Take the dare, go to the devil

For those of you who feel a bit confused by the plot line for “Daredevil,” the new superhero film starring Ben Affleck, click on the above Web link. What you’ll find is the kind of online comic-book resource that shows you how confusing the imaginary life of the near-39-year-old character is.

Debuting in April, 1964, “Daredevil” has had whole lifetimes of adventures. The writers of the movie have tried to pare everything down to one simple story line, combining sequences and changing characters to fit the movie’s 103-minute running time. Whether it works for you really depends on several factors:

1, Do you like comic books?

2, Do you accept Ben Affleck as the comic-book title character, a vigilante superhero in tights?

3, Can you see in the dark? (Since the conceit, originally dreamed up by comic-book maestro Stan Lee, was that Daredevil work only at night, director Mark Steven Johnson is forced to film everything in light so dim that even Superman would ask for a flashlight.)

4, Can you accept Jennifer Garner (television’s “Alias” ) in what is little more than an extended cameo? (By the way, ABC’s “Alias” Web site offers a bit of interactive fun.)

5, Do you mind if movies end with obvious loose ends, which scream SEQUEL?

6, Can you refrain from jumping up on the screen and combing Affleck’s hair? (He makes Barry Zito look like a poster boy for Vidal Sassoon.)

Oh, and the character played by Garner, Elektra Natchios? Don’t believe for a moment that she’s actually dead. Comic-book characters have this amazing tendency to reanimate whenever the time is right.

Like, for example, when they get their contracts renewed.