If the tone of this is overly critical, it's only because everyone else seems to be raving about this series. I honestly can't believe the hype it's got - it is distinctly average.
I'll admit I don't know the comics back to front - I'm coming at this purely as a viewer rather than a particular Daredevil fan.
The whole show seems confused as to what it wants to be - it's got intense violence and dark moments, conveying desires to be seen in a Nolan-esque manner, yet there are so many lazy clichés and weak lines that it never breaks from seeming cartoonish. I'm happy with either - I don't mind cheesy - but one has to be chosen.
There were cool moments, some nice set pieces, and the acting was OK. Matt Murdoch, when in that form, is unbelievably boring - he speaks like a video game character clumsily representing moral fortitude. 'Foggy' is your ten a penny comic relief figure - a great role if done well, but this was, again, average. Ben Urich might have been the single dullest character in anything I've ever watched, with an utterly pointless storyline.
Fisk was the worst though. Almost nothing is explained in terms of how he got to the top - there's no particular cunning or charisma - he's just good at punching stuff really hard and looking a bit unstable; he earns no gravitas at any point. There was no menace to him - he comes off more like a really strong autistic kid than genius level crime lord. He has all the composure of a pigeon trapped in a train carriage. Saying 'This City...' quietly through gritted teeth is not deep and thought provoking.
The music was particularly bad - the producers seemed happy to crowbar any over-the-top classical music in to try and coat things in a bit of drama. Nessun Dorma montage? Come on, try a little harder.
I could forgive all of this though, if it hadn't been so...dull. There's a lame attempt to create some sort of 'All The President's Men' style chase that just drags the whole show into a black hole of people handing other people documents. I almost doubt my credential to write this review as I was so bored by anything going on at the Law firm or Newsroom that I basically turned my brain off.
I will say that the fighting was very good - the choreography was incredible. It's not really something that swings me either way, but I did appreciate the effort that went into that.
Overall though, shocked that its being lauded - if the Joker gave us a better class of criminal, we need a better class of hero.
I've leave it on that pseudo-snappy ending.
I'll admit I don't know the comics back to front - I'm coming at this purely as a viewer rather than a particular Daredevil fan.
The whole show seems confused as to what it wants to be - it's got intense violence and dark moments, conveying desires to be seen in a Nolan-esque manner, yet there are so many lazy clichés and weak lines that it never breaks from seeming cartoonish. I'm happy with either - I don't mind cheesy - but one has to be chosen.
There were cool moments, some nice set pieces, and the acting was OK. Matt Murdoch, when in that form, is unbelievably boring - he speaks like a video game character clumsily representing moral fortitude. 'Foggy' is your ten a penny comic relief figure - a great role if done well, but this was, again, average. Ben Urich might have been the single dullest character in anything I've ever watched, with an utterly pointless storyline.
Fisk was the worst though. Almost nothing is explained in terms of how he got to the top - there's no particular cunning or charisma - he's just good at punching stuff really hard and looking a bit unstable; he earns no gravitas at any point. There was no menace to him - he comes off more like a really strong autistic kid than genius level crime lord. He has all the composure of a pigeon trapped in a train carriage. Saying 'This City...' quietly through gritted teeth is not deep and thought provoking.
The music was particularly bad - the producers seemed happy to crowbar any over-the-top classical music in to try and coat things in a bit of drama. Nessun Dorma montage? Come on, try a little harder.
I could forgive all of this though, if it hadn't been so...dull. There's a lame attempt to create some sort of 'All The President's Men' style chase that just drags the whole show into a black hole of people handing other people documents. I almost doubt my credential to write this review as I was so bored by anything going on at the Law firm or Newsroom that I basically turned my brain off.
I will say that the fighting was very good - the choreography was incredible. It's not really something that swings me either way, but I did appreciate the effort that went into that.
Overall though, shocked that its being lauded - if the Joker gave us a better class of criminal, we need a better class of hero.
I've leave it on that pseudo-snappy ending.