Sparks

Okay, if you're looking for "The Avengers", or even "Watchmen", forget it.

This is a shoestring indie film and it shows. Most of the special effects are crude, the acting is a bit wooden, and some of the props just don't fit in well (Jake Busey's mask and the like stick out, literally, being somewhat cockeyed whenever he's wearing them).

Still, for what it is, the film isn't half bad. Sure, it can seem a bit campy or schlocky. But, as Grindhouse (and its legacy films) have shown us, there is still room for that sort of thing in cinema.

If that's not your cup of tea? Go get a coffee.

This story is about a young man who's motivated to do good, but in many cases winds up making all the wrong choices, or being given false choices. He dances back and forth over the line between good and evil throughout the film deciding what he really wants, and then going for it with no remorse.

All in all, not a perfect film. But I enjoyed it.

It is kind of hard to write a review that would be kind to this movie. First of all, I like Noir movies, I'll give most movies a bit of thought before I decide whether I like, or don't like. Now this movie is neither an drama, an action movie nor a comedy, it's more like a bad stage play. The acting was only just above amateur (kind of), the camera work was noticeably (kind of) bad. The effects were (kind of) tacky, the dialogue was cringefully bad (not kind of), the casting was all wrong (definatly), everything, and I mean everything about this movie was kind of wrong, in fact I'll go one step further and say, it was just plain awful. There was nothing about this movie that I liked, no wait, I lie... some of the cars were pretty cool, the biscuits I had with my cup of tea were pretty good, and I liked the bit where the movies disclaimer came up at the end, yeah, that was the best bit! Hmph. I did say a few kind words about it after all.

The previews for "Sparks" looked pretty decent, and the concept was good. My only issue is that I'm a huge fan of "Watchmen", and this would appear to be a pretty good-sized copy of that. While it doesn't have the large scale effects or Hollywood firepower, it's pretty much the same story. Using the term "supers" instead of "masks", the background narration, rough time frame -- just a few takeaways.

The acting was more than I would expect from this film. While there aren't any big names in this film, the actors themselves didn't come off as "novice". As well, the film itself didn't look like it was filmed with a WalMart video camera.

I would assume that if you're a hardcore graphic novel fan, regardless of quality -- then you could probably handle this. It was a little on the "thin" side for me.

From reading other reviews on this film, I feel a lot of people have misunderstood the film and are comparing it to the more prominent superhero films. You can't compare it to Superman, Spiderman, Batman, The Avengers, Captain America. It's dark, it's moody and it's very violent. It's a true old classic-style pulp action hero film that should be taken as such. It's similar to Kick Ass, Defendor and all those films with wannabe superheroes that have no powers whatsoever. They're everyday people armed only with self-made costumes and a passion for fighting crime. I really enjoy these dark 'superhero' films and I thought it was a great indie flick.

As for Miroslav Houdek's review on this film... you can't rate a film lower than what you actually think it's worth in order to bring the rating down so that it's closer to your actual rating. That's just nonsense, manipulative and extremely unhelpful. How is it that your opinion is more valid than all of the people that have rated the film higher than you?

Anyway, go into this film with an open mind and you'll enjoy it for what it is and not for what it isn't.

This is just my two cents and not an attempt at writing a pro review. I was ready for this movie to be a piece of crap, so I got pleasantly surprised. I think the plot was great and the costumes was corny as hell - which threw me off a bit in the beginning (that and the lead up to the main storyline which was confusing as to where we we're going). But it soon became apparent to be that i had stumbled into a old school noir movie which isn't about polished superheroes, but "normal" people trying to make a difference. It still has the usual good vs evil with a hint of romance in it, with a red line that keeps you interested throughout the film. People who say this is the worst crap they have seen must be watching only the best there is. Overall a decent flick.