Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

gavin6942 A journey inside the world of real life caped crusaders. From all over America, these self-proclaimed crime fighters, don masks, homemade costumes and elaborate utility belts in an attempt to bring justice to evildoers everywhere.Many of these folks are interesting -- some being sad, some really making a difference. The group that actively films drug sellers in their neighborhood probably has the best chance of really changing the world.The strangest is probably Master Legend, who tells us that "when a man works up a whopping thirst" it is Busch that quenches it, "not some Kool-Aid." He claims he was raised by the KKK and forced to fight and has some sort of psychic ability. He likes to tout his battle with a crack smoking child molester...One police officer asks: Is "bait patrol" entrapment? An excellent question. A crime is a crime, but is it right to coax someone into a crime? Is it right to dress up and hope that someone attacks you for "looking gay" while at the same time acknowledging you look "ridiculous"?

poe426 That's what some of the masked heroes were called way back in the Golden Age of comics: "mystery men." The distinction between mystery men and superheroes is an obvious one: mystery men wear masks and costumes and fight crime (usually armed with some kind of gadget), whereas superheroes have super powers that they use against evil doers. Not exactly six of one, half dozen of the other... One of my (many) complaints over the years has been the unfortunate tendency of filmmakers and television producers to turn live-action superheroes into social workers. On television, THE INCREDIBLE HULK (like David Jansen in THE FUGITIVE before him) wandered the land righting wrongs and uplifting the downtrodden. Sure, there was a brief encounter with "The Abomination," but not very much else in the way of super villains on that particular show. Even THE SWAMP THING came to the Small Screen more often than not simply solving social ills. But I digress. The masked men (and women) in SUPERHEROES follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned teleheroes. In my book, that makes them HEROES, with a capital H; not super-powered by any means, but Heroes, nonetheless.

MartinHafer This is one of the strangest documentaries I've ever seen--though I still wondered as I watched it if perhaps this ISN'T a real documentary but a giant put-on. I did a bit of internet research and, yes, it DOES appear that these are real people! The film is about some VERY strange people who have created their own costumes and patrol city streets in the US and Canada as self-styled superheroes. At first, I thought they were all crazy. But, as I watched, I realized some were indeed very crazy (including the psychologist who seemed to think these folks were normal!) but some actually had some depth to them and contribute a lot to their communities. You'll see this in the second half of the film as many of them do a lot just to look out for folks in the neighborhood--helping the homeless, giving out toys to the underprivileged at Christmas and other community service activities. However, actually fighting crime and putting themselves into harm's way--that made me worry a lot about some of these folks.The film is, at times, inspiring and others very funny. One of the funniest moments was Vigilante Spider and his comment about girlfriend (29 minutes into film). Another was seeing Mr. Xtreme getting his butt kicked in a martial arts competition (as apparently he did NOT have superpowers when it came to fighting). And, I also had to laugh about Master Legend--apparently his superpowers needed to be recharged regularly with beer! Although these are very strange folks, provided they DON'T get themselves killed by taking the law into their own hands, they could be very much like the Guardian Angels...in funny costumes. Well worth seeing...and weird.

kosk11348 This fascinating HBO documentary follows several real life people as they dress up in superhero costumes and patrol their neighborhoods. Despite sharing this peculiar hobby, all of the people featured seemed to have different reasons for doing it. Some are misfits while some are clearly attention seekers. Others are out for vigilante justice. Some want to raise crime-prevention awareness in their communities. And some are tough to categorize, like the lovable Master Legend, who at first glance appears to be a troubled alcoholic but eventually reveals himself to be a compassionate do-gooder who passes out food and water to the homeless. He also provides much of the unintentional comedy of the movie.And this is a funny film. Some of the lines are so perfectly ridiculous or well-timed that it has led some viewers to suspect it's a scripted performance, but assuredly these are real people. And while they may dress oddly, the filmmakers never stoop to mockery for cheap laughs. The entertainment lies in just letting these superheroes be themselves. If you are a fan of the documentary "American Movie" then you are sure to enjoy the same type of genuine human comedy in this film.The one thing that these superheroes do share in common, though, is that most of them are struggling to overcome hard circumstances. Many had heartbreaking stories of childhood abuse. Zany as their costumes may appear, ultimately these people are victims looking to make sense of a world that hurt them and trying to make it a better place.This is an excellent and thought-provoking documentary. I highly recommend it.Master Legend rocks!