By Troy Brownfield
2.17.03
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"Post
Super Bowl timeslot, #1 movie in America, SNL host,
married to the guy who dries his pants with the hand
drier in the bathroom in that sitcom . . . ah hell,
win some, lose some."
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The Post-Daredevil
Show
Another
comic book based film has arrived, and once again, I'm thankfully
left with a feeling of mostly relief. While I'm sure that
some people will bitch about something, the overall consensus
seems to be that the public found "Daredevil" to
be quite entertaining. Certainly enough of the public plunked
down their ducats to see Ben and the other Jen. DD jumped
up for President's Day box office record, raking in over 43
million. Not a bad way to go. Here's my specific reactions.
The
Trailers:
I have to say that it's great to go to a comic-based film
and see trailers for not one, not two, but THREE other comic
based films. In this case, it was The Hulk, X2, and Bulletproof
Monk. If you count the trailer for "League of Extraordinary
Gentlmen" that came on the free MovieBuzz DVD, then that's
FOUR comic film trailers. Toss in the obviously-connected
"Matrix" posters in the lobby, and that's FIVE comicesque
franchises getting play in the eyes of the public under the
Dardevil umbrella. Not too bad. Full advantage should likewise
be taken when the second annual Free Comic Day drops alongside
of the opening of X2 at the front of May.
As for
the trailers themselves, X2 has the most buzz and the most
potential. An expanded cast, lots of action, and a high "cool
factor" play into the notion that this is The One To
See. I love Chow Yun Fat, but I'm unsure about Monk. Likewise
with Hulk. If what appears to be rough CGI gets honed prior
to release, we might have a winner; right now, he kinda looks
like Shrek. "League", or "LXG" as the
studio fucking annoyingly insists on calling it, looks as
if the cerebral nature of the comics was jettisoned for full-on
action. That could suck, or that could be huge fun. Either
way, Connery is Connery and I'll hold judgement till I actually
see it.
The
Actual Movie: "Daredevil"
was fun. Not brilliant, but far from terrible. It had some
solid moments, and it was entertaining. It won't change the
world, but I had a good time.
The Good?
Duncan as Kingpin, Favreau as Foggy, Joey Pants (who's good
in anything; I'll give Baby's Day Out a pass). The Bullseye/Elektra
throw-down, which matched #181 beat-for-beat. The mentions
of various comic guys (Quesada, Bendis, Mack). The appearance
of Frank Miller as a corpse, Stan Lee as "Old Man"
and Kevin Smith as morgue attendant Jack Kirby. The radar
sense effect.
The Bad?
The choppy editing in the Josie's Bar fight. The lack of Garner
(I would have prefered to see more of her, although I can
usually catch her on Alias when ABC isn't flogging musical
remakes; what a dumbass move. First, they fuck up the post-Super
Bowl Alias placement by running 45 extra minutes of Bon Jovi
and Penn & Teller before getting to the best episode EVER,
and then they blow the cache of her movie opening and SNL
hosting by not having her damn show on that Sunday night.
Some asshole at ABC needs his head examined.)
The Okay?
Affleck was fine. Not great, not terrible, but okay. Everyone's
going apeshit over Colin Farrell, and he was funny, but I'm
not sure how "Bullseye" that was. As it, he entertained
me, so that should probably place him in the Good section.
The dialogue was weak in some places, but the feel of the
comic was definitely there.
SNL:
So, to capitalize on her big week, Garner hosted Saturday
Night Live. She did a great job overall, showing that she's
got some range. The "lights out" skit was inspired,
and her turn in the "Wake Up, Wakefield!" bit was
hilarious. Rachel Dratch was totally believable as the cello-playing
Sheldon; that's a great character for her. The Wal-Mart bit
had great moments too.
And a
note to Chris Parnell: your raps can be funny, but for Christ's
sake, make them shorter! For God's sake, Trey Anastasio called
me halfway through it and asked me when your solo would be
over. That's when you know it's gone on TOO LONG.
X-Men
1.5: On a related note, X-Men 1.5 on DVD carries a movie
ticket for either Daredevil or X2. It's worth the pick up,
if just for that. I haven't waded through the sea of extras
yet, but it's nice that Fox went with a "value add"
as extra enticement for getting you to buy a film that you
may already have.
That's
all for now. Be back soon with some political views and TV
bitching. Drive safely.
 Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. Be warned:
The Frank Booth Project returns in April! Email Troy at psikotyk@aol.com
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