The screen treatment of the classic Marvel superhero, directed by Mark Steven Johnson (Jack Frost, Simon Birch), ranks up there with Batman and X-Men for its melancholy, dark wit, meticulous eye for detail, baroque mise en scène, and crackling energy. It opens with a seemingly dying man telling his tale: Matt Murdock (Ben Affleck), a/k/a Daredevil, relates his cornball origins. A tough kid growing up in Hell's Kitchen, he's blinded by some of those pesky toxic chemicals, which also increase his remaining senses to near-unbearable intensity. Driven by a never-say-die fearlessness, he hones these skills into superpowers and, after witnessing his palooka dad getting bumped off by the mob, vows to fight injustice: blind lawyer by day, red-leather-clad whirligig by night.

Johnson renders the action scenes with kaleidoscopic drive pulsed by a terrific soundtrack and weakened by sometimes geeky CGI effects. Jennifer Garner makes a porcelain ninja as Elektra, DD's squeeze/ nemesis, but is not as appealing as Jon Favreau as his wisecracking buddy. Colin Farrell belches beautifully as the lethal Irish-pub rat Bullseye. And oversize teddy bear Michael Clarke Duncan, playing the monolithic Kingpin, brings a chill to lines like "No one is innocent." Things get a little busy and silly toward the end; my advice: save some for the sequel. At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Holiday, Providence Place Mall 16, Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas.