Daredevil: Season 2 review: Part 1

Superhero fans everywhere rejoice. Daredevil: Season 2 has finally arrived and Batman VS Superman comes out at the end of this month. For now let’s take a look at the first six episodes of Daredevil:Season 2. There are a lot of new additions to Matt’s universe but are all of them good? Let’s dive in.

The Pros:

Something that immediately hits you in this new season is it’s change of pace. Season 1 waited a decent amount of time for Daredevil and Kingpin to meet face to face. Not this time. Daredevil meets his antagonist in the first episode. It’s also nice to things already established in the world. Daredevil is Daredevil. He wears the suit and business is booming for Nelson & Murdock. Having these things in place are especially satisfying for the comic book fans out there because this opens the door for new and fresh stories with the characters they know and love.

Thankfully the creators of the show start season 2 on the right story thread. The Punisher. His inclusion into this world is a definite pro. Actor, Jon Bernthal plays him in a way that no actor has before, and believe me they’ve tried. Punisher becomes Daredevil’s new biggest problem. There is a war on the streets and Punisher is the man behind it. However, he’s not killing just anyone. Punisher has his sights set on disposing of the criminal element that dwells within Hell’s Kitchen. Vigilante justice on a whole new scale.

The question that quickly comes up is then if Daredevil’s appearance in Hell’s Kitchen led to men like the Punisher stepping in and taking the law into his own hands. It’s a interesting premise and one that certainly has merit, as Matt begins to find out for himself. Morality plays a major factor in this season, thus far. Is justice something that is so important one must take it into their own hands? Does the system work? And the most interesting question of all, is the preservation of life sacred no matter what? Is killing ever acceptable?

Episode 3 is a fantastic example of two schools of thought on the latter subject. It presents the argument in the form of a tense conversation. Both men are impassioned in their conviction and both make clear cases for what really is the ” right” way to do things.  Daredevil and Punisher duke it out more than once in this season but I felt it their war of words that had the most impact.

Episode 3 also gave us some fantastic action scenes. Few can forget the single-shot hallway fight scene in season 1, but this season’s big fight sequence may have topped it. Longer and dare I say, more impressive.

Punisher Eventually comes off more as an anti hero around the episode 4 mark. The introduction of the Irish mob gives us our new antagonists, and thanks to it’s particularly sadistic Mob boss, it’s clear cut. These guys don’t mess around. ( SPOILER) This forces Daredevil and Punisher to briefly team up and I’ll admit , I had a minor nerdgasim for those moments.

Episodes 5 and 6 focus more on Elektra. Punisher is still in the mix but it’s Elektra’s turn to shine. In two episodes actress Élodie Yung, makes Jennifer Garner’s version look like the performance of a bad cosplayer. It’s amazing what a stark difference there is in quality. It astounds me even more that the makers of the Dardevil films could get her character so wrong. Nevertheless back to Élodie Yung and her version of Elerktra.

I thought that taking the focus away from Punisher might be a mistake but Elektra turns out to be a more than worthy character. Her history with Matt gives her an edge we don’t see with other characters, except for Stick( Daredevil’s mentor and teacher). She knows him mentally, physically and sexually. Or rather, she did. Their relationship is fascinating and I suspect it will be explored further in the coming episodes.

Another pro is Foggy. His character feels far more comfortable in his shoes. I liked him in season 1 but I feel he is much more balanced thus far.

All and all the cinematography is great and most of the performances are good while these three below are outstanding.  This season looks well on it’s way to be awesome.

 

 

The Cons:

Not a lot to complain about really. Punisher had a few moments that I asked myself ” really”? One in particular is his ( SPOILER) not guilty plea. I don’t see any logical reason why he would do this. Once you get to it you’ll see what I mean.

The biggest con would have to be Karen Page. Simlair to season 1, her motives and reasoning are all over the place. I find this, and her to be quite annoying at times. One second she states she’s terrified of being target practice for a lunatic with a gun, the next second she wants to ” save” someone in the middle of a massive shootout.  She breaks into , said lunatic’s house looking for evidence?? She does all this alone, I might add. WHY? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Other than that, not much else to complain about.

 

Stay tuned for part 2 of my review of Daredevil: Season 2!