Captain Barbell

Before I saw this film, I had never heard of Captain Barbell and I had no idea that there were other films or TV shows about him. I know nothing about him--just what I saw in this movie. And, aside from this film, I've only seen about a dozen Philippine movies. For these reasons, I might not be the best person to review this film. But, for the average Filipino who has NOT seen or heard of Barbell, perhaps this review would be more useful.

The characters in this film appear to be ripoffs of American superheroes. For example, Captain Barbell (which rhymes with 'Marvel') is in reality a wimpy guy who becomes the hero when he picks up a magic barbell--almost like wimpy American Billy Batson saying 'Shazam' to become the caped hero. And, there is even a small portion of the film where knockoffs of Plastic Man and Wonder Woman make brief appearances! However, what is really different are the villains. To some extent, they are all pretty pathetic. However, the Rat Guy--that one was such a sad character that I though my wife would burst into tears when he appeared.

Now all this is NOT to say that the film is that good or that it is in any way comparable to the originals. You'll never mistake them for these classic characters--mostly because the special effects are, compared to a Hollywood film, pretty laughable. BUT, at the same time, there is a goofy likability to the film. So, no matter how cheesy it all seems, you still have a good time watching. Brilliant? No...but very enjoyable.

This movie is pure cheese, with no explanation of how the folks gain their powers. Freezy is assaulted and frozen in a block of ice. Suddenly she comes back to life with the power to create ice. The whole movie is like that. The special effects aren't very special. In fact they're horrible. Yes, I've seen the 1978 Superman. The effects there were way better than they are in this movie. The difference is Superman the Movie is approximately 25 years older than this film. Lots of goofs in this film too, for example, the guy with the hostage is wielding what is OBVIOUSLY a 6-shooter, yet he fires 7 shots at Captain Barbell.

This movie isn't made to be taken seriously of course, but they should have put more effort into it. If I trusted someone to do justice to my creation in film, they'd better do it right. Mr. Mars Ravelo is probably rolling over in his grave because of this film.