Series Review: Daredevil – Season 1 (2015)

When you think Marvel you don’t think dark and gritty, am I right? You think fun and adventurous, like “Avengers” or “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Sure, Marvel got a few R-rated movies such as “Blade” and “Punisher”, but they are never really referred to as the main players when it comes to Marvel properties. So we really never get the grit from Marvel that we might want. But now it seems like we have finally gotten it… in TV form. It looks like there are many curve-balls being thrown here. So let’s have a look at it and see if it is any good.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… “Daredevil”!

“Daredevil” is about Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) who as a kid suffered a terrible accident involving a truck and some chemicals that made him blind. But this also enhanced his other senses like hearing and such. Skip ahead to about 20 years later and he has become a lawyer and have just started a law firm with his best friend Foggy (Elden Henson). What Foggy doesn’t know however is that Matt goes around at night as a costumed vigilante, beating up bad guys. And so the show is about Matt taking on the role of this vigilante to try to stop all the bad guys and to finally get to the ultimate boss of it all, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). We also get to know a lot from his childhood and how he comes to terms with his blindness and enhanced senses. And from that we get one of the most intriguing and interesting stories of any TV-show in recent years. Especially among the superhero TV-shows. This is a gritty show with all episodes containing some really great material. And I absolutely loved the story aspects of the show.

The characters are all interesting, compelling, well-written and greatly acted. Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock is perfect, really bringing the whole “damaged, yet strong” aspect to life. Elden Henson plays Foggy with determination and brings the humor that the show needs. I am not saying that this show should be “Guardians of the Galaxy” in tone, I am just saying that the humor coming from the guy really helps the show. Deborah Ann Woll who plays their secretary and friend Karen Page is also really good. But by far, the best in this show has to be Vincent D’Onofrio. I mean, holy shit, his performance in the show is drop dead amazing. He plays the role of Wilson Fisk (Sidenote: Also known as “The Kingpin” in other things) so perfectly with all the ruthlessness the character is known for but also adding some humanity to really sell it perfectly. And I can thankfully say that there are no weak performances in this show. They are all great.

The score for the show was done by John Paesano (Must… resist… making… Italian… Joke). And the score for the show to me is fucking fantastic. There is intense music, there is thoughtful music, there is sad music, there is all kind of music in this show and it is all great. Going by regular orchestra (as most composers do), Paesano (Hnnnngggg…) makes a perfect score for the show that fits in every instance.

This show got a fair amount of action in it and it is all spectacular. You notice that Matt got some training in martial arts but that he is no Bruce Lee or even Bruce Wayne. He can handle his own in a fight but he still gets his ass kicked a fair amount. I can also mention that the fights in this show are brutal. There is blood, bruises and broken bones and you see it all… and I love it. The grittyness of it all really helps make the show hold it’s own. And the show overall is really well-directed/shot. It is all visually great. I also love all the constant nods and easter eggs to other Marvel things. If you keep close attention, you will notice them. And for those of you who are a little confused, yes this show ties in to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). It is set some time after “The Avengers”. It’s interesting to see if it ties into the movies one day.

This show has gotten some pretty great reviews so far. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 97% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic the show has a score of 75/100. and on imdb.com it has a score of 9,3/10.

“Daredevil” is a dark, serious and gritty Marvel show with an intriguing plot, terrific performances, a great score, great writing, excellent direction/camera work, great action and a great feel. Time for the final score. Where is that damn guy, Jeff? *bang on door*. Jeff, where the hell have you been? What? Since when are you blind? Whatever, envelope! Thank you! My final score for “Daredevil” is a 9,97/10. This of course means it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”

My review of season 1 of “Daredevil” is done.

Dear Netflix, give us a second season.

Movie Review: The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

As much as I love thrillers, I have never been the biggest fan of courtroom thrillers. I don’t know, maybe I have never seen that many great ones. I’m not saying I hate every courtroom thing, I mean, I really liked “Primal Fear” and I do really like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, but I haven’t seen that many things that has kept my interest. But today we are taking a look at a courtroom thriller that people apparently liked. So let’s find out what my opinion is!

Ladies and gentlemen… “The Lincoln Lawyer”.

This movie follows defense attorney Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) as he is tasked to represent young rich man Louis Roulet (Ryan Philippe) in a case where Roulet has been accused of raping and beating a young woman up. But as Mick digs deeper into the case things stop looking so straight forward. Sound like a pretty straight forward legal drama, right? Well with that assumption you are correct, but at the same time you’re wrong. The plot has a few pretty decent twists to it that makes it even deeper and better than what it looked like. Of course none of the twists to it are as great as the ones in “Primal Fear”, but they are still really good. It was entertaining seeing Haller go through the case and figure stuff out together with his friend/investigator Frank (William H. Macy). I can also mention that there were a few moments throughout the plot that actually kept me a bit on edge, good job movie!

The characters were all well-written and well-acted. The character of Mick Haller was slick, witty, clever, really smart and just slimy enough to stay entertaining. And Matthew McConaughey played him perfectly. To be completely honest, this is probably the best I have seen from Ryan Philippe. To be fair, I have only seen him in pretty mediocre and even terrible things, so it was nice seeing him take on a more serious and well-written role. And I do think every actor gave good performances in this movie.

The score by Cliff Martinez is a score that I thought was great. It helped build suspense in a lot of scenes by being very sort of sneaky and not blast out at you and be stupid. There were also a lot of licensed tracks used in the soundtrack to help fit the style of the movie but also help set the mood for the Los Angeles environment the movie was set in. It also helps that the music used in the movie was for thee most part in my tastes and therefore helped keep my attention throughout with music that I could enjoy.

This movie is based on the first book in a series of books by author Michael Connelly. To be honest, I have never read the original “Lincoln Lawyer” book… I have actually never read anything by Connelly… maybe I should. But I can however say that this movie looks really good. It uses a lot of swift direction and camera work. I also enjoyed the direction of the movie with how stylized it is. I would even say that it is about as sylized as “Drive”. Now I am not comparing the two (Sidenote: I do however think “Drive” is the better movie of the two), it was just fun. It got even more fun when I found a few more things that connected the two and that is what I am gonna do now (Sidenote: My review, I can do whatever I want). Both movies are set in Los Angeles, both came out in 2011, both are stylized as fuck, both the character of Mick Haller and the character of the Driver have some kind of connection to car(s), both movies feature Bryan Cranston in some way and both movies have the song “Nightcall” by Kavinsky in the soundtrack. Enough of that, let’s move on.

This movie has been pretty well-received. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an 83% positive rating with a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 63/100. Roger Ebert seemes to really like the movie as he gave it 3/4 stars. And on imdb.com it has a 7,3/10.

“The Lincoln Lawyer” is a courtroom thriller with a good and suspenseful plot, great performances, a great soundtrack, stylish and swift direction and some good twists. Time for my final score. And here we go. My final score for “The Lincoln Lawyer” is a 9,74/10. So of course it gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”

Review of “The Lincoln Lawyer” is now completed.

For the ladies out there… Yes, Matthew McConaughey does take off his shirt in this movie.