Review of Defendor (2009) by K-Lon M — 20 Apr 2011

Meet Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson) by day a member of Anvil City's Public Works Department (Hamilton, ON in disguise), by night "Defendor" a would-be super hero who searches tirelessly for his arch-nemesis Capt. Industry. Arthur Poppington, though friendly enough, is not a well man. Following his encounter with a teenage prostitute/crack addict Kat (Kat Dennings) and running afoul of bent cop Dooney (Elias Koteas) Arthur will become a hero to the people of Anvil City...

Interesting film...just don't be fooled into thinking this is a comedy, instead is a rather serious drama taking aspects of the super hero genra and using them to dress up the story of a man suffering from some pretty big mental health issues. Writer/Director Peter Stebbings frames most of his story with an interview between Arthur and Dr. Park (Sandra Oh) his court appointed psychatrist and keeps most of his story grounded in reality (ie Defendor vs 3 Bikers equals Arthur getting a mouth full of chiclets). Elias Koteas and A.C. Peterson make effective villians to Arthurs simple minded protagonist (random thought, this movie is what happens when Batman Begins and Forrest Gump get drunk at a party and have unprotected sex) and I was rather found of Clark Johnson as the Police Captain who finds himself looking out for Arthur and Michael Kelly as Paul Carter, Arthur's friend and boss who looks out for him. Kelly played an effective asshat in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead here plays a role thats the exact oppoisite just as well I was surprised how much I liked his character.

Defendor is an oddity, though I enjoyed it, it helps to ignore the films own advertising when going into it. One of the better Canadian films out their, after Cairo Time I'd almost lost hope that we could produce a decient film, if nothing else Defendor washed away the memories of that overpraised turd.