genre: action, crime, comic book, super hero
The first season had an awful pacing problem and at times was a little too dark for it's own good. But it managed what it was set out to do and establish Daredevil as a super hero. Now this second season is a step up in many ways but at the same time goes of the rails a couple of times.
This time around events are rushed through in such a fast pace that it becomes apparent they ran out of story halfway through. Now in other shows this could have been problematic. Fortunately for us this is a super hero show where it's not always required to have good stories. For the most part we want to see Daredevil fighting the good fight. And this is exactly what we are getting. This season is filled with incredible and exciting action. I do have to address one element regarding super hero shows in general that annoys the hell out of me. The whining and bitching of supporting characters who can't make up their mind about the acceptance of the super hero thing. I am naturally referring to Foggy Nelson. It got tedious hearing him complain about his friend Matt and his Daredevil antics. Of course I understand his concerns and worries. But when are people going to learn that sometimes people do things because they need to and not out of choice. Granted Matt Murdock doesn't make a good case due to sloppy or lazy writing still even then you need to either accept or disregard and move on. Especially if you are claiming to be best friends. That being said Foggy has quite a few awesome moments in this season and comes out far more sympathetic than in previous one. Same could be said about Karen Page although she also seems confused and conflicted about vigilantes or heroes. But I guess that makes it interesting. Like Foggy she also grows as a character. And that is always a good thing.
Next to Daredevil new (but popular) characters are introduced who also know how to bring the spectacle to your screen. Jon Bernthal is excellent as The Punisher / Frank Castle. I may even go as far to say that he is the best yet. Of course this is not entirely fair since he got more screen time to give depth to a character than the movie versions ever did. But he easily could have screwed up. I am happy to report that Jon managed to show different sides to him where one minute you are scared of him because of his ruthlessness and the next where you can't but help root for him to sticking it to the bad guys.
At one point though the The Punisher arc pauses for some reason. Almost like they ran out of story only to then bring in Elektra. It is here where the story loses focus since to be honest the Elektra arc does not start as gripping as it should have been. Still the show recovers from this mostly because of Élodie Yung's portrayal of Elektra. Forget about Jennifer Garner. Maybe at the time she was all that but Yung does so much more with the character. She is far more sophisticated, smart and deadly. Unfortunately the whole story she is involved in is a mixed bag. It is one that tries to embrace the more supernatural and magical side of the Marvel comics but at the same time fail to make it grand and epic. But thank god for the ninja's and Scott Glenn as Stick. They gave the story the edge it needed.
In the finale things come together and at the same time exposes how The Punisher story line and the Elektra one don't blend that well. In the end it does not matter much because more so than the first season we have a hero who is here to stay. Even with all it's flaws we have a show in Daredevil that delivers the things I want in a show or movie about super heroes.
Also read:
 |
 |
 |
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment