The Man Without Fear, previously brought to the big screen courtesy of writer-director Mark Steven Johnson who has been pretty much outed of Hollywood since he unsuccessfully failed to adapt Daredevil and also struck out directing Ghost Rider. Marvel, smartly might I add, moved Daredevil to a TV series, more importantly a Netflix original television series. Season ones thirteen episodes hit Netflix on Friday and here's my review of the very first episode that kicks off Marvel's Netflix slate of shows.
Into The Ring starts off with the classic origin piece as we see a 9 year old Matt Murdoch go blind after a car accident that involved drums of hazardous chemicals. Fast forward some 15 years or so and we have a grown Matt Murdoch in a catholic confessional delving more into his past, mostly his family's past before asking the priest for forgiveness for what he's about to do.
This is where we finally see Daredevil in action as he takes out a bunch of thugs who are trying to grab girls and, presumably, sell them off into sex slavery. The next morning Matt is awoken by his partner at their law firm, they're defence attorney's by the way, Foggy Nelson who was on his way to bribe a cop into getting him a good case, which happens when young Karen Page is found in her apartment holding a bloodied knife over the body of her dead co-worker.
Matt and Foggy decide to take the case as Matt is positive she's innocent and that proves true when the district attorney fails to press charges due to other factors in play at the crime scene. We also begin to see the shadowy underworld of Kingpin begin to unfold as we see people threatened to do their bidding otherwise they're loved ones will be harmed. We also see Karen being attacked in her cell the following morning she gets released and Foggy and Matt take her back to their office to discover why people are looking to have her killed off. It's up to Matt and Foggy to help unravel the mystery that ties Karen to the Kingpin's crew, and when more attempts are made on Karen's life it's up to Daredevil to swoop in and save the day.
Charlie Cox plays Matt Murdoch/Daredevil and he does a fine job. Cox first came to my attention in the criminally under seen Scottish film Stone Of Destiny which also starred Kate Mara (Sue Storm in this summer's Fantastic Four). He followed that up with award winning roles in Boardwalk Empire in this past year's Oscar darling The Theory Of Everything. He brings out the wit and the slyness that Murdoch is supposed to bring to the table while still looking the part of a kick-ass vigilante when he puts on the mask, which is really just a hat at this point.
Karen Page is played by Deborah Ann Woll who I guess was in True Blood, but she's a new face to me. She's not given a whole lot to do here as in the first episode she's essentially just playing the victim, but by the end of the episode you can see that her character has a lot more growing to do and she seems up to the challenge. Which brings us to Foggy Nelson, played by Elden Henson who will always by Fulton Reed, of Mighty Ducks fame, to me. He's the comedic relief here as he's equal parts sarcastic, funny and a bit of an ass but he's given the most to do in the first episode and he's clearly going to be the fan favourite going forwards.
The action sequences, all two of them, are stylishly done and the dark setting and tone of the script adds to the excitement, even if sometimes you're left wondering if Daredevil kicked a guy in the face or fireman carried him onto the sidewalk. Episode one mostly dealt with building the world of Daredevil, it gives you an idea of what Hell's Kitchen is like and why are characters have to do the things they do but it moves along at a brisk enough pace to keep you interested and the characters are fascinating enough to keep you coming back and the action will keep coming as we move along the first season.
In short, Daredevil on Netflix is certainly worth your time. You'll come for the Marvel name, but you'll want to stay for the character's journey and the story crafted by Drew Goddard (World War Z, The Cabin In The Woods).
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