Superheroes (2011)

You won't be disappointed!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

It's funny, weird and at times kind of sad. A lot of these so-called real-life superheroes don't seem to have a firm grasp on reality. One claims to draw inspiration from Batman who didn't have actual powers. Never mind that Batman is not actually real.I'm not entirely sure what I was supposed to take away from this documentary. Most of the people are well-meaning but many seem mentally ill and may be driven by delusion rather than the greater good. Worth checking out if you can manage to eye-roll your way through some of the interviews.

Hollywood has perhaps reached its saturation point with comic book and superhero movies with every film now becoming more of an event: a-list stars, groundbreaking f/x, tie-ins, lead-ins and hints at a larger universe packed with even more superheroes. Maybe it's time to take a step back. Show a real hero, totally DIY. Mike Barnett has attempted this.The WATCHMEN Blu-ray set contains a featurette interviewing "real life" superheroes. Mostly these were young men wearing bulky costumes of sewn together sports equipment and pronounced delusions of grandeur; although one interviewee was ex-military and simply patrolled as a concerned citizen in fatigues and a buzz cut. The HBO documentary SUPERHEROES amps this idea into a feature-length spectacle.Mike Barnett presents a typical day-in-the-life perspective of the non- typical man-in-tights. Or clunky plastic armor. With names, among others, like Mr. Xtreme, Zimmer and, ahem, Master Legend. Although their hearts are in the right place, a food-and-clothing drive conducted and distributed to and for the homeless of San Diego being a very worthy effort, their heads most definitely are not. Barnett shows these heroes as misguided - Mr. Xtreme possess no guide in life other than comicbooks, which he reads obsessively in his van – publicity-seeking – an unintentionally-hilarious Master Legend drinks and cavorts with college girls in that crime-ridden gotham of Orlando – or thrill-seeking – the NYC-based Zimmer who patrols dark streets just looking for a head to bash in. Unfortunately, Barnett's docu never presents a clear viewpoint. Are these losers real and sympathetic, slaves to a worthy ideal? Or are they to be mocked at? Severely. Throughout the film the viewer does both. But they shouldn't. At times, the film appears to be as just as a rambling mess as Mr. Xtreme on patrol: sometimes boring, at times embarrassingly cringe-worthy. Also unfortunately, the preventing of crimes, or exacting flying fists of justice as Zimmer so obviously wants, never occurs. Giant aliens don't attack. There are no criminal masterminds' plans to foil. Not even a simple grab-and-run from the local 7-Eleven. This exacerbates the question running through the whole film: so what?Hey, if anything, the film invites you to grab a drink with Master Legend. He has a Facebook page.

That's what some of the masked heroes were called way back in the Golden Age of comics: "mystery men." The distinction between mystery men and superheroes is an obvious one: mystery men wear masks and costumes and fight crime (usually armed with some kind of gadget), whereas superheroes have super powers that they use against evil doers. Not exactly six of one, half dozen of the other... One of my (many) complaints over the years has been the unfortunate tendency of filmmakers and television producers to turn live-action superheroes into social workers. On television, THE INCREDIBLE HULK (like David Jansen in THE FUGITIVE before him) wandered the land righting wrongs and uplifting the downtrodden. Sure, there was a brief encounter with "The Abomination," but not very much else in the way of super villains on that particular show. Even THE SWAMP THING came to the Small Screen more often than not simply solving social ills. But I digress. The masked men (and women) in SUPERHEROES follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned teleheroes. In my book, that makes them HEROES, with a capital H; not super-powered by any means, but Heroes, nonetheless.

The subject matter of this documentary is certainly interesting. What makes this group of real life, costumed vigilantes tick. The film makers follow a group of people who patrol their streets at night, trying to prevent crime, and worryingly in one case, bait crime. The problem, however. is that where other great documentaries seem to capture that elusive shot scene (be it a rare animal hunting down another rare animal, or firefighters unexpectedly having to deal with the largest terrorist attack in history), nothing of note seems to happen to these weird folk. There's a man whose foot is run over by a car, a couple of charity drives, and...that's...about...it. Then there's guest speaker Stan Lee predictably supporting these "Superheroes" noble intentions, whilst a police authority repeats non-stop how they are untrained professionals. Ultimately, an opportunity that falls flat, although it's still interesting to see.