tripp-reade

Too many unexplained motivations. Why did Sheila Rivera betray the police commissioner when all we've seen from her indicates an unease, at best, with Fisk? Why did Frank Castle, who we've seen portrayed as tactically adept when he took down entire gangs, decide on a doomed frontal assault? Hopefully the answer won't be the old "I meant to get my ass kicked and then captured" ploy, but I'm afraid that's going to be the explanation. And I'm sorry but I think the governor of New York and the federal government would have something to say if the mayor of NYC were to declare martial law on such a flimsy pretext. Far inferior to the three seasons of Daredevil we had on Netflix.

I was eager for this season. The first three were dynamite, after all. And yet this season has felt unfocused and floundering. Why has Vanessa so easily and eagerly embraced the mantle of homicidal mob boss? Why does Heather seem to have so little purpose and agency, other than to trash the idea of the masked crime-fighter (not that the concept can't stand some trashing) and to conveniently be the ineffective therapist for Wilson and Vanessa? What was the point of Muse--he was so hastily sketched into the narrative only to be quickly rubbed out, that it's hard to explain his purpose. Even at the level of fight choreography, nothing in this season is remotely as good as even one of the mid-range flight sequences in the first three seasons. We'll, can't hit a home run every time, but at least a double would have been nice.

Heavily expository dialog, slow pacing, odd framing of scenes--why so many shots from behind when characters are speaking?--and clumsy fight choreography are just some of the factors that prevented me from enjoying the first two episodes of a show I was eagerly anticipating. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I prefer the admittedly flawed film. Even the SFX in the film seemed better, and to check my memory, I rewatched the film after struggling to stay awake during the Disney+ series, and yes, those effects from 2010 survive the comparison. The early encounter with the minotaur, for example, feels more kinetic and dangerous in the film, while the TV version fails to convince that the adolescent Percy could in any way survive the encounter.