like a well written character but what is his plan for the city and why is he so dumb? Yes he is an idiot. He keeps fucking things up and killing people who even vaguely challenges him. Too emotional to be a criminal mastermind. He kept fucking things up and making enemies everywhere. The only thing smart about him I saw was all those government officials he has bought off. That's it. That is pretty smart but I can't imagine how an emotional immature childlike idiot like him bought them off. Perhaps it's the money but how did he make all that money is another question.

He is like a child.

His assistant however was smart, but died trying to do something really stupid.
 

Totenkindly

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Yeah, Wesley kind of blew it on that one... although it was primarily because Fisk was absorbed in the situation with Vanessa and he was doing it to spare his friend some grief as well as knowing Fisk would really flip out if he knew his mom had been involved. So he was taking care of the business to spare his friend more pain + a risky reaction.

The thing with Wesley is that he did directly intervene more than you might have thought, in a large organization. Like when he went to the bowling alley to retrieve the gun; I thought realistically that would be a hireling's job, not a person of a position like Wesley. More delegation.

Here his main fault was putting that thing on the table and even needing to have it loaded at all. Kind of silly -- in a one-on-one, he should have been able to win regardless. (Sorry Karen, but that's how the chips fall.)

Anyway.
 

Riva

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I am also saying that Fisk is an idiot and that he didn't indicate even in the slightest the ability to manipulate people. One of the dumbest characters I have ever seen. Too angry, too proud, too impulsive, lacks charm, lacks foresight. Basicaully he lacked everything we expect from a man in his position irrespective of the field he is in and especially the field he is in.

His only weapon is that he is well connected. Considering his lack of social skills, cunning or foresight it's a puzzle how he built such a network. Perhaps it's money but how did he make all/any of it?

I think that Tirad woman (Gao) was a much better character than he is. Also intelligent.
 

Riva

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But fisk did show some good acting skills, the way he faked his tears seemed genuine.
 

Totenkindly

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Daredevil had the highest percentage of Netflix folks watching for the "how many people watched at least one episode during the initial X days" ranking. It was somwhere around 10-11%. Weirdly, House of Cards was only 6.5%.

I also saw an article that ranked the best current superhero TV shows currently airing, and in the six they listed Daredevil edged out The Flash for the no. 1 slot.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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I haven't seen this yet, but the people praising it here seem to have good taste. I'll give a spin.
 

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Watched the first episode and half way through the second. Really liking it so far...
 

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I haven't seen this yet, but the people praising it here seem to have good taste. I'll give a spin.

I really like it. I agree with [MENTION=22067]riva[/MENTION]'s assessment about the kingpin/Fisk. Madame Gao is a good protagonist. I felt they made a mistake in killing off Ben Urich and I kind of hated to see Wesley go. I felt there was a lot of room for character development there.

All in all, I think it's a good series. I love Cox's portrayal of Matt and thought the relationships between he and Foggy and he and Stick where well done.

I would like to see at least one of the female characters develop into a more complex, fleshed out character. Karen is "getting there."
 
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