Marvel's 'Daredevil' Is The Best Show on Netflix
This show is hands down the best one Netflix has produced.
I think that most of Netflix's shows are pretty mediocre and that their strategy of "throwing crap at the wall until it sticks" is the reason why. However, every once in a while they create something like "Narcos," "Castlevania," or my personal favorite, Marvel's "Daredevil." Daredevil is a superhero who is blinded as a child as a result of a chemical spill. As a side effect of losing his sight, his other senses grow enhanced--which makes him a serious threat to criminals. His real name is Matt Murdock, and when he's not fighting crime, he works as a lawyer alongside his friend Foggy and their secretary Karen.
One of the best things about the show is the chemistry between Matt and Foggy. They've been friends since college but don't always see eye-to-eye. I'll try not to spoil too much of the show, but my favorite example of this comes in season 3 as they attempt to take down one of their enemies. Foggy wishes to fight a legal battle in court, while Matt would rather handle it as Daredevil. They bicker back and forth, and the dialogue between them is pretty tense.
The actors, Charlie Cox (Matt) and Elden Hensen (Foggy), really do a great job at making you feel like they're real people.
Another reason I love the show is the action sequences. Each season has at least one fight scene that is filmed in one shot, meaning there are no camera cuts or any visual editing. If you haven't seen them, do yourself a favor and watch this insane hallway sequence here just to get a taste. What makes the choreography so good is how realistic it looks. In a show like the CW's "Arrow," the actors/stunt doubles sometimes duck before a strike is thrown out, making the fight look extremely fake. There's also a weird camera shake every time someone throws a strike. "Daredevil" features none of that; it's just guys punching and kicking each other.
While the fight scenes may be spectacular, the absolute highlight of the show has to be Vincent D' Onofrio's performance as Wilson Fisk, aka "Kingpin." Kingpin is what his name implies: a criminal mastermind. He constantly clashes with Daredevil as he tries to take over the city's drug trade. As the Kingpin, D' Onofrio takes on a different voice than his own and speaks with such anger and passion at times, it seems like he genuinely hates whomever or whatever he is talking about. Kingpin also is not afraid to get his hands dirty and partakes in some of the most violent and bloody scenes in the show. Including one scene where he destroys a man's skull by slamming it with a car door.
If you can't tell, I absolutely recommend watching this show. My only gripe with it is the second season, which ended up not being very good due to its attempt to build up to Marvel's other Netflix show, "Defenders." This universe-building caused a lot of my favorite things about the show to be put on the back burner, simply to hype a show that turned out to be very boring (and I'm not the only one that feels this way). The bright side to season 2 is that it introduces us to the Punisher who has his own Netflix series that is just as good as Daredevil. With the third season now available, now is the perfect time to hop on Netflix and binge it.
