Analysis
It only seems like yesterday that we were all anticipating the release of one of the biggest comic book hero's to appear on the silver screen. Spiderman was the film and it met with mixed reactions when it was unleashed on the general public. I for one was disappointed by the CGI insanity and, although entertained, felt a little let down. Step up Mr Murdock.

Daredevil comes from the same stable as Spiderman, both being the brain child of comic book artist Stan Lee. But lets get one thing straight from the start. Daredevil ain't no Spiderman, instead having more in common with the early Batman movies with it's very dark and grim exterior. The world in which Matt Murdock has lived and grown appears to be a more dangerous place with Matt struggling with the powers he has been burdened with as apposed to Peter Parker who just seems to love being Spiderman.

We start the film as Daredevil lies bleeding on the steps of a church alter. A flash back scene (effectively the first 70 minutes of the film) see's a 10 year old Matt Murdock living the hard life in New York's 'Hell's Kitchen' district. Matt's father, an ex-professional boxer, starts to work for the local crime boss as a heavy. When Matt witnesses his fathers handy work he runs away straight into the path of an on coming forklift truck. As the truck swerves to avoid him it ruptures a barrel of radioactive waste which sprays young Matt in the eyes. He is blinded but some how his other senses compensate allowing Matt a bat-like sonar ability to help him make out basic shapes from sound waves.

OK, so Matt has this special ability which he works hard to perfect, but the real fun starts when Matt bears witness to the death of his father at the hands of this mysterious crime lord. Just who is this 'Kingpin'. Daredevil is born.

The underlining story to Daredevil is one of a man who fights crime for revenge and justice but who fights because he can rather than because he wants to. This is reflected in the dark atmosphere of the film. When I was told that Ben Affleck would be playing the part of the blind Matt Murdock I laughed out loud. I just could not see him as a superhero. Well I was wrong. Ben did a superb job and came across as a man who had real conflicts in his life. The cast as a whole did a great job with both of the chief bad guys (Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell) coming across with some of that comic-book magic. Jennifer Garner played an intelligent and sexy role as Matt's love interest Elektra.

The special effects were well executed and not over cooked like some other film I could mention (Mr Spidey). The dark shadows of the back alleyways helped to mask some of the familiar rubber-man-flying-through-the-air CGI which I am completely sick of. It was nice to see that a lot of the scenes were clearly done by stuntmen which made the film more engrossing without detracting your focus from the plot.

Another massive bonus point for this film and one that I rarely count as a major issue, is it's soundtrack. Kick ass rock music mixed with heavy rap go a long way to boost the overall ambience. Nickelback, Moby, Hoobastank and Saliva mix it up to make one of the best movie soundtracks I've heard for a long time.

Key Area	Rating (out of 5)	Comment
Action		You will feel as though you have been punched in the stomach after seeing this. Slick fight scenes and aerobatic antics will leave you breathless. One of the many standout scenes has to be the 'play' fight in the children's park between Matt and Elektra.
Thrills/ Tension		The atmosphere mounts nicely in the build up to the action scenes. Not many sudden fright incidents but there are loads of courageous moments that make the little boy and girl in everyone wish that, just for a moment, they could see through the eye's of the Daredevil.
Violence/ Gore		The fights are brutal and are not what you would expect from a comic conversion. Where Spiderman chose the smack-but-not-hack route, Daredevil pulls no punches.
Bare Flesh	NONE	A brief love scene between Elektra and Matt never quiet delivers the goods.
Plot		A story developed back in the sixties by Stan Lee and Bill Everett for Marvel comics. Although we have already seen what Hollywood can do to comic-book hero's, thankfully Daredevil has been kept close to it's roots.

Verdict If you were disappointed with Spiderman, don't assume that this is going to be more of the same. The target audience for this film is clearly a more mature group with the original rating for this film in the US being R before it was toned down. I would class this as the thinking mans superhero film whilst still able to achieve it's action status from it's many scenes of frantic battling with the forces of evil. Top notch comic conversion.

A Spiderman and Batman hybrid creates atmospheric excellence.