Death of a Superhero 720p - (2011 Lang: English, Ukraine, Russian)

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.

Death of a Superhero is a 2011 Irish drama film based on the New Zealand novel of the same name by Anthony McCarten. Originally planned to be directed by McCarten in New Zealand, the film was shot on location in Ireland throughout 2010 and was directed by Ian FitzGibbon. The film stars Thomas Sangster alongside Andy Serkis. It tells the story of a dying 15-year-old boy who draws comic book stories of an invincible superhero as he struggles with his mortality.

In the first scene, 15-year-old Don (Sangster) attempts suicide by the train tracks or gives the viewer the impression he intends to commit suicide. However, he lets the train rush past him and simply watches.

The next scene shows him getting therapy in a brightly coloured room. Don appears to have tuned out the therapist and simply jots down a drawing in his notebook. He then tears the page from his book and walks out the room leaving a puzzled therapist who eyes his drawing which features the therapist going 'bla bla bla bla bla'.

Don asks his brother about his relationship with someone who his brother thinks fondly of. His brother seems happy with her.

Don is a talented teenager who draws a lot of comic stories and since being told he had terminal cancer has lived in a world occupied by his superhero. Don frequently suffers from hallucinations and during a scan, sees a twisted woman (a cartoon and figment of his imagination) laughing hideously at him.

In the reception room, a boy named Billy won't stop staring at Don. Don is drawing a picture and then rips it out of his book and hands it to Billy, getting up and leaving. It is a picture of a boy standing in a hole in a cemetery. Behind him there is a grave with the name 'Billy' written on it.

In an effort to stop his suicide attempts, his parents send him to therapy. Eventually, he is sent to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis), one whom he initially does not like; but whom he forms a bond with quickly.

Don walks home from school alone and balances on the wall of a bridge as cars rush past below him. He cautiously walks across, unaware that he has been spotted by the therapist.

Don visually shows the therapist his opinion on his methods when he graffiti's a Skull 'n' Crossbones on his boat. However, later Don comes and cleans it off for him and his therapist offers love advice for his crush Shelly.

Shelly reads out an essay from her book. Don looks at it and realises she hasn't done her homework and is left amazed. The teacher is on the phone and hasn't been listening to her. On the way out of the classroom, Don tells her: 'good essay' and she smiles knowing he knows too.

Don turns up at a party where he and his friends perfect a recipe for a drink made from alcoholic wines and beers. Grinning, Don takes a sip. On the way home he spots the woman again and it shows him spraying the air with something. In the morning there is graffitied woman on the school window which people crowd around taking pictures of. His parents are infuriated and he has been suspended from school for a week. Eventually, he is made to scrub it off and so does so when unexpectedly, Shelly kneels down and helps him.

Don returns to the therapist and notices a picture of Dr. King's wife who died a while ago.

During an English lesson Don and Shelly pass notes between each other and end up deciding to attend a party on the weekend. Don asks his therapist for 'love advice' and attends the party with Shelly. Before the party they both talk on top of a building admiring the view. Shelly tells Don she likes his drawings. Flattered, Don tells her she is the smartest girl in the class and really beautiful. Shelly doesn't think that is a 'talent' and would do anything for a talent like Don's. The party goes well until they discover a video of Shelly exposing her breasts and lying on the floor and beginning to strip off her clothes. Some one tells Don his girlfriend is 'dirty' and 'crazy' - intended as a joke. Embarrassed, Don claims she is not his girlfriend and they hardly know each other. Then he spots Shelly, who has heard what he said. She drives off on her motorbike without him.

Don arrives home panicking and heartbroken and is then spotted by his therapist who asks him what's wrong. Don tells him to go away and leave shouting loudly. It results with him having a panic attack and needing to be rushed to the hospital. Don is informed his cancer has got worse and has only a few days left to live. His father decides to spend some time with his son smoking and the two get very emotional. When Don's mother finds out she tells the father to drive him to hospital.

Don has a conversation with a younger patient who has cancer too. She claims she wants to be a 'dancer' when she is older. Billy says he'll be a prince and Don reveals he wants to be a superhero.

Don's brother confesses to Don's friend that he doesn't want Don to die a virgin. They go around the school asking girls if they'll have sex with Don. All of the say that it sounds gross. Eventually they find some girls who are attractive and willing. Don is embarrassed when they show him pictures of the girls and ask for him to make a pick. Realising they've asked the majority of the girls in the school, Don hesitates. However, with the help of his therapist, they get one to agree.

Don is completely nervous during his conversation with them and they stumble across the subject of 'true love'. She then asks for Don to show her some of his pictures. She is impressed and tells him she would do anything for a talent like his. He is reminded of Shelly. In a hallucination he sees the medic woman who tried kill him with a kiss. He leaves her apartment and goes to Shelly and apologizes.

The two walk along a beach, hand in hand. Don makes her promise that if she's upset at all then she should go there and think of him. She promises. The scene fades and it shows Don on his bed dying in peace.

His therapist gets on his sailboat which he has painted and drawn a similar Skull 'n' Crossbones on to what Don drew. Shelly is on the rock and the sailboat sails in the distance. It cuts into the credits.

I really enjoy drama movies. I feel that when given the right one it can blow my mind. This one didn't do exactly that. It did make me emotional, most notably at the end when Donald tells Shelly to go to a particular spot by the seaside because he will always be there. It's actually pretty touching.

So what is the plot? a fifteen year old boy is dying of cancer. He decides to adopt a lifestyle that he wants to do such as drawing graffiti on shop windows late at night and consistently drawing on a notebook. Of what you may ask? a superhero. His parents take him to a psychiatrist that tries to help him come to terms with him dying. While all this is going on he falls in love for the first time.

The superhero symbolism is actually really well done in terms of symbolising what exactly Donald (the dying kid) is thinking. Also being a comic book reader I also liked how well the animators (there are animated sequences of a superhero fighting an evil nurse and a mad doctor) made it look like a superhero cartoon or some of the comic books I pick up in terms of style (and only in terms of style).

The acting is actually really really good. Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Andy Serkis, Aisling Loftus, Michael McElhatton and Sharon Horgan to name a few. I am certainly going to look for more of their stuff.

So if you like the premise and you can find it, get it and watch it. It isn't grim nor depressing nor lighthearted. It is sad, touching, charming and to a small extent funny. I would recommend it to people with an opinion like mine.