Daredevil‘s flashy special effects are unable to make up for its poor acting and lack of creative storyline. As far as the plot, it’s down there with Tomb Raider and X-Men. Movies that fall into the "action hero" category are made first and foremost to dazzle the audience with amazing special effects, not to draw tears with a passionate love story. The director, Mark Steven Johnson, couldn’t even pull this off. The love story was too sappy and gave the movie too much of a "love story" vibe.

The story begins with our injured hero, Daredevil (Ben Affleck) crashing through a window into a church. A clergyman quickly rushes to his aid, and thus the story begins in past tense with Matt Murdock, also known as "Daredevil," narrating. The narration style was exactly like Spiderman except in Daredevil, the story starts and ends in the same place.

As a child, Matt grows up in a broken home and is fathered by an alcoholic boxer. Matt is constantly bullied, until he is in a freak chemical accident that costs him his sight, but grants him super senses. Everything about the plot was incredibly similar to Spiderman except it seems as if half the time spent on Spiderman was spent on this movie. At first Matt cannot properly leash his new found powers, but with training, he becomes a very agile and sharp-eared fighting machine.

By night he is Daredevil and by day he is renound lawyer Matt Murdock. He has trouble staying in relationships because of his hidden identity. While in a cafe with his friend he catches a whif of Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner). This starts the romantic portion of the film between Garner and Affleck.

The movie’s attempt at a having a love story was so bad it could make the viewers cry. Affleck and Garner’s lack of emotion will leave people wanting to watch sliced bread mold, rather than see this movie again. There was no chemistry between Affleck and Garner and the attempt at a hot steamy sex scene was bland and dry.

The cinematography was the best part of the movie, with interesting close ups, quick framing, and good angles. The stunts, however, were appallingly fake, with Daredevil attempting unbelievable bungee-style dives and then landing on his feet like a cat. The moments when the audience saw through the eyes of Murdock were well done, but the effects during the fight scenes consisted usually of lights flashing on and off and left the audience with one serious migraine.

The acting was so hidious it was sad. Ben Affleck’s attempt at portraying an action hero was comical. His emotions and actions were all wrong and he could not pull off the same vibe as Toby McGuire did in Spiderman. Jennifer Garner needs to stick to TV acting and Alias because her movie career will definitely be short.

Daredevil‘s attempt at recreating the comic book was laughable. If you want to see a welldone action movie, rent Spiderman.

Running Time: 1hr. 37 min

Rating: PG-13 for action/violence and some sensuality