'Daredevil: Born Again' season 2 review: Disney+ action crime drama gives 'em hell
- S.J.
- 21 hours ago
- 5 min read
So someone was able to give the cops a milkshake after pulverising a bunch of dorks at a diner? Sick. Daredevil: Born Again returns to crush bodies and wrestle with faith as its second season follows Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) when he is forced to operate in the shadows. Daredevil investigates a cargo ship carrying suspicious weapons, which seemingly has ties to New York City's mayor Wilson Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) anti-vigilante guidelines that are used to capture and punish vigilantes. Matt and his girlfriend Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), who are personae non gratae, are in hiding because of this. The actions of Fisk, his allies and embarrassing ICE thugs, uh, Anti-Vigilante Task Force a.k.a AVTF also disturb the lives of Benjamin Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) and Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), leading them to co-operate with Daredevil either willingly or unwillingly.
Also involved in this madness are some old acquaintances. Fisk's wife Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) is now the main target of Bullseye; therapist Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) is struggling with PTSD; Fisk's underling Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) and journalist BB Urich (Genneya Walton) continue their questionable "friendzoneship" as she's firmly against the mayor; and fixer Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan) cleans up any messes left behind. CIA agent Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard) comes in to oversee the anti-vigilante proceedings.
Rebirth is something that is baked into the show itself, too. Very much gone are the case-of-the-week sidesteps and structural messes of the first season. Showrunner Dario Scardapane has seemingly fully taken over as the de facto creative puppeteer. The end result is that this eight-episode batch is definitely more streamlined, more akin to the 'Daredevil' series and less erratic tonally. Even in terms of its genre sandboxes, there's less legal drama—although "DDBA" does shine whenever gets into a courtroom, despite the fact that lawyers still "object" to nothing, thankfully less often than before. Instead the focus is on very straightforward crime drama elements whilst elaborate action set pieces continue to shift the tempo at regular intervals.
One's enjoyment should therefore depend on how much you liked season one's swings. I for one liked them a great deal. But there is plenty to admire in how Scardapane and his writers' room (Chantelle M. Wells, Devon Kliger, Heather Bellson, Jesse Wigutow) are able to tell a more cohesive story with big theatrics and a timely political edge because we're not bouncing around randomly anymore. DDBA has something to say and reflect, whether that is about outright fascism, power trips, corruption or resistance.
Some moments are eerily reminiscent of fascism in our real world. The abhorrent activities of stinky ICE losers, uh, AVTF that obeys a dangerous maniac who holds too much power. The bastardisation of Punisher's logo. The inhumane "detention centres" (read: concentration camps), which are self-explanatory. The outrageous treatment of protesters and civilians by law enforcement, which reminds you of protests in Minnesota and pro-Palestine protests including, ironically, those in New York City. Bluntness is not a dirty word here.
However, sometimes clusters of chaos like those of season one force filmmakers to think outside the box. Honestly, this season lacks surprises and eccentricities. It does drive you to your destination, but it's not always super memorable. The pacing is a concern as well. It's clear that the creatives made some adjustments between seasons, like for BB's reports that were pretty rough, but there's still a lot that doesn't work whatsoever. Heather's storyline in particular halts the series' momentum entirely, Matt and Karen's relationship drama is undercooked, as is most of BB and Daniel's interplay, and Tony Dalton's character Jack Duquesne/Swordsman is pretty much wasted. You could and should make the argument that there are simply too many characters in the show.
Season two belongs a bit less to Cox and D'Onofrio, but their performances remain exemplary. They elevate the material. It's very unlikely that the friction caused by Cox's calm and D'Onofrio's storm running towards each other will ever go out of style. Aside from those two heavyweights, Ritter is always a lovely presence in Jessica's boots, Lillard is having a ton of fun, but it's actually Bethel who really steps up their game. Mostly going toe-to-toe—or blade-to-blade—with Cox and Woll, the actor blurs the lines of justice, morality and forgiveness deftly as he digs deeper into Benjamin's role in the violence that ensues. The quality of acting is never a problem, and there is no weak link in the ensemble either. Quite the opposite, in fact.
To whom the season truly belongs is supervising stunt coordinator and second unit director Philip Silvera and his diabolical stunt team. There's some pretty spectacular action for viewers to find, especially in one diner scene in episode four, and in the finale where all hell breaks loose, but the variety and aforementioned tempo changes are notable throughout. Working in tandem with the SFX and VFX crews (supervised by Gong Myung Lee, produced by Fahed "Freddy" Alhabib) in the fun sequences, and going from boxing to martial arts and from hand-to-hand combat to stunt jumps elsewhere, the action is relentless, impressive and brutal. It also works on a story level as it constantly wakes you up from your slumber after some of the shoddier character work that precedes these action set pieces. The mayhem has personality, stakes and consequences. It's driven by emotion. You feel it all.
Improvements are found in other technical areas, too, even if they're small ones. The Newton Brothers' score isn't such a hotchpotch anymore, although the main theme is inserted in awkward spots for no good reason. At least the music as a whole is consistent. Well, until there are needle drops from one of the directors, Solvan "Slick" Naim, which is definitely something we as a collective need to mull over since it could be considered cringe. Music supervisors Dave Jordan and Justine von Winterfeldt will have to give testimonies as well. Other directors—Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, as well as Angela Barnes and Iain B. MacDonald—are safe for now as their work is perfectly solid and none of them seem to have a hip hop career.
What's less solid is the cinematography (Hillary Fyfe Spera, Jeffrey Waldron) thanks to uneven lighting. Skin tones specifically are oftentimes sacrificed, and for a show that is thematically playing with shadows and light (exemplified by Daredevil's dark suit and Fisk's white attire), the contrast feels off and the images can be rather lifeless. The colour grading might share some of the blame as well.
Season two is overall just as good as season one for the most part. The action is truly astounding, the acting is way better than it needs to be, and the show's themes are still very timely. You may have to endure a few vicious right hooks due to those pacing and characterisation issues, but the strong second half helps you forget your pain. And if you see any repugnant ICE dorks, uh (oops, silly me, I did it again), rotten AVTF meatheads out and about, maybe break a kneecap or two. We didn't see anything, we promise.
Smileys: Stunt choreography, acting, story
Frowneys: Pacing, lighting
Karen was arrested? That'll be front-Page news.
3.5/5
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