Daredevil

Michael Barnes wrote: .

HOLY SHIT the fight at the end of the second episode...there's an amazing long take that's not quite True Detective quality in its ambition, but you've got to see this thing...half of it happens off screen.

Oh. My.God. Best fight sequence since Winter Soldier. Loved every second of it.

I wish this was how they were going to do Cumberbatch's Dr. Strange.

Dr. Mabuse wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: .

HOLY SHIT the fight at the end of the second episode...there's an amazing long take that's not quite True Detective quality in its ambition, but you've got to see this thing...half of it happens off screen.

Oh. My.God. Best fight sequence since Winter Soldier. Loved every second of it.

Agreed! That scene was terrific. I'm only 3 episodes in, but I like the show a lot so far. I'm continually impressed with the way they use Murdock's enhanced other senses, without resorting to cheesy sonar effects like in the Affleck movie. And it's often very subtle too, like the ticking of a watch.

I only have one complaint -- I'm tired of the "hero tortures a bad guy to get information out of him" trope. It happens three times, just in these first three episodes. I understand there are plot-related reasons that Murdock needs to get this information, but geez, come up with something else. This is such a lazy, juvenile way to make the protagonist seem dark and edgy.

Made it through ep. 5 over the weekend (Man it sucked to have to stop at that cliffhanger!).

I absolutely love this show. I was a huge Frank Miller Daredevil fan, and I can't believe how *right* everything is about this show. The cast (and casting) is excellent, the scripts are intelligent, and the directing is sublime. I can't believe a superhero show actually uses subtlety!

The ONLY complaint I have about the show is that it is visually a little too dark. It helps the mood, I guess, but it also makes it look like they're afraid to show the sets, which makes it feel cheap.

I don't know if Netflix has plans to release this in a purchasable, permanent format, but I'd buy it if they did.

Gregarius wrote: I don't know if Netflix has plans to release this in a purchasable, permanent format, but I'd buy it if they did.

They released other shows of theirs on video, like Orange is the New Black, so I'm guessing either them or Marvel will release it.

I do have one more rant about this show, but it's laughably minor. I know a lot of FATties are pinball fans, though, so I thought it would be worth mentioning.

In one of the episodes (4, I think?), there's a pinball machine in a bowling alley. I couldn't quite make out which one (a favorite pastime for me whenever a pin appears on screen), but it was definitely a modern release. However, whoever was in charge of dubbing the sound pulled archaic 50s or 60s era pinball sounds. It drove me crazy! I would have actually preferred non-sensical electronic boops and bleeps to that completely weird anachronism.

A 2015 release.

Made it through episode 6 last night. It's just SO. DAMN. GOOD.

I like the little acknowledgements of the other MCU movies without coming right out and saying "You know, when the aliens attacked and destroyed a large section of Manhattan". It's written as if everyone knows what happened, everyone has lived through it.

Ben Urich is PERFECT. I was kind of worried they would go with young, hipster Ben Urich from the Ultimate universe, but they went with the grizzled, beleaguered Ben we love. Only issue is, of course, they can't use the Daily Bugle name.

I love how DD actually screams out in pain when he is hit or how audible his exertion is when he is really going at it. I guess I never noticed that most other fight scenes in other shows or movies either tone that way down or just ignore it. It really stood out to me.

It's a bit violent to let kids watch.

But I guess if theyre going to watch violence, then it may as well illustrate more realism than "They die and fall over". If nothing else, such displays discourage violence rather than nurture it. When you see something distasteful, you avoid it and anything which might lead you to encounter it.

Great show though. Incredible in fact. It makes me wish Constantine/Hellblazer would be picked up by Netflix. That show deserves this kind of treatment. Not the crappy tiptoeing around religion and magic that NBC felt they had to do in order to televise it.
But this could be said for pretty much any comic book now made into a tv show. Daredevil is the new gold standard for this type of program.

I'm on episode 10 or 11, can't remember. I'm not actually enjoying it very much but I made a promise to a friend to finish it, so I will.

I'm not really seeing much special in this but I am coming at it from 'I don't give a shit about the comic book' perspective, in fact, I've never read it. So I'm coming at it from a straight drama perspective and I find it kind of a boring story.

Organised crime and embattled lawyers/victims AGAIN. WOW! The kingpin has a backstory. WOW! DD is morally challenged. There is nothing that is really driving me to watch this further and I'm not interested in WOW! Realistic violence. Fuck violence and anyone who promotes it on screen, rather have sex promoted than 'realistic' violence.

Christ you are all a bunch of nerds, wetting your pants at long shots of fighting and sounds of bones cracking. Are you all on drugs or something?

I think this is a particularly US cultural thing that I, for one, simply do not get at all. I'm not being hipster here, I just think the show is boring and samey and predictable. NOTHING unusual (bar the hero being blind) is actually happening. There are no serious plot twists, no betrayal, its just sickening, boring violence. Fuck people who admire violence on or off screen.

However, my main criticism is that the story is actually boring. It is definitely not pulling me into loading up the next episode AT ALL. Rewatching Homeland (obviously no where near the same) where the universal themes of betrayal and the plot twists are actually fun and definitely do encourage you to watch more. This is just something for nerds brought up on a comic and nothing more and I speak from the position of someone NOT brought up on US comic superhero tropes.

Children, BTW, are quite capable of distinguishing between pretend violence and real violence. So no. Looking for excuses to show this to your 10 yr old? There aren't any.

Really, who the fuck said anything about showing this to their kids? (I know it wasn't you, Andy, and I know Colorcrayons made first mention of it, but really, what the fuck). It's 2015, I thought we were long past that "comics are for children" bullshit.

Well that's another argument, Josh.

I think comics are not necessarily for children (thinking Maus, Berlin, Black Hole etc) but superheroes 100% definitely are for children and US children at that. Either actual children or children at heart.

I get all the nerd shit about graphic novels being a different art form, but I don't buy it. Superheroes are bloody childish and that is that. At best, they could perhaps be used to exemplify moral choices and worst, they are just childish revenge fantasies. Doesn't mean I don't read them but I know where they lie in the pantheon of quality literature.

Within the superhero TV genre this show is groundbreaking. I definitely don't think superheroes are only for children. You just have to have an imagination and a heart.

Finished watching the season last night. Some final thoughts.

1) Very well done indeed. I thought the production, look, and feel of the show was 100% grimy New York.

2) The translation of Dare Devil from comic book to screen was fantastic. As seen with the movie, handled poorly the results can be terrible.

3) There is a great deal of violence. All of it quite brutal. I would not recommend this show for children nor was it ever meant for children. That being said, the fight scenes are great. They were choreographed with skill, shot with imagination and no shakey cam/rapid close up edit bullshit. That is a very difficult thing to do and whoever is responsible deserves an award. Many Hollywood types should watch and learn.

Despite Andy's anti-violence glorification stance, it us part and parcel of the Superhero genre. Like a martial arts film, I can appreciate and enjoy it without being in any way an advocate of real violence.

4) I thought the acting was good if not great. Donofrio was probably the best as a dangerous and capable Kingpin. He's always good at playing the slightly off center creepy dude.

5) I thought the show ended a bit weaker than I would have liked. And, as to the Dare Devil outfit in the last episode. It was terrible. Perhaps the biggest misstep of the show. Should have left him in the tactical gear with the head scarf.