6 Saving Graces Of Ben Affleck's Daredevil

5. Jon Favreau Provides Some Amazing Comedic Relief

Jon Favreau may now be better known as Happy Hogan in the Iron Man franchise (or that rich guy from Friends) but his inclusion in Daredevil made the film bearable. It prevented the bleak tones from overpowering the film. Daredevil lacks an engaging plot and the characters are rather two dimensional; there is certainly nowhere near as much complexity to the villains as there are to Magneto in the X-Men franchise, yet the film is gripping in many ways through Favreau€™s comedic breaks. Prior to Affleck€™s introduction to Elektra, Favreau becomes agitated by the conversation, so he gives Murdock mustard to put in his coffee; while this is a tiny part of the scene, it is one of the many ways in which tension is released. There are a multitude of other occasions in the film when Favreau prevents the film becoming too serious. This seriousness is prevalent in Nolan€™s films, but Daredevil€™s contemporaries had set a precedent where something funny had to be included to improve the flow; look no further than Wolverine€™s incessant arguing with Cyclops, or the strangely humorous manner in which Tobey Maguire discovers his new powers in Spider-Man. Rather than using the main character to bring this comedy into the film, the director of Daredevil used a different character; this allowed the titular character to remain resolute and shadowy. Daredevil maintains a sense of respect as he is not the source of humour, and Affleck does well to support these jokes while looking somewhat spontaneous; the double act of Favreau and Affleck is not one that will ever equal comedy greats, but in a film where the plot is not striking or memorable the two actors make for surprisingly good viewing.