So recently, I reedited Daredevil into a fan edit that I've dubbed Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. Now, a fan reediting a film is not a particularly new trend. It started with Star Wars: The Phantom Menance being remade as Star Wars: The Phantom Edit by Mike J. Nichols. Another version of the film was done by someone calling themselves 'MagnoliaFan" called Star Wars: Balance of the Force and its sequel Star Wars: The Clone War.
Other famous reedits include Star Trek: Kirkless Generations (which is Star Trek: Generations with all of Kirk and the original Enterprise crew removed), The Two Towers: The Purist Edit (which removes almost forty-five minutes of plot points that Tolkin purists say deviate too much from the book), Batman and Robin: De-assified (cutting of most of the one-liners and the campy, ridiculous dialogue), and the Matrix: Dezionized (which combines the Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions into one film, mostly by removing most of the storylines centering around Zion).
So I decided to throw my hat in the ring and see if I could take a movie that I always enjoyed but felt had some flaws which prevented me from really loving it. So I decided to see if I could do an edit.
A quick glance at some of what I cut out and a brief reason why:
The flashback frame story of the film - it just made the story take forever to get started
The trial of Jose Quesada - it made Matt Murdock look like a bad attorney
"Justice!" - Daredevil seems so much more menacing when he is silent, rather than the bad Batman impression that Affleck gives here
Daredevil's voiceover - it distracted from the story
Ben Urich's investigation - his inclusion seems to be a throwback to Knox in the first Batman film, and his lighting the DD sign on fire a throwback to the Crow (why in the world would a blind superhero leave a flamable sign behind? And if he did, why wouldn't he have left it lit?)
The priest - gone is the mysterious priest who knows all about Matt's superheroics.
The introduction of the Kingpin - the establishing shot of the Kingpin and the first time we see Wesley (who's pretty much a useless character in the theatrical cut) is just a waste of time.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" - I know we need to learn more about Elektra, but this scene just didn't quite work.
"This ain't your neighborhood no more!" - Why does the guy start taunting someone who is kicking his ass? A guy he was terrified of just seconds before.
"I'm not the bad guy" - the whole beat is great subtext, it's something that Daredevil (especially under Miller) had to deal with a lot. It is, however, horrible dialogue.
Urich at the party - He wants to talk to Matt (why? we never find out) and seems to drop hints that he suspects Matt of being Daredevil. Not even the Foggy alligators in the sewars joke saves this bit.
"I wish you could see me" - I found this scene so awkward that I listened to the director's commentary on it, to see if it could make more sense. He said that in researching the film he interviewed someone who was blind and this exact exchange happened between him and his wife. So, I think Johnson was trying to put a 'real' moment of being blind into the film, however it just feels awkward (and slightly cruel).
Kevin Smith - it hurt me to cut this scene actually. I think it really sings and it's the only time that the character of Urich really works. But by this point, this was the only scene with Urich in it, so it had to go.
Elektra's MTV moment - It's really great to see the transformation that comes over Elektra, however the movie suffers MTVitis and this fight scene is a fine example of that. It's so on the nose that it just didn't work.
Urich has to tell him to go after Bullseye? - I mean, this is a guy motivated by vengeance and he has to be told to get revenge?
So what if you were raised in the Bronx? - Kingpin's growl that he grew up in the Bronx doesn't work. First off, being streetwise doesn't mean you can take on someone who knows martial arts (despite what movies might make you try to believe), which is why Miller made Kingpin know martial arts.
Elektra's Return? - It's not that this doesn't work, it's just not what this cut of the movie is about. The movie worked better if it ended with Matt letting go of his grief and his anger after seeing what Elektra's bloodlust did to her.
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1 - "Guardian Devil"
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #2 - "Enter Elektra"
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #3 - "Inner Demons"
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #4 - "Bullseye"
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #5 - "Vengeance"
- Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #6 - "Fall of the Kingpin"
