Los campeones justicieros

I really like Mexico and its people. I visited the country several years ago and loved every minute of it. So, please do NOT assume I am anti-Mexican when I say "Oh, those wacky Mexicans"! This film is something no other country could or would make, but it also is a weird little film that you just have to see to believe.

First, some background. In Mexico, their wrestling ('Lucha Libre') is much faster and more physical that American pro wrestling. However, oddly, some of the biggest heroes of the sport are mask-wearing heroes! In fact, these men are national heroes of the magnitude few outside the country realize. So popular, in fact, that many luchador films have been made over the years starring such folk heroes as el Santo and Blue Demon. Oddly, in all these films, these heroic guys NEVER take off their masks. They eat, drink, shower, sleep and make out in masks--always staying in character. My assumption for them doing this was so they could easily replace each luchador if they asked for too much money or wanted to retire! Or, perhaps the guys making the films were just so embarrassed that they didn't want their friends to know who they really were!!

What I really like is this strange genre is that on their off time, these men mostly solve mysteries, fight injustice, take on monsters and, in this case, take on a mad scientist (Black Hand) and his mini-army of midget wrestlers!! Yes, I really said midget wrestlers in hoods and capes!!! However, these midgets are not ordinary midget wrestlers wearing hoods and capes!! No, using a weird machine, the scientist is able to imbue them with great strength and skill--such that the luchadores cannot easily defeat them. In fact, Blue Demon fights them with about a half dozen of his masked wrestling friends! I found myself laughing because watching these little wrestlers reminded me of Oompa Loompas!! Oh, and unless I forget, the Black Hand was also intent on kidnapping all the Mexican beauty contest winners (hmmm, perhaps he's got something there!).

Although the film was made in 1971, the music and style look a lot like a super-low budget 1960s American sci-fi film merged with a luchador film. I especially loved the underwater scene where you can see that the 'big fish' are just goldfish in an aquarium. And I must say that the film, though very bad and stupid, also had a certain cheesy charm. In other words, although few would see this as a great work of art, I could easily see guys sitting around watching this with their friends--laughing uproariously at the silliness of it all. Fun but amazingly stupid in every possible way.

By the way, although the Mexicans have a long and proud heritage with making terrible films, sadly they are way underrepresented on IMDb's Bottom 100 films list. While THE AZTEC MUMMY VERSUS THE HUMAN ROBOT is on the list, none of the luchador films made the list and MESA OF LOST WOMEN doesn't have quite enough votes to make the list! My advice see these films and vote--it's just not fair that there is a prejudice towards Anglo films on this hallowed list!

One of the high points in lucha libre cinema that exemplifies the bizarre conception of commercial cinema Mexican filmmakers had when creating one of these deranged and merely cinematic efforts.

A good balance between the roster of superhero wrestlers present, characters that are more iconic than psychological, with economic characterizations understood by audience members familiar with them. Villains and helpers that lack conventional introduction, alluding to previous unseen adventures regardless of whether they happened or not.

Curiel's direction has evolved from the classic construction of his americanized and serial-inspired direction of his early work, the meticulous action-based blocking of his early Santo trilogy, western movies and the Nostradamus films changes into more instinctive ways, he becomes more abstract and observant with time rather than planning, utilizing an unsettled camera that only selects the components necessary for the bare minimum narrative development. A mise en scène that nourishes because of its unconventional and oddly enriching details, at a first glance they seem superficial but due to the careful construction they fill the movie with life and rhythm, an example is the fragment of Mil Mascaras changing his mask in one swift movement without unveiling his face, in these small instants the film becomes distracted and prefers to dedicate it's focus to these tiny moments of interest, making it more vigorous.

Stunning colors and delirious psychedelic scenarios constitute the outrageous art direction employed in lucha libre cinema, constantly taking inspiration from its comic book roots. The obligatory exhibition wrestling events for the delight of the public are present (both for the theatrical audiences and the diegetic audience of the film) in this film they end up clashing with the fragile prettiness of the beauty pageant, covering both conventional spheres of mexican conservative views of men and women, as well as a way to serve the expected exploitation eye-candy to it's intended audience.

Explosive images of contrasting colors and sizes of its subjects, the uniformed dwarfs and the distinctive wrestlers unite to create an impressively fluid kinetic experience of primitive brawls to the rhythm of Gustavo Cesar Carrion's frenetic music. A harmony of psychotronic extravagance.

Finally, to declare it's intentions of adapting a comic into the big screen, the film's closing image alludes to the one that opens it, the glorified wrestling heroes riding their bikes (this time conveying a change in the status by adding their female partners) signaling the episodic nature of these movies, typical of the simple plots and joyful spirit of superhero stories. Something also present in Vuelven los campeones justicieros, also by Curiel.

There is hardly a slow moment in this remarkable film, with one darned thing after another the whole time. From the obligatory wrestling match at the start it's all action with a little man in scarlet tights and cape unfolding his portable radio into a machine gun, and blasting away at the ring. A mad scientist's army of masked Midget Wrestlers kidnaps contestants in the Miss Mexico contest to be frozen and shipped off in crates. The little men are put under a sort of compression dome and given electric bracelets, making them unusually strong and able to wail the tar out of the Champions of Justice. The villains' car is equipped with machine guns in front and oil slicks in back, sending Mil Mascaras on his motorcycle over a cliff to dangle for his life. Blue Demon plunges out of an airplane with its pilot and rides the parachute to the ground, there is an exploding boat and spear-gun wielding frogmen. And that ain't the half of it. It's certainly the best, and probably the best budgeted, Masked Wrestler movie I have seen yet, and one that didn't require me to fast forward through long minutes of tedious explanation or flat and uninspired fight scenes. If you see only one Mexican Wrestler movie in your entire life, make it this one.

In the history of campy movies this is the number one on my list!! I would give it an 11 out of 10! The sound track is pretty awesome too. Don't hesitate go get your copy of this now. The disk I got online was a double feature so look for that one it is a good movie as well. WARNING your friends will think you are nuts for watching and enjoying this!