Review of Defendor (2009) by Dustin G — 18 Apr 2010

Surprisingly touching indie about a somewhat mentally handicapped man who dresses up as a superhero taking out bad guys on his quest to take down 'Captain Industry'.

Woody puts in a typically awesome performance as the Defendor, with some good, but no great, supporting performances from other somewhat well known character actors. At first this seems like it might be part of one of those movie 'two's' that are so common these days. Movie two's are when two movies with similar or same subject matter are released around the same time like.

Capote and Infamous for example. Always a bad idea. So with Kick-Ass and Defendor both being about regular citizens donning crime fighting suits and taking on mobsters, this looks like a movie two. And although I haven't seen Kick-Ass yet, I'll bet these movies are different enough to escape that unfortunate distinction. It's one of those movies that starts off feeling kind of iffy, but as the movie progresses you find yourself more and more drawn in to the story, but more so to Woody's Defendor, one of the most likeable characters he's ever played, and by the end you're sold on it. I was anyway.

It's a well rounded movie in that you it's funny, pretty original, dark at times, lighter at others, and as I said before, even sad and touching.

This is one of those movies you'll have to track down as it will probably stay fairly under the radar. It's indie through and through. But it's definitely worth the hunt.