Death of a Superhero

As you follow the last weeks of a teenager who escapes in his drawing skills, we get to experience parts of what it feels like trying to outrace Death, while having a last good moments with family and friends... and maybe have a go at this thing called Love if we can spare a heartbeat or two.

"Life is a sexually transmitted disease, transmitted by those who have sex and in the end it kills you" What a beautiful film, what a sad film, with this title there is no point in waiting for better days, we are already sure of the end, but it still makes us suffer and brings painful tears from us and a heavy heart, what a cursed disease, what a funeral poem in the form of a film, perfect soundtrack, masterful performance by little Thomas... The only absolute fact of existence, death is the only certainty of life...

Donald is a teenager with a fertile imagination and an extraordinary talent for drawing. At 15 years old, with a terminal illness, he fights against time, as he wants to have other experiences in life. Surrounded by the attention of his parents and friends, he finds Shelley, who gives him a delicate and sensual affection, and Adrian, a very special therapist who helps to balance his emotions. To deal with reality and confront his destiny, Donald draws stories that gain movement, such as that of a superhero who fights a powerful enemy who wants to destroy him.

I don't (and didn't) know a person with cancer, but I think, there is something true in this story. We all can be aggressive and cruel, but we can't be so offended at life. Healthy people will never understand the one with cancer, but we can try. And we must. Because the human beings can't be alone. We need to be surrounded by warmth and care, physically and mentally.

This film is not only about an incurable disease, it's about relationship. Real, difficult, "in the raw" relationship between parents and the kid, brothers, a boy and a girl, and just between people with difficult life situations.

This film is about hard, painful, distressing acceptance that not every problem can be fixed, but it's not the reason to give up.

Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Michael McElhatton as the other actors make me believe the story, and film crew makes me live in this drama for 93 minutes. Thank you a lot.

A year ago I wrote a review about Matching Jack, an Ausralian film about almost the same sort of story. I complained then that despite of the superb acting, the story itself followed every cliché in the book. Well this one is more or less writing the textbook of how to do it right. It doesn't avoid any of the unavoidable melodrama of such a story but it does it without ever letting it spill over. The acting is superb in this one too, but the story makes you feel like you're viewing real people and not a movie about real people, and in this case it works for the film. It's nice to see Andy Serkis for real this time - he does a wonderful job even when not hidden behind fancy CG. Also excelling are the two young leads Thomas Brodie Sangster and Aisling Loftus. There's something in this sort of story that brings out the best from actors. In such a movie if they didn't do it properly it would've turned the film downright unwatchable.

"Death of a Superhero" is a heard touching film about a boy who has cancer. Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Andy Serkis played their roles so perfect, that I totally forgot that their are just actors. I was able to feel into the boys mind without getting distracted by any bad played scenes. Any scene, however played, seemed perfectly fitting for these two characters. Aisling Loftus played her role great too. When I was watching the film the first time, I got sucked in by the great characters and lost myself in the beautiful story. The music in the movie fits its scenes perfectly. Those comic scenes gave the film just the right touch to not be mainstream.