Review Detail

I'm a little more unfamiliar with Daredevil and the characters in his portion of the Marvel Universe, but I've read enough stories with Elektra (Thunderbolts Now!) and Deadpool that have featured the blind crimefighter in some way or another. Anyway, having not seen the original due to hearing how awful it was, I desperately looked for Uncanny Antman's Daredevil but infamously was unable to find it, so when I found Spence's edit I was thrilled. Based on the changes made and other edits, I think this made for a much stronger movie than the original.

Considering we will see Afleck take on the role of the World's Greatest Detective in just a few years, I really wanted to see if he had the chops for a very physical but serious role as a superhero. Based on what I'd heard, I just kind of assumed that Ben Affleck was the problem with Daredevil, and this edit in particular has convinced me that I was mistaken.

Don't get me wrong, even with all the edits here this movie is still fairly ridiculous (but so much better than I imagine it was), mostly due to the (much more tame) dialogue but also because of the (thankfully much shortened here) church organ pipes fight scene. It's strange to me that with all this quality star power (with the exception of Favreau, he's a much better director than actor, though the same could be said of Affleck) that this movie turned out the way it did. Jennifer Garner proved she's got chops on Alias, and Colin Farrell has done great serious and comedic movies. Even Michael Clarke Duncan (RIP) is a great dramatic actor who really gave it his all in The Green Mile.

Regardless of all that, this edit found something in this movie that I think got overlooked by audiences in 2003 when it was in theaters. Sure all the cheese wasn't removed, but this edit definitely makes this movie feel a lot meatier overall. Spence tweaked the recipe enough so that this movie feels more like steak with some cheese instead of cheese with some bacon bits sprinkled on top in an attempt to give it some crunch.

While I'm not sure if I would recommend Daredevil as a movie to most people, if someone was interested in the Man Without Fear, I would highly suggest they check out the fine work Spence has done here, which absolves a lot of what made this movie so unlikable in the first place.