DVD 'Daredevil' outmuscles current 'Hulk' in the theaters

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This chronic feature lets me review what's recently passed my bloodshot pupils. So pull up a chair, break out the sarcasm filter and welcome to:

Mr. Zad's comic critique

Daredevil, DVD (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, $29.99). The bloated miscue of director Ang Lee's film adaptation of the Incredible Hulk looks unforgivable when compared to the fast-paced film drama afforded to tell the tale of Marvel Comics' Man Without Fear.

I mention this because after digesting almost 150 minutes of "Hulk" at a theater, I soon popped in the DVD version of "Daredevil" and felt rejuvenated about bringing superheroes to the silver screen.

"Daredevil," the movie, has actor and comic-book lover Ben Affleck taking on the role of blind lawyer Matt Murdock -- aka Daredevil -- who has been part of the Marvel Universe of characters since his introduction by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett in 1964.

Mr. Affleck gets huge assistance from Colin Farrell, who plays archenemy Bullseye, as they demolish humans and scenery with a Greek tragedy love interest, Elektra, played by Jennifer Garner, aboard to further complicate a brooding plot of revenge and heroic vigilantism. The addition of Michael Clarke Duncan (John Coffey in "The Green Mile") as another famous Marvel villain, the King Pin, rounds out a depressing story for Mr. Murdock but an exhilarating one for the Daredevil fan.

The film packs a wallop thanks to Matrix-like action scenes, the spark between Miss Garner and Mr. Affleck and the ability to faithfully re-create a story reminiscent of writer-artist Frank Miller's successful 1980s run on the comic-book series.

Great, the comic aficionado sayeth -- but what does the two-disc DVD package do for me and my kind who have already seen the movie as well as those humans not familiar with the protagonist?

Well, Natchios cheese breath, the first disc not only brings the 103-minute film to crystal-clear life, but also offers an enhanced viewing mode that, when played in tandem with a commentary track by director-writer Mark Steven Johnson and producer Gary Foster and on-screen text trivia, deconstructs both the cinematic accomplishment and sequential-art success story of the character.