More DVD reviews at planet Buttonhole! That's always good, right? I'll have some other movie reviews up for you soon too but, right here and now, here's a "double review" of two recent flicks that I tied together, because they both have a superhero theme (other than that though, they are really nothing alike). I'll start with the Daredevil Director's Cut review and right under that you'll find my review of Pixar's The Incredibles. Rock on!


So many people hated the theatrical version of Daredevil and I don’t really know why. It wasn’t great by any means, but I still reckon it was entertaining enough, for what it was, and undeserving of such utter disdain. I’ve seen many action flicks that were a thousand times worse, yet none of them seemed to get attacked so savagely.

Maybe all those DD haters should check out this director’s cut version; it is amazing what a difference the extra 30 or so minutes make to the film. If the studio had released this one in the first place, I suspect it would have faired quite a bit better with the critics (or maybe not, since some people jumped on that ‘Daredevil sucks’ bandwagon without even bothering to actually watch the movie).

With the additional footage and other nips and tucks, director Mark Steven Johnson has made to his version of the film, Daredevil has gone from a movie that was okay to a movie that is genuinely good, in my estimation. Apparently the studio decided that audiences didn’t want any of that pesky plot stuff getting in the way, so they cut most of that out. Now that it is back in, let me say this to producer Gary Foster; you are a dick and your editing choices suck.

I’m sure you all know what Daredevil is about by now. An adaptation of the Marvel Comics character; Matt Murdoch (Ben Affleck) is a blind lawyer by day and a blind superhero by night. Despite having no sight, his other senses are ultra powerful and he has incredible balance and all that caper.

This Director’s cut version develops all of the characters much more strongly, as well as their relationships with each other. It also has some subplots which tie together to make a greatly more interesting and well constructed whole. The fittingly dark tone of the film is more pronounced now and the fight scenes are more violent. But this is balanced out well, thanks some lighter stuff like John Faverau’s excellent portrayal of Foggy Nelson getting more screen time. The Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) is much more interesting and imposing in this version as well.

The extras are cool and there are plenty of them with this two disc set. Especially great is the "Men Without Fear" featurette, which has various comic book authors/artists talking about their work and their thoughts on the DD character (it is so good, in fact, that I'd pay full price just to have that alone). However, if you already have the first Daredevil "special edition" DVD, most of the extras (including that featurette I just mentioned) are exactly the same as what was on that one.

Daredevil Director’s Cut is still not a perfect movie. But, all together this is vastly superior to the theatrical cut. It is truer than ever to the comic source material, has a way better plot, the characters are richer and the action is grittier and makes more of an impact. I recommend it strongly for Daredevil/comic fans and mildly for those who just want a decent action flick.

And Frank Miller’s cameo is still one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. Kevin Smith's isn't half bad either.

Movie: 8.5 out of 11

Extras: 9.5 if you don’t own Daredevil Special Edition
and 5.5 if you do.

This really is one of the most perfectly well made movies I have ever seen.

Feature: 9.9 Extras: 9.9