Netflix’s Daredevil Is The Best Comic Adaption To Date
Stop what you are doing right now and start watching the new Netflix series Daredevil. OK, if you are at work, operating heavy machinery or driving, ignore that. But do start watching this show as soon as you possibly can. It is hands down the best comic book adaption made to date — and I am including Captain America: The Winter Soldier in that list, my previous “best ever.”
Below, without spoilers to the series (although some reference back to the comics, so if you know nothing about Daredevil, the could be considered spoilers, so fair warning) I will explain why I am loving this show so much.
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First up are the characters. Daredevil features excellent character writing for everybody. Even the bad guys are well written and individual. Matt Murdock is a better defined character in this series than he was in the comics, even in the excellent Frank Miller runs. In fact, the overall tone is very much like Miller’s Daredevil stories, with its focus on street-level violence and Hell’s Kitchen. Of course, without the bombastic Miller character statements that read like memes, not dialogue.
The integration with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is subtle and actually drives the story in a very important, but very “behind the scenes” way. It explains in a very logical way the involvement of Wilson Fisk.
Casting is outstanding, and British actor Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock continues the tradition of Brits playing American comic book characters perfectly, in the path of Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead or Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man. Deborah Ann Woll is a revelation as Karen Page, as is the way her character is introduced and written.
Since this is a comic book adaption, action is at its core and the action never fails to excite. The fight choreography is wonderful, and is realistic and brutal, emphasizing Daredevil’s use of his abilities in dodging attacks while not showing off those abilities in the ham-fisted way the unfortunate movie version of Daredevil did.
But ultimately it comes back to the writing. At every turn, three episodes in, the writing continues to surprise me at how good it is. If there is a single downside to Daredevil, it showcases just how much the writing in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — with its much larger budget — is lacking in comparison. Please, ABC, hire some of the Daredevil writers for what is supposed to be your linchpin TV product. And get the director and cinematographer too, while you are at it.
