Daredevil MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 Content: -1

Another installment in the burgeoning live-action comic book genre, Daredevil tells the story of Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck), who by day is an attorney but by night executes his own form of vigilante justice on the streets of Hells Kitchen. Blinded during his childhood by a chemical spill, Murdock discovers that his remaining senses are more acute and that he also possesses a new, sonar-like sense that enables him to see objects. Armed with super-human balance and combat skills and yearning to avenge the murder of his father, Murdock becomes the fearless, crime-fighting Daredevil. But in the midst of his tormented lifestyle, Murdock falls in love with the seductive, tough and secretive Elektra (Jennifer Garner), who unknowingly leads him to a confrontation with the notorious crime boss Wilson Fisk, aka, the Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan), and his hired killer Bullseye (Colin Farrell).

Though many elements of Daredevil are done well, it makes the transition from comic book to live-action with only moderate success and, unfortunately, seems to sell short its greatest assets: character depth and plot development. Overall, the film has a dark, chilly tone with little comic relief. It touches on powerful themes of vengeance and justice, handling them pretty well, but it remains a very dark movie with a great deal of violence. Bullseye is a particularly maniacal character with a penchant for murdering even the most innocent, albeit annoying, bystanders. He seeks forgiveness in confession but continues to take the law into his own hands. In the final analysis, Daredevil wont win any awards but will provide an enjoyable evening for the less critical filmgoers. Substantial violence and a few objectionable words earn it negative acceptability marks.

Preview Reviewer: Shaun Daugherty
Distributor: 20th Century Fox.