Movies You Missed from 20 years ago

by Josh Lucia

Daredevil

(6/10 Rating)

Released February 14, 2003

Streaming on HBO Max. For rent/ purchase on all major platforms.

Genre: Action, Crime

Rated PG-13: Action/Violence and Some Sensuality

1h 43m

A pre-MCU take on “The Man

Without Fear,” Daredevil came out less than a year after the very successful Spider-Man. It is a darker film, edited down from an initial R rating about a blind lawyer that trains to become a vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen. A toxic waste accident blinds him at a young age, while providing his remaining sense with enhancements and superhuman abilities. This movie gets a lot of hate. I dare say, it is not as bad as you remember. It certainly has some weak spots and according to many reviews, the Director’s Cut is a much better film. I plan to check that out, but this review focuses on the theatrical release. Daredevil stars

Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock aka “Daredevil.” Affleck is good in this role, and you can see how he would come to play Batman years later. The supporting cast is not as good, however. In fact, Jennifer Garner would go on to reprise her role in the spin-off Elektra two years later, which in my opinion is responsible for leaving viewers with a bad memory of Daredevil. It is easy to lump the two movies into one memory, but Daredevil is a far better, more competent movie. It is not great. The music is terrible and reminiscent of the early 2000s. Some of the dialogue is too cheesy for the dark tone, and there is just a lot that does not work. I was surprised to see Jon Favreau, later responsible for kicking off the MCU. Colin Farrell is just fine as the villain and Michael Clarke Duncan certainly has the look for Kingpin, but does not really deliver anything special. We do get a Stan Lee cameo, some decent fight scenes, and overall, well done darker comic style. It is worth a rewatch, but your time might be better spent watching the Charlie Cox series on Disney+ (formerly created for Netflix), which is soon to be continued as an eighteen-part limited series called Daredevil: Born Again.

Also check out: Poolhall Junkies (5/10), Dark Blue (6/10), Gods and Generals (5/10), Old School (8/10), The Life of David Gale (8/10), Cradle 2 the Grave (6/10) (follow @ jlucia85 for these reviews and more)

Histories of civilization and wine are intertwined. A case in point is the wine region of Bordeaux, France. From there, both red and white blends are sought by wine admirers worldwide, and they are referred to as Bordeaux Rouge (red) and Bordeaux Blanc (white). If you have an English friend like me, you may hear them refer to red Bordeaux as Claret. Also, if you are in a wine shop looking at the blended red wines, you may see a label reading “Claret.”

Here is where history comes into play. Bordeaux was once part of a region called Aquitaine. In 1151, Henry Plantagenet, the future Henry II of England, married Eleanor of Aquitaine. With her came the Aquitaine region (you may recall the movie Lion in Winter, Peter O’Toole plays Henry, and Katharine Hepburn plays Eleanor of Aquitaine.) During this time, the Aquitaine, including Bordeaux, is English. Later, this region was conquered by the French. Still, while it was under English control, a relationship developed between the area and England. Bordeaux wine was imported to England, and the English developed a liking for it. Also at this time, Bordeaux wines