IFDB Review: Daredevil: The Man Without Fear:

Daredevil was a movie I wanted to like but couldn’t. Sure it was occasionally fun, but the CGI silliness, OTT antics, and convoluted plot obscured what could have been a engaging and relatable origin story. There were enough worthwhile elements to make me hopeful for the spinoff Elektra, but I was sorely disappointed, and while Daredevil seemed good by comparison, a second viewing of it on DVD reminded me how bad it really was.I originally couldn’t find a different Uncanny Antman (UA) fanedit I was looking for, so I thought I’d sample a portion of one of his other works just to see what he could do. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the end of his “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear” fanedit without dropping it or hitting fast play, and feeling eager for more.The opening title sequence with the Marvel Knights logo was an auspicious beginning. The focused prologue with its simple human drama was satisfying but felt unfamiliar, almost as if I was watching a reboot, but using the same actors. Only when it came to Affleck’s initial outing as Daredevil (DD) did I start to feel anything was amiss. The transition almost directly into DD’s violent confrontation felt abrupt, though a first time viewer might not notice anything missing. However, that concerned dissipated as the rapid pace of the story carried me along and I realized showing DD’s initial foray without preamble symbolized the the rudderless state of life at that point and makes his self-affirmation at the end all the more powerful.My biggest gripe is the lack of buildup to DD’s romance with Elektra. While I agree with the artistic reasons for cutting Affleck’s initial athletic flirtation with Garner, I felt their romantic development was already underdeveloped in the theatrical cut. I like UA’s restructuring to minimize flashbacks, but perhaps one or two flashbacks to that cut scene could have been used to lend credibility to their romance. Unfortunately the two leads have no other costarring roles to mine for new material and I doubt Pearl Harbor had anything useful given Garner’s small role in it, but possibly scenes shot from the perspective of her love interest (implying it’s DD’s perspective) in some other role(s) she’d played could’ve been inserted to support the romance. Still, their chemistry shone through and I was satisfied with where things ended.The soundtrack UA ended up with felt perfect and did not distract from the unfolding of the story like in the theatrical cut. The audio and visual transitions themselves felt seamless. I would’ve like to have seen more contrast in some of the night scenes, especially since DD can “see” in the dark, but I understand the limitations of the source material and the symbolism of keeping things in the shadow.By the end of this edit, I felt the right amount was told about Daredevil, but to expand the story in a satisfying way would’ve required a whole nother feature film. The original can be put in storage and this fanedit can be put on the shelf as a worthy professional quality replacement.Bonus points for the fantastic DVD menu and extras UA produced for his release. The “Removed Material” while interesting examples of filmmaking technique certainly did not belong in the film proper. The fictitious “Return of the Kingpin” teaser makes for an interesting what-if. “Law & Order: Hell’s Kitchen” if actually produced could bring me back to watching police procedurals. Finally the “Nelson & Murdock” 80’s TV spoof almost makes me think Netflix should just skip their upcoming Daredevil series and go directly to a wacky retro procedural spinoff.

More...