Review of Defendor (2009) by Andrew M — 05 Jul 2010

If you've seen the trailer for this film, you would more than likely be expecting another typical Superhero comedy spoof in the likes of "Kick-ass" and "Mystery Men". Fortunetly (or unfortunately depending on which type of film you want to watch), the trailer is actually very misleading as in I myself thought I was going to be watching a funny superhero spoof starring the very talented Woody Harrelson as a vigilante hero known as "Defendor" which I was totally o.k. with.

What I actually got was a brilliant and compelling story about a simple man (Woody) who's lack of intelligence and grip on reality result in him suiting-up in a homemade superhero outfit, arming himself with lethal weapons such as marbles and angry wasps and taking to the streets to fight crime! More often than none, he ends up getting the crap beaten out of him by petty thugs and nearly killed several times in the film as you can imagine.

Sounds funny, right? And for the most part - it is. There are some genuinely funny parts (granted the humour is a little dark) in "Defendor" yet the overall story is actually quite moving and somewhat heart-warming.

The main ingredient which makes this film work on this level is the brilliant performance given by Woody Harrelson. He breathes so much life into a character that could have so easily been portrayed as silly and slap-stick-ish but instead, you really end up feeling for the guy. Here is a man who is brutally honest, extremely child-like in his behaviour and naivety, he doesn't have many friends, who really is just trying to make the world a better place by removing the scumbags! Whether it be the humorous one-liner superhero babble "Defendor" spews from his mouth or the quieter, more subtle honest lines - Woody delivers with such conviction it's hard not to love this character.

"Defendor" is definitely a character driven film. Everything else from the story to the action scenes to the comedy are secondary features to a fascinating character study of human behaviour and morals.

Along with "Zombieland" (also filmed 2009), Woody Harrelson is fast becoming a household name again and if he keeps it up - he'll no doubt be up there with Depp and Downey Jr in a quirky character league of his own!

I highly recommend "Defendor" to anyone who enjoys films that are a little different and who enjoy memorable character stories.

Just don't be fooled by the trailer!!!