Review of Defendor (2009) by Garrett R — 07 Jun 2010

DEFENDOR is a straightforward and decent "everyman" superhero movie that not just a star vehicle for the witty and engaging Woody Harrelson, but also a examination of how far one man would take his personal justice system: to the doorsteps of the bad people.

Sandra Oh of GREY'S ANATOMY, Kat Dennings of NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST, and Elias Koteas of THE FOURTH KIND are splendid supporting actors to Woody Harrelson, who he himself is inspired by the pathos of past superheroes to craft Arthur Poppingtion, a construction worker who goes about his daily business as himself and at night transforms himself into the self-made Defendor in order to fight crime.

At all times, Defendor's weapons of choice and his overall straight-faced demeanor are pretty funny (you have to admire Harrelson's conviction to portraying his character as emotionally damaged, rather than raving psychotic, even though his character does swerve a tad bit in that direction). On the other hand, his investigation in finding "Captian Industry" is pretty serious. Serious enough to get involved with the city's criminals, who either carry guns or like to "gang up" and beat their man down. For better or worse, Defendor thinks "that guns are for cowards", and so they may be (but they can kill ya!).

Peter Stabbings writes a simple story and directs it with a linear narrative with only a few present flashbacks. After all, the primary portion of the film is told in flashback. DEFENDOR tells the story of Arthur Poppington, who (as I've mentioned above) is a construction worker by day and crime fighter Defendor by night. Through flashbacks, we learn Arthur didn't know his mother very well or his Father, at all. So he takes upon it himself in the present to find a "Captain Industry", for some mysterious reason. Strangely enough, Arthur/Defendor gradually befriends an underage prostitute, after having stood up for her against her pimp. Arthur and his young friend have a deal in that she help him investigate who and where CI is. In time, Arthur's friends and enemies come to see who he can really be, when he finds himself in his element.

You could call DEFENDOR a copycat of KICK-ASS, but the dark family themes, detective story-ish characters, and naunced character of Defendor is more a sympathetic portrait of a lost man trying to find an outlet of escape in his life than an over-the-top vigilante/coming-of-age action film.

Besides, DEFENDOR had the misfortune of being a direct-to-DVD release AND having been released in that medium the same time KICK-ASS had its good time (it sure was one!) in theaters. I'd call DEFENDOR the little movie that could, the little movie that could make a superhero an everyman without having a big-time action sequence, as cool as they are when they take place. DEFENDOR has a few visceral scenes of violence and some action, but they're better seen as a part of the story than as a memorable setpiece.

Anyways, DEFENDOR is a good one-time see for anyone interested in seeing a more dramatic yet still subtly comic Woody Harrelson and a simple but new, dark approach to an everyman being a superhero. Not for or to himself, but for and to the ones who do need him. Be ready for more Critiques and Opinions on Every Game and Movie I Can Get My Hands On!