Superhero Choreography Analysis
This link takes you to two video presentations that address film making. A reader sent me this article to address the realism, or lack of realism, in the two scenes.
Realism
What elements of realism are present in these two fight scenes?
Nothing at all—zero—aspects of the iconic Old Boy fight scene are realistic. It’s all bullshit, particularly the behavior of the thugs before and after contact.
In the Daredevil scene there are 2 realistic aspects:
The behavior of the thugs before the scene—in the manner in which they responded to aggressive contact from an individual—was believable, if weak.
The thrown microwave and its immediate effects were realistic.
Everything about the action of the heroes is phony. I so wanted to see Daredevil shoot himself. Everything about super heroes is bullshit, and I suppose that’s the entire point, so I’m not complaining.
The Most Unrealistic Elements
1. The bad guys attack and defend piecemeal
2. There is no significant grappling
3. The bad guys are equal in activity level, with no standout aggressors
4. That all of the bad guys in Daredevil go out cold. This dude could not KO me for longer than a few seconds. Consider that when world heavyweight champions KO people that they are usually out for only 6-15 seconds. I’ve seen 90 pound women KO’d by 200 men bounce up in less than a second.
5. That the bad guys in Old Boy all acted the same after being beaten up, and before contact, showing hive like behavior.
6. The use of acrobatics in Daredevil.
7. The pro-wrestling ‘I’m so tired and cute’ temporary exhaustion act put on by the actor playing Daredevil. This does not happen. People track up or down, stay flat, or collapse. Even in combat sports, which develop a dualistic rhythm—unlike hallway brawls—the lulls in fighter activity have an easy—even languid—quality to them.
8. The worst aspect is that the bad guys never do what any teenage prep school students will do to an individual, just crowd into him and deny mechanical space.
Conclusion
I have documented numerous accounts of real individuals destroying groups in close combat. It happens, but not like this, and not—most egregiously in Daredevil—when some of the members of the group are highly motivated, well-armed, larger, badasses.
