The devil of Hell’s Kitchen made his return after nearly two years since his appearance in “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and almost seven since the cancellation of Netflix’s “Daredevil.”
“Daredevil: Born Again” serves as a continuation of its predecessor Netflix’s “Daredevil,” though the atmosphere is significantly different. The first episode just didn’t have the spark of Netflix’s “Daredevil.” Getting thrown back to New York City felt all too different with the change in aspect ratio and stylistic choices.
Episode 1 had so much potential to be great with the shocking events that transpired, however it suffers from terrible pacing and a lack of care. Everything happened so fast that there wasn’t a chance for the plot to simmer. The harrowing brawls that made Netflix’s “Daredevil” so special were replaced by an abundance of Computer-Generated Imagery.
“Daredevil: Born Again’s” reliance on CGI killed the first episode. It was sloppy and took away from the groundedness of an otherwise street-level hero. The first appearance of the titular hero Daredevil looked uncanny. The moment he landed on screen, viewers could clearly tell something was wrong.
The action in episode 1 left a lot to be desired, as Daredevil’s first costumed appearance just didn’t look human. Fans love when studios take the time and care to develop authentic gritty fights that are almost hard to watch, yet episode 1 is a spit in the face to that.
The biggest highlight of the episode was getting to see actors from the original series make their return. Charlie Cox’s performance as Daredevil is great and it’s disappointing to have the perfect actor for this role be put in such a subpar episode.
Showrunner Dario Scardapane completely dropped the ball on episode 1, which is terrible for audiences who expected a quality Daredevil show, but episode 2 and 3 more than made up for it.
Episode 1 problems were quickly rectified by the greatness of episode 2, which offered a surprising number of great fights—raw action that gives the original series a run for its money.
The final fight of the episode evoked chills with its brutality and choreography itself completely outshined the first episode and didn’t needlessly shove CGI down the throats of viewers. From the pacing to the atmosphere, every piece of the puzzle was greatly improved.
The fantastic musical main theme, a chilling score born from The Newton Brothers, did a perfect job in holding the weight of every episode in a song that is less than two-minutes long.
Episode 3 is more of a legal drama rather than an action superhero show. This episode manages to perfectly elevate another aspect of Matt Murdock’s life, his job as a lawyer. While the scenes in the court aren’t action packed they manage to have a similar fight-like intensity that really pulls it together.
Alongside a long list of returning actors, Vincent D’Onofrio who plays Wilson Fisk remains an imposing threat that Murdock will inevitably have to clash with once more, and the setup of his character seems promising.
At first glance “Daredevil: Born Again” is riddled with shortcomings, but after episode 1 nearly all the major issues are swept away. However, it is likely that the issue of terrible CGI will rear its ugly end when fights become a focal point of the show again.
New episodes of “Daredevil: Born Again” release every Tuesday at 6 on Disney+, and only time will tell if this series will be a flop or not.
