What's it about? Andrew is struggling at high school. He is picked on, lonely, his mother is critically ill at home and his father no longer works as a fireman after being injured. He starts chronicling his life through the lens of a video camera, including his drunk father's abusive behaviour towards him and the bullying he suffers at school. One evening at a school party, he and his cousin Matt and the prospective high school president Steve find a hole in the ground that leads through to a mysterious underground chamber housing a seemingly other-worldly crystalline object. None of them can resist touching it and shortly thereafter they find themselves developing increasingly potent telekinetic powers.
*****
What's it like? With the whole film being shot through Andrew's video camera, obvious connections will be made to everything from The Blair Witch Project, through District 9 and Cloverfield. Thankfully, there is none of the shaky, nausea-inducing amateurish filming that made some of these sorts of films a little unpopular and instead there is good reason why Andrew should be filming everything and if nothing else, it is the first time we have seen a superhero film (which is what this boils down to) done in this format.
What sets this film apart from the superhero genre however, is the refreshing lack of obvious and cliched character arcs. Rather than everyone becoming noble and seeing the potential their powers have for making the world a better place, or becoming corrupted by boundless power and trying to take over the world, we instead get teenagers larking about, playing pranks, getting their own back on bullies, making mistakes, acting thoughtlessly and impulsively and trying to work out what might be the right thing to do in unimaginably unique circumstances.
Andrew is the most obviously "troubled" of the three and although he seems like the one most likely to use his powers problematically, our sympathies remain with him. His home life is unmanageably difficult, as his drunk father hits him, blames him, rages at him and insults him and his mother slowly slips away in pain and sadness. Matt and Steve become his friends through their shared experiences, but as their powers escalate in potency, they struggle to understand him and relate to him. Underpinning all of this is the philosophical debate that was also weaved through Jurassic Park and Spider-man - just because you have the ability to do something does not mean that you should. Spider-man reduced it to "with great power comes great responsibility" and Matt essentially offers the same counsel to Andrew, who instead reads up on evolution and bestows upon himself the title "apex predator", which is clearly not going to end well.
The scenes showing the three boys exploring and developing their powers are exciting, funny and engaging and the film moves briskly through these sequences, allowing the characters to develop believably. There is the ongoing sense that everything is at any moment going to go horribly wrong, much to the credit of the director (26-year old debutant Josh Trank) who balances lighter and more edgy, tense moments (and a few big jumps) with real ease. The relatively unknown actors who make up the central threesome are all effortlessly convincing and their respective journeys are believable and compelling. A really great opening volley in what will be a summer of superhero behemoths slugging it out.
What sets this film apart from the superhero genre however, is the refreshing lack of obvious and cliched character arcs. Rather than everyone becoming noble and seeing the potential their powers have for making the world a better place, or becoming corrupted by boundless power and trying to take over the world, we instead get teenagers larking about, playing pranks, getting their own back on bullies, making mistakes, acting thoughtlessly and impulsively and trying to work out what might be the right thing to do in unimaginably unique circumstances.
Andrew is the most obviously "troubled" of the three and although he seems like the one most likely to use his powers problematically, our sympathies remain with him. His home life is unmanageably difficult, as his drunk father hits him, blames him, rages at him and insults him and his mother slowly slips away in pain and sadness. Matt and Steve become his friends through their shared experiences, but as their powers escalate in potency, they struggle to understand him and relate to him. Underpinning all of this is the philosophical debate that was also weaved through Jurassic Park and Spider-man - just because you have the ability to do something does not mean that you should. Spider-man reduced it to "with great power comes great responsibility" and Matt essentially offers the same counsel to Andrew, who instead reads up on evolution and bestows upon himself the title "apex predator", which is clearly not going to end well.
The scenes showing the three boys exploring and developing their powers are exciting, funny and engaging and the film moves briskly through these sequences, allowing the characters to develop believably. There is the ongoing sense that everything is at any moment going to go horribly wrong, much to the credit of the director (26-year old debutant Josh Trank) who balances lighter and more edgy, tense moments (and a few big jumps) with real ease. The relatively unknown actors who make up the central threesome are all effortlessly convincing and their respective journeys are believable and compelling. A really great opening volley in what will be a summer of superhero behemoths slugging it out.
*****
Should I see it? You really should. It is certainly one of the best films to grace our screens so far in 2012 and will take some beating, even by its most obvious genre comparatives (Avengers, Batman, Spiderman). As a Christian, I found the film giving me plenty of food for thought, from Andrew's sense of being "different" (even before he acquires super-powers), through the broader thematic issues of hubris, the corrupting ability of power and finding your place in the world. Although Andrew's father is easy to dismiss as a mere brute, a harsh unsympathetic monster, he likewise gives us a lot to ponder in relation to the modern malaise of male impotent rage. He is a man desperately unhappy, weak and angry and takes it out on his son because he doesn't know what else to do. Not to excuse him, but it is an interesting performance and an intriguing character.
The film is rated 12A and contains some swearing (though thankfully none of it too strong) and violence. Younger children will likely find the brutality of Andrew's father more upsetting than anything else and the absence of a sense of fantasy to the more superheroic elements makes the film more affecting and potentially distressing than something like Thor, where you do not feel you are watching real-life events unfold. If you are trying to understand and connect with your teenage children, this might be a good film to see and then use as a way of opening up a dialogue about finding your own identity as a young adult and coming to terms with being different and how we deal with sadness, frustration and the usual challenges of life. Catch it if you can.
The film is rated 12A and contains some swearing (though thankfully none of it too strong) and violence. Younger children will likely find the brutality of Andrew's father more upsetting than anything else and the absence of a sense of fantasy to the more superheroic elements makes the film more affecting and potentially distressing than something like Thor, where you do not feel you are watching real-life events unfold. If you are trying to understand and connect with your teenage children, this might be a good film to see and then use as a way of opening up a dialogue about finding your own identity as a young adult and coming to terms with being different and how we deal with sadness, frustration and the usual challenges of life. Catch it if you can.
