Daredevil

2003

Daredevil

Critics Consensus

While Ben Affleck fits the role and the story is sporadically interesting, Daredevil is ultimately a dull, brooding origin story that fails to bring anything new to the genre.

44%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 226

35%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 468,338

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Movie Info

One of Marvel Comics' most popular characters comes to the screen for the first time in this sci-fi action-thriller. Matthew Murdock (Ben Affleck) is a lawyer whose father, a prizefighter, was killed by gangsters when Murdock was just a boy. Since then, Murdock has devoted his life to bringing wrongdoers to justice and is willing to help others by taking on cases no other attorney will touch. Murdock is also blind, after being struck down by a truck while trying to save a man from being hit. What no one knows is that Murdock was also doused with an unusual radioactive isotope which had a strange effect on him -- while Murdock's sight may be gone, his other senses have been raised to such a keen pitch that they act like radar, allowing him to tell where he's going and what happens around him, both near and far away. Murdock puts his gifts to use at night as the costumed crime-fighter Daredevil, whose pursuit of justice has earned him the wrath of underworld leader Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan). Kingpin wants Daredevil out of his way once and for all, and hires Bullseye (Colin Farrell), a super-assassin with an uncanny ability to throw blades, to do the job. Daredevil also makes the acquaintance of Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), a woman with super-heroic talents who is also on Kingpin's bad side, though it remains to be seen if she has aligned herself with the forces of good as Daredevil has done. Jon Favreau, Joe Pantoliano, and David Keith highlight Daredevil's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Cast

Ben Affleck
as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Jennifer Garner
as Elektra
Colin Farrell
as Bullseye
Michael Clarke Duncan
as Kingpin/Fisk
Jon Favreau
as Franklin
Scott Terra
as Young Matt
Ellen Pompeo
as Karen
Joe Pantoliano
as Urich
Leland Orser
as Wesley
Lennie Lofton
as Manolis
Erick Avari
as Natchios
Derrick O'Connor
as Father Everett
Paul Ben-Victor
as Quesada
David Keith
as Jack Murdock
Frankie Jay Allison
as Abusive Father
Joe J. Garcia
as Meat Packer
John Rothman
as Quesada Attorney
Jim Fitzgerald
as Ring Announcer
Casey McCarthy
as Angela Sutton
Louis Bernstein
as Judge No. 1
Josie DiVincenzo
as Josie
Jorge Noa
as NY Cop No. 1
Levett M. Washington
as Kid No. 1
Albert Gutierrez
as Kid No. 2
Lakeith S. Evans
as Kid No. 3
Stefanos Miltsakakis
as Stavros
Pat Crawford Brown
as Sweet Old Lady
Carrie Geiben
as Flight Attendant
Luke Strode
as Little Boy
Bruce Mibach
as Rookie Cop
David Doty
as Drunken Englishman
Ron Mathews
as Sharpshooter
Kevin Smith
as Forensic Assistant Kirby
Daniel B. Wing
as Quesada's Friend
Jeff Padilla
as Quesada's Friend No. 2
Dan Brinkle
as Referee
Jackie Reiss
as Boxing Referee No. 2
Stan Lee
as Old Man at Crossing
Sonya Didenko
as Quesada's Friend No. 3
Greg "Christopher" Smith
as SWAT Leader
Christopher Prescott
as Policeman
Ari Randall
as Waitress
John S. Bakas
as Greek Priest
Greg Collins
as Fisk Bodyguard
Robert Iler
as Bully No. 1
Chad Christopher Tucker
as Bully No. 2
Jamie Mahoney
as Bully No. 3
Jorn H. Winther
as Stavros' Friend
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Critic Reviews for Daredevil

All Critics (226) | Top Critics (46)

  • From start to finish, the film is death-ridden and employs overamplified sound to pump up its many pornographic images.

    Dec 13, 2017 | Full Review…

    Alexander Walker

    London Evening Standard
    Top Critic

  • It isn't a great film, or even a greatly original one. Still, it has many grace notes, and interesting oddities.

    Jul 14, 2015 | Full Review…

    Joe Morgenstern

    Wall Street Journal
    Top Critic

  • Much of the rest of Daredevil is so dark that you can't see it. I don't think you're missing a great deal.

    Jul 14, 2015 | Full Review…

    David Denby

    New Yorker
    Top Critic

  • When Farrell's on screen, Daredevil becomes more than just a finely tuned entertainment machine. In a movie that will rake people in no matter what, it's fun to see something unexpected.

    Jul 14, 2015 | Full Review…

    Ben Nuckols

    Associated Press
    Top Critic

  • There's good stuff in the margins. But on the heels of such successful comic-book adaptations as X-Men and Spider-Man, Johnson's film makes Daredevil look like the second-rate hero he never really was.

    Jul 13, 2015 | Full Review…

    Keith Phipps

    AV Club
    Top Critic

  • Torn between moody grandiosity and cartoonish mayhem, Daredevil tries to have it both ways, and succeeds at neither.

    Jul 7, 2010 | Full Review…

    David Ansen

    Newsweek
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (226)

Audience Reviews for Daredevil

  • Jun 20, 2016
    Notorious as one of the worst comic book films of the last 20 years and this film does not disappoint in living up to that reputation. Colin Farrell as Bullseye is just awful. The visuals are entertaining and it was an interesting (and smart) turn to change the Kingpin to a black actor, played by Michael Clarke Duncan who is probably the best part of the film. Elektra in this film is also pretty terrible. I'd avoid this one but if you just HAVE to watch it, pick up the Director's Cut. It doesn't make the movie amazing, but it is better than the theatrical cut.
    Patrick W Super Reviewer
  • May 09, 2016
    There are good comicbook movies and there are bad comicbook movies. This movie definitely has its place among the worst of the worst. There are multiple things to hate about this movie, and not so many things to like. You can say that the movie is saved somehow by Colin Farrell's somewhat good performance, but everyone else in the movie looks like they are suffering from some decease. Ben Affleck looks like he doesn't want to be there and Jennifer Garner is totally miscast as Elektra. The movie has no charisma and the story is really weak in many different ways. You can't really see where the original script got lost in horrible storytelling or if the script was just bad from the very first draft. The action in the movie fails on many different levels, because you never really knows what's going on with the characters in the scenes. This movie is a failure on many different levels!
    Lasse G Super Reviewer
  • Apr 13, 2015
    Usually I don't enjoy superhero films but Daredevil was quite well done. It's got a good storyline (at least for the first half), good message, good acting. It was visually impressive. Sigh, why was Ben Affleck Daredevil... He was the last person I would consider for the role. The running time is also a little too long, could have been condensed. But otherwise Daredevil is an entertaining film.
    Sylvester K Super Reviewer
  • Nov 25, 2013
    Daredevil gives its absolute best to avoid the cliches of Super Hero films in the past, and aims for the more dark routes of more recent films like The Punisher, The Punisher (2004), Punisher: War Zone, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity and Constantine, but it doesn't necessarily succeed. Before I go any further, I should state that their is a "Director's Cut" of this film out there in limited release, somewhere on the market. I've never been able to find a copy of this personally. I have how ever heard, that it features something like half an hour of extra footage and that viewers who panned the original will go for the much darker full version. However, given that I've never seen that film, I'll be reviewing the theatrical release, and any advances made in a Director's Cut will not apply in this post. If I do happen to ever come across this longer version, I'll be sure to put in a new review, or at the very least a footnote in this one, complete with a new rating. Bearing that in mind, here goes. What starts out with a wicked origin story, quickly delves into extreme lameness, Bullseye (above right, portrayed by Collin Farrell; Minority Report, S.W.A.T., In Bruges, Pride and Glory) being its only real saving grace in the latter half of the film. Michael Clark Duncan as Kingpin was kind of a silly, but perhaps could have been brought more forwards, and it would have resulted in a better role. Its main problem rises from the fact that it can't decide weather it has realism credibility or not. I may not have particularly loved Fantastic 4 or its sequel, but at least they knew what they were about. Basically, Ben Affleck (Chasing Amy, Dogma, Pearl Harbour, Armageddon, Clerks II, The Town) doesn't work as a Super Hero. I know he said he's a huge Marvel fan since childhood, he grew up with Daredevil and read every single issue. Well hey, more power to him, but that doesn't make you the right actor for the job (or for that matter, a good actor at all; personal opinion). Jennifer Garner (Juno, The Kingdom, Elektra, Pear Harbour, Dude Where's My Car, Alias) has the same problem, but to an even greater extreme; how they deemed it necessary to bring her back for her own full feature in Elektra I'll never know. Daredevil's not strictly speaking terrible, but after the slew of great Marvel films I've been through, I can't really find something about it to really save the film for me. 43% -Gimly
    Gimly M Super Reviewer
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