The Devil You Knew...
Daredevil: Director's Cut Review (DVD Release)
Daredevil was a problematic film for a variety of reasons. Drawing inspiration from one of the richer corners of super-hero comics (Frank Miller's Daredevil books from the early eighties), the original theatrical cut release was mired by narrative confusion. It seemed to be a "greatest hits" style adaptation of the peak of the daredevil series, without the visceral impact or dark emotional weight that Miller's early comics had. Lacking sharp dialogue or engaging action scenes, the film was a disappointment.
Daredevil: The Director's Cut helps rectify that...
...at least a little.
This new version of Daredevil feels like a fuller movie, with a plot that actually steps logically from A to B, and a little bit stronger focus on the Matt Murdock/Daredevil character. A missing subplot involving a man framed for murder is restored in it's entirety to the film, and it helps make sense of one of the wierder leaps the film takes in it's final act. It also helps keep the focus, in a larger sense, on Matt Murdock and why he does what he does.
The character of Elektra loses a couple of minutes of time in the cut, as a love scene is excised out and a couple of conversations seem to have been trimmed. She's still an important character in the film, but the original film felt like it should have been titled "Daredevil & Elektra" and this film feels more like "Daredevil."
Another key change in the film, that certainly helps the tone, is a reworking of the editing of the films fight scenes. Particularly the first and final battles in the film. The action choreography is somewhat clearer and subtlely more violent, as you get more of the full impact of many of the punches and kicks thrown. It seems kind of silly that this was the difference between a PG-13 and an R, but I guess that's today's MPAA.
Overall, the Director's Cut is an improvement on the original film, adding a little more drama, logic, and humor into the mix. It's still not an exceptionally good film. The film continues to be weighed down with dry dialogue and a bit of a by-the-numbers approach to storytelling. To anyone who had a mixed response to the initial release of this film, however, this is a DVD well worth checking out.
Notes on the DVD: Picture and Sound were both very good, seeming to match the quality of the theatrical cut disc, which, whatever the merits of the film, was wonderfully transferred to DVD. DTS and Dolby Digital English tracks are available. On the extras side, this is a one-disc release, but we get a commentary with Director Mark Steven Johnson & producer Avi Arad. Also included is a brief featurette explaining the reasoning behind the theatrical cut and why the director made the specific inclusions and exclusions of scenes in this cut.
Daredevil was a problematic film for a variety of reasons. Drawing inspiration from one of the richer corners of super-hero comics (Frank Miller's Daredevil books from the early eighties), the original theatrical cut release was mired by narrative confusion. It seemed to be a "greatest hits" style adaptation of the peak of the daredevil series, without the visceral impact or dark emotional weight that Miller's early comics had. Lacking sharp dialogue or engaging action scenes, the film was a disappointment.
Daredevil: The Director's Cut helps rectify that...
...at least a little.
This new version of Daredevil feels like a fuller movie, with a plot that actually steps logically from A to B, and a little bit stronger focus on the Matt Murdock/Daredevil character. A missing subplot involving a man framed for murder is restored in it's entirety to the film, and it helps make sense of one of the wierder leaps the film takes in it's final act. It also helps keep the focus, in a larger sense, on Matt Murdock and why he does what he does.
The character of Elektra loses a couple of minutes of time in the cut, as a love scene is excised out and a couple of conversations seem to have been trimmed. She's still an important character in the film, but the original film felt like it should have been titled "Daredevil & Elektra" and this film feels more like "Daredevil."
Another key change in the film, that certainly helps the tone, is a reworking of the editing of the films fight scenes. Particularly the first and final battles in the film. The action choreography is somewhat clearer and subtlely more violent, as you get more of the full impact of many of the punches and kicks thrown. It seems kind of silly that this was the difference between a PG-13 and an R, but I guess that's today's MPAA.
Overall, the Director's Cut is an improvement on the original film, adding a little more drama, logic, and humor into the mix. It's still not an exceptionally good film. The film continues to be weighed down with dry dialogue and a bit of a by-the-numbers approach to storytelling. To anyone who had a mixed response to the initial release of this film, however, this is a DVD well worth checking out.
Notes on the DVD: Picture and Sound were both very good, seeming to match the quality of the theatrical cut disc, which, whatever the merits of the film, was wonderfully transferred to DVD. DTS and Dolby Digital English tracks are available. On the extras side, this is a one-disc release, but we get a commentary with Director Mark Steven Johnson & producer Avi Arad. Also included is a brief featurette explaining the reasoning behind the theatrical cut and why the director made the specific inclusions and exclusions of scenes in this cut.
posted by Brad @ 2:45 PM
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