I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one but I've only just finished the series so, forgive me.
So, the Netflix original series Daredevil stars British actor Charlie Cox - which I had a 'holy shit, really?' moment when I realised it's the same guy that's in that old film Stardust, and I've had Rule the World by Take That stuck in my head for the last three days. My quickie overall review for the series in four words would be 'Well... okay... that happened.' And for those of you who don't speak the language of the severely sleep-deprived due to an eighteen hour-long Harry Potter marathon, that roughly translates to 'It was pretty damn good'.
Charlie Cox's (Cox'? I don't know) portrayal of the blind lawyer turned vigilante, Matt Murdoch was pretty impressive. Quite a few people's interpretations of how blind people move and act are based on the fact that they've never seen a blind person in, well, person, and they base their characterisation on old videos of Stevie Wonder playing the piano. But Cox's (I'm going with that one. You'd never guess I was an English student) portrayal was subtle and accurate. So much so, I didn't recognise him until the sixth episode.
I also love how the young actor, Skylar Gaertner, portrayed the young blind Matt as I think it would've been extremely easy for such a young actor to go into over-acting mode when portraying such a delicate situation. You know you've done a good job when you leave such a good impression on the audience after only three episodes.
There are other actors in the series, obviously. Deborah Ann Woll's performance as Karen was also fantastic. However, I felt Eldon Henson's 'Foggy' - Matt's best friend and legal partner, was slightly disappointing. Don't get me wrong, Henson was great at the comedy side-of-things, but apart from the lols, I just wasn't convinced. And when his character did face dysphemic themes, there was always drink involved, meaning the humour was inappropriate when it just wasn't necessary.
Vincent D'Onoforio, who played Wilson Fisk (or Kingpin for fans of the graphic novels), a criminal mastermind, was also brilliant. He did a spectacular thing in which he managed to manipulate the audience into both hating and sympathizing with him all within the space of minutes of being on-screen. And, like Matt's younger self, the young actor, Cole Jenson's portrayal of the young Wilson was also extremely, sophisticatedly, fantastically mature.
Also, the costume and set design for this series was incredible. I feel like design teams don't tend to get much credit for their work in most reviews, but they are definitely deserving of it in this case. Coming from media studies orientated roots, it's extremely difficult to let go of the ties I have to the physical appearance of something. Obviously, the final Daredevil costume reveal was incredible. But I'm not going to go into detail because of some hefty spoilers. And, as you know, it's very easy on the internet to become the object of global hatred.
I just say, if you're planning on binge-watching this thing - do it now. And then you can begin looking forward to amazingly intertwined plot points that most series don't manage to achieve nowadays. Meaning that, in other shows, three episodes in you've already predicted the climax of the entire show and you only continue watching because you've invested your time. This show isn't like that. You watch because you need to.
I can't praise this show enough, to be honest. And, even if you're not a superhero or Marvel fan, this show will still appeal to you. I remember when I was younger and I'd be made fun of for wearing Spider-Man t-shirts. But, now 'superhero' is becoming mainstream and I suggest you take advantage of that.
Now I'm going to watch Stardust and listen to some Take That.
R.
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