Dare Me If You Dare

Netflix just released its latest juggernaut series, Daredevil. Starring Charlie Cox, who played a gay Duke in Downton Abbey as the titular hero. Unlike the childish Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter, Daredevil is leaning towards the DC-grim-and-gritty tone which is amazing. Netflix shows always have high production values and quality, like the immensely binge-worthy House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Daredevil falls behind those two flagship series but it is way beyond the CW-ish effort to retell one of the greatest explorers in the world, yes, I'm talking about the quite unwatchable Marco Polo. Binge-wise, Daredevil doesn't make you consume your time because each episode takes its time and you cannot just watch it all (or maybe now I'm just mature). It took me three days to watch the latest season of House of Cards and maybe four days to watch last year's OITNB, but Daredevil took me around one week. Quality-wise it is the best superhero series by far. I never really got into CW's superhero shows, I used to love Smallville but it got too campy for me, especially after Lana Lang exited. I never even finished Arrow pilot and The Flash was pretty bad for me. And then comes Gotham which is not only the bottom of the barrel but maybe way under the barrel. It's so bad, you actually can feel your IQ declining by just watching that.

nope this one's from the series

Daredevil, where to start... We can start from that badly-received film adaptation starring the now Bruce Wayne/Batman Ben Affleck in 2003. Even though it was universally-hated, I think it is quite remarkable that Daredevil got made before any other existing superhero. His story isn't that good anyway, blind lawyer turns vigilante. I completely forgot the theatrical version, but I got my hands to the Director's Cut recently. Many of the reviewers on IMDb said it's great but I still think it's average at best. I only like Jennifer Garner there, and usually I don't like Jennifer Garner. The fights are slow, the CGI was bad (considering we had Spider-Man just a year before), and the acting was ew (Colin Farrell might be buying all Daredevil DVDs just to burn it at his Irish home because that's what I would do if I were him).

Fast forward 12 years later we have a winning team at Netflix, headed by Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard that turned that bad taste into a five-star hotel taste. Casting Charlie Cox from Stardust fame as the titular hero and the rising Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk is inspired. Also future breakout stars Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll. If I don't see the three of them in a great movie anytime soon, then we can conclude that Hollywood hates Netflix. Daredevil is a very far-fetched concept but Drew Goddard handled it in the best way possible.

There are so many things to like and love. Charlie Cox's spot-on portrayal as Matt Murdock/Daredevil. The simple black costume. Elden Henson as Foggy which could be highly annoying but doesn't. Expanded role for Karen Page which introduces us to the amazing Deborah Ann Woll. That backstory with Battlin' Jack Murdock. The vulnerable yet ruthless Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin played by multilingual Vincent D'Onofrio. The gritty great story. The minimum amount of the usual Marvel easter eggs. The production values. The necessary violence and gore. The title sequence and theme song.

I hope they don't ruin the series by cramming to many easter eggs though. I've heard rumors they're going to introduce Elektra and Bullseye in season two. If done well, it could be great but if done badly, Netflix is going to get a new Gotham.