I haven’t yet watched Netflix‘s “Daredevil” and I’ve seen mixed feelings on the show from both the high and low end of the spectrum, though, admittedly, far more people seem very excited about what they’ve seen as opposed to those that are unimpressed. Over at Slashfilm, however, there was an article about a five-minute single take that concludes the season’s second episode, “Cut Man”, directed by Phil Abraham (“The Strain”, “Mad Men”), three minutes of which you can watch below.
Now I say “supposedly” in my headline because watching the fight sequence there are about three or four moments where they very clearly could have stitched together multiple shots, but star Charlie Cox tells Slashfilm it’s one take while showrunner Steven DeKnight says he’s not sure, knowing they did multiple takes of the scene. Either way, it does present some interesting things of note.
First off, I like the moment Daredevil enters the room and the audience is left in the hallway. This could be looked at by a more cynical audience member as a moment where the director simplified things so as not to have to show more action for what is already going to be a long action sequence. Personally I see it as a moment where Abraham actually puts the audience in something of the place of the blind lead character, guiding the audience by sound rather than sight, it’s a moment that works even better if you put on a pair of headphones, crank up the sound and notice the use of stereo in the clip, which really changes your perspective of the scene. Close your eyes for something even more immersive.
Then there’s the fighting itself. It’s clumsy and realistic and I also appreciate the fact Daredevil’s foes aren’t all immediately knocked out. They get up and continue to fight, even though I was a little bothered by the gun that’s just sitting on the ground near the end of the scene, which one of the baddies simply could have picked up and pretty much ended the series at the end of the second episode. We’ll forgive them of that though.
The scene tells me this show is clearly going for more grounded realism than the Marvel movies and perhaps that’s because Daredevil is a bit of a more grounded, vigilante hero than those that make up the Avengers. I don’t know, but I appreciate the different approach, spicing up the formula from what we’ve seen from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D“.
I do hope to go through the whole season sooner rather than later, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on both the following scene as well as the series if you had the chance to binge it this weekend.
