Movie #143 - Daredevil

Daredevil
20th Century Fox
2003 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 43 min
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell,
Michael Clarke Duncan, Jon Favreau, Ellen Pompeo, Joe Pantoliano

Do you think Ben and Jen watch this movie like its a home video? 

"Look, kids! This is how your mother and I met!"

"Dad, you're a superhero?"
"Only on TV. But look, it's our first kiss, Jen!"

"Ben, you know that was like, Take 15 or 20, right?"

"No one needs to know that, honey."

See, I've got the whole awkward scene in my head now.  In any event, this movie's one of those comic-book-turned-film messes. It's not all bad - it does have Stan Lee in it, can you spot him? - and the fighting scenes kick ass.  But really, is my life enriched by this movie? Not particularly.  I'm glad it was useful for Hollywood match-making (and to let Jennifer Garner take Alias to the big screen, more or less), but I could live without it. You know?

Movie #32 - Armageddon

Armageddon

Touchstone Pictures

1998 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 30 min

Director: Michael Bay

Starring: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Steve Buschemi, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan

I was never really impressed with this movie. To me, it was just one of Michael Bay's early attempts to destroy the earth. This movie also doesn't know what it is. Action? Adventure? Love story? There are moments when it feels like a chick flick. And since it has a (sorta) happy ending, maybe it is a romance.

Perhaps the most annoying part of this movie is the narrow viewpoint it gives viewers. The world is going to get hit by a giant meteor and "life as we know it will end." You would think such an event would inspire a global collaboration of some kind... but since this movie is so quintessentially American, obviously the US has to do something to save everyone. Instead of watching different cultures to come together, oil rig workers and NASA scientists must learn to get along. And Liv Tyler is pure uselessness in this movie.

Don't get me started on the stupid plan they have to blow up the meteor. Drill into it and blow it apart with a nuke? Would that really even work? I demand a Myth Busters episode for this.

Anyway, I never really bought into all the hype about this movie. Now, 12 years later, I still feel like it's overrated and extremely unrealistic.