DAREDEVIL (2003). 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 dying (or is he?) man telling his tale, as 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. He hones his 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 a kaleidoscopic drive that's 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; maybe they should have saved some for the sequel. (97m)

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