Review of Defendor (2009) by Chris T — 17 Apr 2010

Defendor has the perfect formula of black comedy and social commentary that hasn't been seen on this scale in quite a while. The characters are believable, even when they're being over the top, and the humor varies from subtle to outrageous in the best possible way. Woody Harrelson plays the role so infectiously that the insanity of his character draws you into the story and becomes contagious.

Over the past several years, the superhero genre has gone from a mild market to an overfed, overindulged beast that devours the comic-book medium and defecates steaming piles of movie schlock such as Elektra, Punisher: War Zone, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With producers all too eager to exploit the superhero genre to the fullest, a movie like Defendor comes as a breath of fresh air after traveling through a forest of smelly turds. While movies like Kick-Ass claim to reinvent the genre, Defendor actually does.

The film plays like a superhero version of Forrest Gump, where the main character's arc remains stalwart, but it's the people around him that go through major changes. And like Forrest Gump, the story transitions beautifully between being cute and funny to dark and serious. This is a very difficult feat to accomplish, but this film makes it look easy. The story begins with Arthur Poppington (Harrelson) in the office of criminal psychologist Dr. Ellen Park who asks him the simple question, "Why did you assault Mr. Debrofkowitz?" Arthur responds with "top secret" and then recants his tale of super heroism.

By day, Arthur Poppington is a traffic director for the Public Works Department. By night he is Defendor, armed with marbles, jars filled with angry wasps, a trench club, and a childlike sense of adventure. Did I mention he drives around in a stolen cherry picker truck called the Defendog? His boss Paul is the closest thing he has to family. While Paul continually berates Arthur for his insane behavior, he shows an unyielding loyalty to the defiant man-child. The reasons behind this are later explained in the film. While out on his first official night as Defendor, Arthur beats up a crooked cop named Chuck Dooney (Elias Koteas), meets a young prostitute named Kat Debrofkowitz (Kat Dennings) whom he later befriends, and is subsequently arrested where he meets an unwilling partner in his war on crime, Captain Fairbanks (Clark Johnson).

Unlike most superheroes, Defendor has never officially met his arch nemesis, whom he calls Captain Industry. He has no idea who Captain Industry is or where he lives, but Arthur is convinced he is to blame for all the drug smuggling on the planet and directly responsible for the death of his mother who, like Kat, was also a young prostitute. Seeking revenge on a former client, Kat tells Arthur that Captain Industry is actually a Hungarian smuggler named Kristic (A.C. Peterson), which leads Arthur down a journey that transforms him from the village idiot to a hometown hero.

Defendor may fit into the superhero genre, but the acting, especially among the supporting cast, makes it accessible to anyone. You don't have to be a fan of Batman to like this film. And Defendor isn't afraid to take chances either. There are times where the film takes turns that the general audience probably won't like or accept, but does it anyway for artistic direction. It doesn't take the easy way out like many other superhero films tend to do. This film will make you laugh, make you cry, and maybe, if you're lucky, make you think.