Death of a Superhero

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.

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.

I love resilience. The relentless search for true love. The reason for us to be here and to have faith. Death of a Superhero is as grim as it is bad ass. Fantastic portrayal of an adolescent soul trapped in between the fear of an unfulfilled life and a sense of rightness. The film makes no compromises even in the face of death, instead turns everything into a comic book fantasy. The Superhero lives on. Risqué, Surreal,Emotional and funny at times. Death Of a Superhero tells a story that we avoid talking about and rarely deal with so boldly. Must watch for all of us whether you have lost a dear one or not. The plot gives enough time for the characters to evolve. The combined effect of performances, cinematography and music builds a world you would want to linger around for a while.

In "Death of a Superhero", Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) wants to be a superhero when he grows up. That's not going to happen because Donald is dying of cancer. He's trying to balance his survival/mortality rate with his coming-of-age interest in girls and sex. It's a drama about cancer, comic books, superheros, thanatologists, and teenage boys. It's an interesting mix which results in an odd, quiet, and unfortunately uninteresting film.

On paper it can be compared to "50/50" (2011) but it has a completely different tone and feel which makes it less palpable. It's like "Kick-Ass" (2010) but with less action, more comic book drawings, and less humour. And I mean that as a good thing. I think. This is a very slow-moving film about a depressed teenager who draws out his superhero and superheroine fantasies. I think it would have been easier to take if he really did fall or jump off the bridge that he teetered on the edge of. It started getting more entertaining when he met a girl and she elevated his graffiti to revealing heights. But, as it has a tendency of doing, cancer slowed that down.

Remember the cute and only slightly annoying kid from "Love Actually" (2003) and then remember the knowing laugh of amusement when he appeared as a young Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy" (2009)? This is your chance to see him in a very impressive dramatic role. The other stand-out was Andy Serkis as the thanatologist hired by Donald's parents to help him and themselves deal with his impending death. For all intents and purposes, let's call him a therapist. It's the usual character which all of these types of movies have, but there was something more here which I can't quite put my finger on which grabs your attention and then makes you bookmark his IMDb page.

The drawings were insanely impressive; unfortunately, I'm not one for comic book stylings. "Death of a Superhero" is certainly a good film that I appreciated, but I can't say I liked it.

The story is really realistic and interesting ,, How a teenager thinks with him dying , he has also an artistic way of thinking feeling the pain in a comical sort of way , that's unique perspective ,,it was sweet and a bit depressing but painfully real , I loved the acting especially from Thomas and Andy Sirkes ,, they were excellent I'm not a fan though of the inappropriate scenes it wasn't necessary ,, the idea was obvious