Dare Devil

The film begins in medias res with Daredevil clutching a cross at the top of a church, bleeding. He begins to make his way inside the church, to escape from the police spotlights. He is too injured to continue and collapses. The priest of the church comes along, holds a candle to his face, calling his proper name. Matthew Murdock then tells the story of his life as it flashes before his eyes.

When he was a boy, Matt often got beat up by the local bullies. He would come home to talks from his father, Jack, a washed-up boxer, who demanded he never fight back, for fear that his son wouldn't amount to anything, instead insisting he study and become a doctor or a lawyer. Together they live alone, albeit happily. One day, Matt sees Jack beating up a stranger, operating as an enforcer for the local mob boss, Fallon. As Matt runs away, he is trapped as a forklift smashes into radioactive biohazard chemicals that spill into Matt's eyes, blinding him. He cannot see, but his other four senses obtain superhuman sharpness, and he learns to perceive his surroundings by human echolocation. Blaming himself for his son's condition, Jack regains his dignity and returns to professional boxing; he is later murdered by Fallon for refusing to throw a fight. Wilson Fisk, the man who would later be the crime don known as Kingpin, gives the final death blow to Jack, killing him. Matt promises to fight evil and avenge his father.

In a well-known scene, the Daredevil logo is depicted in flames.

Years later, Murdock works as an attorney in Hell's Kitchen by day, becoming at night the vigilante known as Daredevil. As a lawyer, Matt seeks always to defend those who are innocent of any crime, spurning all other clients despite the insistence of his partner Foggy. As Daredevil, Matt seeks out and punishes those whom he cannot convict in the courtroom. He fights crime in solitude, until he meets the martial artist Elektra Natchios (Garner). Murdock becomes infatuated with Elektra and courts her. She, eventually, comes to reciprocate his emotions. In the meantime, reporter Ben Urich (Pantoliano), who has been investigating Daredevil, finds a clue that reveals Murdock as the vigilante.

After Elektra's father is killed by the Kingpin's assassin, Bullseye (Farrell), she believes the murderer to be Daredevil due to the weapon used. Armed with two sais, she locates him and attacks, beating the reluctant Daredevil by stabbing a Sai into his left shoulder. She removes Daredevil's mask, revealing his true face; before explanations can be made, Bullseye attacks. A short battle ensues, ending when Bullseye kills Elektra with her own sai. Daredevil sets out to avenge Elektra's death, fighting Bullseye in the church where he collapsed at the beginning of the film. The collapse is here explained as part of Daredevil's fights. The church itself is Daredevil's sanctuary, concealed by Father Stevens, the priest shown at the opening, who is Matthew's guide and mentor. Daredevil defeats Bullseye by throwing him through the church window, where he lands on a police car.

Daredevil then goes to Fiskcorp to fight Kingpin, beating him in single combat. Here it is revealed that the Kingpin's obesity is an illusion, created by a rotund stomach and the partial concealment of heavily muscled limbs; this is opposed to the comic series, wherein the obesity was factual. At one point in the fight, Kingpin gains the upper hand; unable to locate him, Daredevil breaks a water-pipe, causing the water to drench and thereby outline his enemy. He gains the information by which to strike Kingpin down. Matt had earlier used this method to gain a visual image of Elektra's face, which he believed very beautiful.

Daredevil spares the Kingpin after revealing his secret identity as Matt Murdock. The Kingpin promises him that he will be released from prison eventually and that Daredevil's secret won't be safe. Matt accepts this, choosing to meet the challenge when it comes. When Kingpin threatens to reveal Murdock's identity to the underworld, Murdock counters that if he did, the Kingpin would fall into disgrace for having lost a fight to a blind man.

Throughout the film, Murdock deals with the moral implications of being a vigilante, and tries to prove that he is not a villain. His decision to spare Kingpin is a means of proving the latter to himself, on the grounds that a villain would have killed his opponent. The film ends with Ben Urich, who realizes that a man like Daredevil is needed, deciding at the last moment to delete the article he had composed, and even encouraging Murdock to carry on with his fight.