Review of Death of a Superhero (2011) by Amanda C — 10 Aug 2012

Death of a Superhero is at its heart a gimmick film: teenage boy with cancer lets his frustrations out though his artwork and his creations haunt him. It's an interesting stylistic choice and it's well executed by director Ian Fitzgibbon. He never lets the gimmick overshadow the actors, the story or the emotion of the film. The integration of the animation into the film works really well, maintaining an overcast, but hypersaturated colouration, creating a graphic novel feel to the film, both within the animated and live action sequences.

Where the film truly shines, however is in its portrayal of very real relationships between parents and their teenaged kids, who still want and need their parents, but also want to be separate from them. This is aided by some fantastic performances from the cast with Thomas Brodie-Sangster doing an absolutely fantastic job in the lead.

There are some problems with maintaining the graphic novel aspect through the middle of the film, especially through the happier moments, where it kind of disappears. This is a small problem though that is offset by the strength of the performers.