Daredevil First Impressions

No doubt many of you have already finished the first 13 episodes of Daredevil which premiered on Netflix last week. Some of you probably did it in one night or one weekend. I'm only seven episodes in. I liked the first episode, and as I watch more, it has become a series that I really enjoy so I'm at the point where I ask myself, do I want to binge on the rest or should I slow down and only do 1 or 2 episodes at a time because I kind of don't want it to be over. Anyway, while I figure that out, I just wanted to share my first impressions and some of things I really liked about Daredevil.

Warning: Below are some minor spoilers from the first seven episodes of Daredevil.

Charlie Cox is Instantly Likable

Ben Affleck who?!? Seriously, Cox's performance as Matt Murdock has pushed Affleck's out of my mind. He's subtle, sincere, and charming. And when he dons the outfit, he's kick-ass.

It's Basically Batman Begins

Mind you I love Batman Begins so that's a good thing. His first fight is in a shipping container yard, he takes out villains silently, he even hangs a guy upside down and interrogates him, all without sounding like he gargled with acid and nails. I was half waiting for him to say, "I'm Daredevil!"

Kingpin is Legit Nuts

At first I wasn't sure what they were doing with Wilson Fisk. Vincent D'Onofrio certainly has the look of the crime boss down, but when we were first introduced to him, he behaved like a socially awkward, love-struck puppy dog. Holy crap how that changed when he confronted one of the Russians and proceeded to go "completely ape-shit" on him with the use of his SUV. Chilling.

It's Squeamishly Brutal

Aside from the brutal beating Kingpin gives to the Russian, Rosario Dawson's character gets beaten, bones get broken and sometimes you even see them, and there are copious amount of blood. This level of violence probably wouldn't make it on network television which is why we should all be happy it's on Netflix.

Foggy Nelson is the Right Amount of Comic Relief

For me, a dark and gritty series needs to be counterbalanced at times by some lighter moments, otherwise I just don't find it that fun to watch. Foggy Nelson played by Elden Henson accomplishes that job. He's a bit socially awkward, and uses humor as a defense mechanism, but when the need arises, he steps up and delivers. Plus, he seems like the kind of guy I would just like to grab beer with.

The Fights



The fights in general are great. Nothing big or extravagant like other Marvel properties. Just a bunch of guys trying to beat the crap out of each other. And we get the rare chance to actually KNOW what is going on because the fight scenes have minimal cuts and edits.

So let's talk about THAT fight scene. Daredevil is weakened from a previous fight, but is on a mission to rescue a kidnapped child. He enters the hall and proceeds to beat the crap out of everyone there for three gloriously uncut minutes. It's a wonderful technical achievement and it's refreshing to see our hero out of breath because he is after all, human.

So what do you think of Daredevil? And how did you watch it? Did you binge in one or two sittings? Or did you spread it out? Let me know, and I'll check back in when I finish the series.