Maintaining the first season's quality, flaws and all; Daredevil continues with style.
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Daredevil has returned with a ‘Bang’ – its second season opener showing from the off that the darker side of the Marvel universes is back, for yet another instalment of blood-splattered dark alleyways and bone crunching action.
Following the aftermath of Matt Murdoch’s showdown with Wilson Fisk, the seedy underbelly of Hell’s Kitchen is now ripe for the taking, leaving all the local factions fighting to get their share. However, as with all sequels, there isn’t just one problem, as Murdoch and his tolerable sidekicks, Foggy and Karen, find themselves with a client who is offering insight into what’s really going on behind the scenes.
If you’ve seen any of the advertising leading up to this season, you no doubt know what’s happening – The Punisher’s here, Daredevil’s violently-inclined cousin in crime fighting. He chooses to solve problems with bullets over words, which will no doubt lead to hijinks and tension throughout the following episodes. Thankfully, everything so far has been brilliantly handled. Just as the slow reveal for last season’s villain (believed by some to be the best Marvel has offered) paid off, the show looks to be following in its own footsteps. The episode builds gradually to his arrival, culminating in a final fight that, while not especially spectacular, offers a fantastic build up with a great reveal.
The use of sound design, which is essential to the character’s ability, combined with the stylish camera work, with tilt-shift shots and slow sweeps, show that despite the lower budget and lengthy run time of the episodes, Daredevil actually has more cinematic flair than most of Marvel’s features. The fight scenes also carry a weight that’s lacking in the polished big productions, which makes them stand out, despite their simplicity.
However, there are moments where the quality dips. The performances and writing tend to slip into cringe-worthy/Cheesy moments, while the occasional shot tries to punch above its weight and ends up looking a tad amateurish. These moments are few and far between, but seeing as they appear so early on, you can’t help wondering if they are worrying signs of things to come.
Despite the slight issues, Marvel’s latest season proves that bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better and that there should be hopefully much more in store.
Daredevil Season 2 is available in its entirety on Netflix.
