Superheroes

source: Superheroes

Superheroes is a worthy addition to this well-establish genre, arguably re-popularised by Michael Moore in the 1990s. Filmmaker Mike Barnett's piece is a straightforward portrait of some of America's real-life superheroes. Other than the nicely done cartooning that marks the film's chapters, and some shaky 'ride along' footage, it is mostly talking heads, but no worse off for that. The tendency might be towards a first reaction of 'Really?' but, while there seem to be varying degrees of 'grip on reality' among the subjects, it's hard to argue that their intentions are anything other than good. There are a surprising number of participants, with a wide geographical spread, revealing the breadth of this activity, and almost all have a sense of their own limitations, operating within those bounds, and the law - setting their sights on realistic and attainable objectives. No-one here is going to affect the spin of the Earth or fly an atomic bomb through a portal in the space-time continuum (of course!), but it would be a cold person who was not affected by the good deeds that these citizens do. Their public spirit is admirable and it's to be hoped that there are many more people out there willing to step up in their own (quieter) way when evil rears its head in our communities. Barnett's film is well worth a watch.

This documentary paints an often funny, sometimes poignant, and always compelling portrait of a motley assortment of people who aspire to be the real-life equivalent of superheroes. No surprise that a fair share of these folks come across as more than a tad crazy and delusional, but they are also strangely noble and heroic in their deep-seated need to somehow make the world a better place to live in. Naturally, several of these individuals are sad products of violence and abuse, but at least they are doing something positive about their personal demons. And by the end of this documentary, some of them prove that they are truly good and decent people by delivering Christmas toys to orphan kids and helping out the homeless. Fortunately, director Michael Burnett treats these loveable loonies with commendable respect and compassion. A surprisingly sweet and moving little winner.

*Spoiler/plot- Superheroes, 2011. Follows the public service exploits of several real-life people dressed as comic book superheros who wish to make the community better and safer. *Special Stars- The superhero names are confidential to protect themselves, families, and their work. *Theme- Community service is for everyone. *Trivia/location/goofs- Documentary. *Emotion- At first the people behind the costumes seemed very naive and obsessed with the more trivial superhero minutia like capes, costumes and cars. The more you watched you started to see that they genuinely want to make their city better by using their community awareness to help others. *Based On- Comic Books heroes and Stan Lee of Marvel Comics.

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.

A journey inside the world of real life caped crusaders. From all over America, these self-proclaimed crime fighters, don masks, homemade costumes and elaborate utility belts in an attempt to bring justice to evildoers everywhere. Many of these folks are interesting -- some being sad, some really making a difference. The group that actively films drug sellers in their neighborhood probably has the best chance of really changing the world. The strangest is probably Master Legend, who tells us that "when a man works up a whopping thirst" it is Busch that quenches it, "not some Kool-Aid." He claims he was raised by the KKK and forced to fight and has some sort of psychic ability. He likes to tout his battle with a crack smoking child molester... One police officer asks: Is "bait patrol" entrapment? An excellent question. A crime is a crime, but is it right to coax someone into a crime? Is it right to dress up and hope that someone attacks you for "looking gay" while at the same time acknowledging you look "ridiculous"?

This is one of the strangest documentaries I've ever seen--though I still wondered as I watched it if perhaps this ISN'T a real documentary but a giant put-on. I did a bit of internet research and, yes, it DOES appear that these are real people! The film is about some VERY strange people who have created their own costumes and patrol city streets in the US and Canada as self-styled superheroes. At first, I thought they were all crazy. But, as I watched, I realized some were indeed very crazy (including the psychologist who seemed to think these folks were normal!) but some actually had some depth to them and contribute a lot to their communities. You'll see this in the second half of the film as many of them do a lot just to look out for folks in the neighborhood--helping the homeless, giving out toys to the underprivileged at Christmas and other community service activities. However, actually fighting crime and putting themselves into harm's way--that made me worry a lot about some of these folks. The film is, at times, inspiring and others very funny. One of the funniest moments was Vigilante Spider and his comment about girlfriend (29 minutes into film). Another was seeing Mr. Xtreme getting his butt kicked in a martial arts competition (as apparently he did NOT have superpowers when it came to fighting). And, I also had to laugh about Master Legend--apparently his superpowers needed to be recharged regularly with beer! Although these are very strange folks, provided they DON'T get themselves killed by taking the law into their own hands, they could be very much like the Guardian Angels...in funny costumes. Well worth seeing...and weird.

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.

This fascinating HBO documentary follows several real life people as they dress up in superhero costumes and patrol their neighborhoods. Despite sharing this peculiar hobby, all of the people featured seemed to have different reasons for doing it. Some are misfits while some are clearly attention seekers. Others are out for vigilante justice. Some want to raise crime-prevention awareness in their communities. And some are tough to categorize, like the lovable Master Legend, who at first glance appears to be a troubled alcoholic but eventually reveals himself to be a compassionate do-gooder who passes out food and water to the homeless. He also provides much of the unintentional comedy of the movie. And this is a funny film. Some of the lines are so perfectly ridiculous or well-timed that it has led some viewers to suspect it's a scripted performance, but assuredly these are real people. And while they may dress oddly, the filmmakers never stoop to mockery for cheap laughs. The entertainment lies in just letting these superheroes be themselves. If you are a fan of the documentary "American Movie" then you are sure to enjoy the same type of genuine human comedy in this film. The one thing that these superheroes do share in common, though, is that most of them are struggling to overcome hard circumstances. Many had heartbreaking stories of childhood abuse. Zany as their costumes may appear, ultimately these people are victims looking to make sense of a world that hurt them and trying to make it a better place. This is an excellent and thought-provoking documentary. I highly recommend it. Master Legend rocks!