SSJ pulls off the impressive feat of reinterpreting the movie. The concept is novel, the execution is impressive, the trimming of blood and violence helps to keep the focus on the dialog. This is a film you should watch, once, to see the proof-of-concept. It gave me food for thought on editing and even on the subject material.
My problem with the original film is that it is far too bloody and violent. It's off-putting. Makes me want to turn it off. At the risk of altering the feel of the film too much, I would have been happy with even more cuts (into the film instead of the characters).
My problem with SSJ's approach is the runtime. The trailer and the first several minutes are a joy to watch. Throughout the film there are brilliant bits of (subtitle) dialog. SSJ's commentary is informative and helpful to hold my attention. But after a while this drags, no matter how informative the new text is. Instead of addressing all the items of the original film that get addressed in this edit, I think the presentation would benefit from even more rigorous cutting. Could the point of this edit be made in as little as 30 minutes?
In all, this is an impressive twist on a deeply-troubled and flawed film. Does it make the original better? No, that's beyond redemption. But is does offer a humorous and informative angle on the whole thing.
