Film Filter- Off: If you check out some of the reviews on this film, it looks to be very promising. It's a little bit of a blend of the trending super hero genre with the found-footage style of documentation, so it's definitely unique. Depending on your taste in thriller/action movies, though, it could prove to be a real bust.
Pros- One of the things that I don't think many people will appreciate about the film is the emotional turmoil that the main character endures. Although it's common to see pre-super heroes struggle with confidence or acceptance, this delves much deeper into a very dark and troubling circumstance in Andrew's life, which I found to be quite intriguing.
The often comedic and realistic high school interactions between the characters was also a pleasant surprise, which is why I found the dual genre idea to be somewhat effective. It was sort of a melting pot of ideas put into a shakily shot film, which makes it a little bit more realistic feeling. It was also enjoyable to watch the evolution of their super powers, be it a successful first attempt or an epic failure. Again, it felt a lot more realistic than being able to master your powers instantaneously.
Cons- Unfortunately, I found this movie to have more cons than it did pros. A lot of that had to do with the fact that it attempted to feel so realistic, and succeeded a lot of the time, and then took a very drastic turn into unrealistic. I mean, you've got to know as a director that a fictitious super hero film can only feel realistic to a certain extent. The problem with this one is that it was such an abrupt shift that it was almost laughable how quickly the situation lost control.
One of the reviews I read alluded to the fact that this is not a family friendly super hero film, as it has many dark twists and themes in it. I would agree, but I would almost go a step further to argue that most of the underlying themes are not of a super hero film at all. It seemed that the focus of the film was on Andrew's struggles to be accepted by his classmates and family, and his inability to make friends. Once he receives his powers, however, this troubled teen is given the most powerful tool that a depressed, bullied teen could be given: a means to revenge. Is it still a superhero film? Yeah, sort of, but to deny that it's heavily themed toward bullying and teenage angst would be inaccurate.
As a film that is attempting to be viewed from a first person perspective, it also creates the tendency for the film to drag, as this one did in several different occasions. On the flip side, when something profound DID happen, it was almost like we got slapped in the face with it. The intensity of the plot seemed to move more like pitch frequencies, rather than following a standard evolution of a slow, but steady lead in to a climax with a resolution not long after.
Lastly, it's hard to achieve the level of realism this film attempted while also adding the special effects needed to make the story make sense. A lot of the effects looked pretty cheap and fake and took me out of the film...the few times I was actually into it.
Wrap up- It's really hard for me to put my finger on why I thought this movie sucked. What I think it really boils down to is the lack of harmony between trying to be realistic and attempting a fictional story about super hero teens. The most beloved part about super hero films is their ability to take you out of reality, so to try to contradict that, with the addition of making the main character deranged and revenge seeking, made the film a little schizophrenic.
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