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Daredevil starring Ben Affleck as the hero of the name Daredevil
has hit the theaters. In a long line of movies starting with X-Men and then going to Spider-Man Marvel comics is bringing
back many superheroes to appear in movies from the comics. Other upcoming movies include X-Men 2, Hulk, and one based on Iron
Man is in the works.
In Daredevil, Matt Murdock is a kid who had an accident where his eyes encountered radioactive
waste at a young age. As a result, his sight was destroyed but he gained a very very high level of skill with his other senses.
By sound especially he can act just as good as if he had sight. The cinema shots used to show Daredevil's way of "seeing"
are quite amazing.
Daredevil's father was murdered and Daredevil vowed to help those that could not help themselves
then. Thus, he went into law where with his unusual ear he was able to tell when someone was lying and when they weren't.
The case in the film starts with him defending a rape victim. The rapist is acquitted. Daredevil says then to his partner,
Foggy Nelson (Joe Favreau) that he has some business to take care of that night.
Thus, that night Daredevil goes to
a club where the rapist is. He wipes the floor with everyone in there and chases the rapist into a Subway alley. Daredevil
isn't as merciful as other superheroes though and allows the rapist to be ran over by the Subway.
At this, we come
to a key question in life. Is it ever right to take personal vengeance in our own hands? Often times we think that all violence
is bad when this isn't so. The Levitical code as I thought about it during the movie said "When two men are fighting" and
then it gave rules based on the damages. It didn't say "Run in and break it up." How much this fighting entails I don't know
for sure but reparations were in order if physical damage was dealt.
We must also remember that the Bible has God commanding
the Israelites to go into Canaan and destroy utterly the inhabitants of the land. Also, David the warrior was noted as a man after God's own heart.
David's soldiers known as the three were noted for their superb fighting capabilities.
Violence like many other things
has a purpose. When it's not used properly, it becomes wrong. Just like sex has a purpose but when not used properly it becomes
wrong. Thus, violence I would say to satisfy personal desire is wrong. Violence for a greater cause and not for the sake of
violence itself can be right. I thought of how I am going through a Zelda game at the time. In Zelda there is no ruling authority
and some young warrior has to come forward to save the world. In this case, I believe the violence is right.
The next
day, Daredevil comes across a young lady of superb beauty (Jennifer Garner of Alias) who he tries to ask out. In just asking
for her name and then grabbing her hand when she tries to leave she goes into a fine array of karate skills. She and Matt
Murdock (Daredevil of course also) fight it out some where afterwards she reveals her name as Elektra Natchios.
Elektra's
father (Erick Avari) is in trouble though with the Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan of the Green Mile) who is responsible for
all the crime in New York City. This will come up later.
Meanwhile, Daredevil is chasing down
another criminal and goes into the place of the criminal where he meets a kid who starts crying afterwards and begging him
not to hurt him. Daredevil answers that he is not the bad guy but the kid keeps crying. Daredevil starts looking at himself
now.
This brings us back to the same point again. We have gone too far in violence when we have sunk to the level of
those we are fighting. While we are called to fight for the right and many times that is the right thing to do we are not
called to be sadists. We should take no joy in the death of anyone who will die and go to Hell forever.
The next night
Matt Murdock and Foggy go to a party where Wilson Fisk, who unbeknowest to all is the Kingpin, is there. Matt and Foggy are
there on invitation of Elektra. Elektra doesn't realize though that Fisk has hired an assassin this night. Bullseye (played
by Colin Farrell of the Recruit and starring in the upcoming movie Phone Booth) plays a man with a bullseye on his forehead
who has uncanny aim. He can kill a man with paper clips or pencils if he needs to.
That night, Bullseye kills Elektra's
father and makes it look like Daredevil did it. At the funeral, Elektra tells Matt Murdock that she wants revenge. Matt now
having learned points out that revenge doesn't stop the hurt.
It's interesting he says this because the one person
who knows his identity throughout this movie is a Catholic priest that Matt keeps coming to for confession and they keep talking
about the problem of violence and vengeance. At the end, the priest seems to accept the reformed (Not in theology but in attitude)
Daredevil's approach.
Daredevil does learn throughout this movie. Violence is not always the answer but even in violence
one must be clear why it is being done and the way it is being done. I have left a lot of loose ends in this review but I
don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it.
Daredevil does contain some sex but little language compared
to many other movies. The violence is not very graphic and overall, this is a pretty good film. I don't think I enjoyed it
as much as Spider-Man but I would still say if you like Superhero combat hand-to-hand action, Daredevil will be a good choice.
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