Daredevil: Born Again

Well I thoroughly enjoyed DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, although it was a little bit too topical for comfort. Disney kept their promise and stayed true to the tone of the original. I might even say that, although it didn’t quite match the action of the Netflix show (that corridor fight!!) it surpassed it in terms of story and themes.

I loved the way both Matt and Fisk were trying to escape their violent pasts, yet neither could. That scene where they meet for coffee and threaten each other if either returns to their former ways was so adorable: like two old friends trying to hold each other accountable in a new fitness plan - bless!

Obviously for me this show was all about Fisk’s rise as a populist politician and the horrible parallels that can be drawn between this show’s New York and what’s happening in the US right now. “THE RULE OF LAW MUST PREVAIL” bellows Fisk, the ex criminal who just means “the rule of what I want.” At one point, a character tells him, “You can’t just decide something and speak it into existence.” Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin remains completely brilliant - such a believable and well-rounded villain. There’s a moment where we transition from Banksy-style graffiti of Fisk kissing the butt of a piggy bank to Matt praying, and yep, they both have their gods!

I like the direction they’re going in with Punisher, given how certain dubious real-world people think this character is for them. When a corrupt police officer tells Frank “these guys idolise you” we see exactly how much disdain he has for them. I also liked Fisk’s sinister young upstart aide, and am interested to see what happens next with that ambitious little sh*t.

“They’re willing to spend five times more to lock me up than they’re willing to spend to feed me” says one character who was arrested for shoplifting food. There were a lot of great moments showing how authoritarianism (and, yaknow… our current late stage capitalist existence) treats the underprivileged. This character then goes on to talk about losing his benefits because he was in jail during one of his meetings.

I think they definitely ramped up Matt’s use of superhearing, which was fun. But I do have some criticisms. Where are Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, please? And where is my Misty and Colleen team-up? Also, what happened to Nurse Temple? Guess I’ll have to content myself with the new Punisher spin-off.