Review of Defendor (2009) by Erno K — 25 Apr 2010

When evil is afoot, only one person will rise to fight it. He is a bit slow, but he makes up for it with some major cojones. Say hello to Defendor! (and he will flip out if you pronounce it Defend-ER too).

Woody Harrelson can sure pick awesome projects. This movie is all about his crazy but surprisingly effective superhero character. I really liked the fresh approach here, because they could have easily gone the predictable he-is-simply-crazy-and-thus-totally-useless route, but Defendor is actually pretty fucking crafty at fighting crime. He almost makes me believe someone could pull that shit off. I especially loved his jar-o'-wasps trick. The "Batman-voice" angle is pretty hilarious as well.

Make no mistake though, the story is tragic. This is no fun-for-the-whole-family flick. There is a certain foreboding in the air, as you sort of constantly know this can't end happily. The dude means well, but he has no goddamn self preservation skills.

I loved the music in the movie, which is very spot on in my opinion. Nothing like sarcastic superhero themes to get you in the mood for some crime fighting. The entire serious-but-not-too-serious atmosphere is great, actually.

It's truly a shame that almost no one has seen this little gem, as it was only playing in three theaters in the US, for example. Defendor was a hit in the festival circuit and I hope it finds a new life on DVD, it really deserves it. One of the best I've seen so far this year.