The first time I saw Daredevil, I didn't like it very much. I thought that it had numerous problems; bad pacing, flawed direction, clichéd dialogue, an amputated script that attempted to squeeze a potentially excellent story down to one hundred minutes.

I still think the movie has all those problems, and more. But after seeing it again on DVD this evening...I kinda like it.

While not a classic movie by any stretch of the imagination, Daredevil has charm. It has some great action set-pieces. The sound design is amazing (especially in dts). Jennifer Garner makes an almost perfect Elektra, Colin Farrel a fun Bullseye, and Michael Clarke Duncan a fine and appropriately menacing Kingpin. Heck, even Ben Affleck (the Affleck!) is not bad as Matt Murdock/Daredevil - most of the time he does a solid, if workmanlike, job - and he's got the world's best (and sadly underused) sidekick in Jon Favreau's Foggy Nelson.

So the cast, then, is quite solid.

Last time around, I laid a lot of the blame for the movie's problems on Mark Steven Johnson, the writer-director. This time around I'll give him some deserved credit. He's obviously a fan, and even though he's never made a movie like this before - never directed action - he handles himself well. I hear there's a director's cut on the way, which may alleviate some of the story/pacing problems. And the movie looks great - dark and gothic, all odd angles and comic-book framing.

I've realised this: There's a lot to like in the movie, so long as you ignore the problems and just try to enjoy yourself.

See, that was my biggest problem watching it the first time. I looked for the flaws instead of the fun. My expectations were certainly too high, and since I love the character - and particularly the Elektra storyline - I set myself up for disappointment.

This time, I wasn't expecting much at all. I don't know exactly why I purchased the DVD, but I believe that, despite my initial misgivings, I secretly wanted to give the movie a second chance.

I'm glad I did.

This time, I had fun with it. I looked past the sometimes corny dialogue, the somewhat cheesy effects (to be fair, the CGI in Spider-Man was less convincing, but then they didn't have the advantage of the constant darkness), the holes in the story (how do Daredevil, Elektra, and Bullseye all end up on the same rooftop in Hell's Kitchen...at the same time?), and the at-times odd direction (there are some jarring cuts and transitions), and I enjoyed myself.

Daredevil is a fine, not great, superhero flick. I will watch it again. And I hope there's a sequel.  ¶ 22:28