Death of a Superhero

In "Death of a Superhero", Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) wants to be a superhero when he grows up. That's not going to happen because Donald is dying of cancer. He's trying to balance his survival/mortality rate with his coming-of-age interest in girls and sex. It's a drama about cancer, comic books, superheros, thanatologists, and teenage boys. It's an interesting mix which results in an odd, quiet, and unfortunately uninteresting film.

On paper it can be compared to "50/50" (2011) but it has a completely different tone and feel which makes it less palpable. It's like "Kick-Ass" (2010) but with less action, more comic book drawings, and less humour. And I mean that as a good thing. I think. This is a very slow-moving film about a depressed teenager who draws out his superhero and superheroine fantasies. I think it would have been easier to take if he really did fall or jump off the bridge that he teetered on the edge of. It started getting more entertaining when he met a girl and she elevated his graffiti to revealing heights. But, as it has a tendency of doing, cancer slowed that down.

Remember the cute and only slightly annoying kid from "Love Actually" (2003) and then remember the knowing laugh of amusement when he appeared as a young Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy" (2009)? This is your chance to see him in a very impressive dramatic role. The other stand-out was Andy Serkis as the thanatologist hired by Donald's parents to help him and themselves deal with his impending death. For all intents and purposes, let's call him a therapist. It's the usual character which all of these types of movies have, but there was something more here which I can't quite put my finger on which grabs your attention and then makes you bookmark his IMDb page.

The drawings were insanely impressive; unfortunately, I'm not one for comic book stylings. "Death of a Superhero" is certainly a good film that I appreciated, but I can't say I liked it.

Rang true to teenage life in Ireland. Impressive acting. Walks the line between touching and funny.

Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is dying of cancer. He's angry and distancing himself from his parents. He draws comic book art and sees his world through his drawings. He is sent to shrink #6 Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis). He also falls for rebellious classmate Shelly (Aisling Loftus). She insists on using O'Reilly after her step-father Fitzgerald left.

The kid is good in the role. He's got an interesting face and was also memorable in 'Game of Thrones'. This is a pretty standard sick kid role. Andy Serkis shows that he's more than a motion capture actor although I wish he gets rid of those sweaters. It's too obvious. Donald's friends need to be fleshed out more. They are all non-descript idiots without any distinguishing qualities. It may be useful to have only one best friend played by a good young comic. Aisling Loftus is great as the dream girl. The problem is that the movie moves away from her too much. Their relationship has some of the best moments of the movie. I especially like the scene where he lets her down.

"Death of a Superhero" is a heard touching film about a boy who has cancer. Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Andy Serkis played their roles so perfect, that I totally forgot that their are just actors. I was able to feel into the boys mind without getting distracted by any bad played scenes. Any scene, however played, seemed perfectly fitting for these two characters. Aisling Loftus played her role great too. When I was watching the film the first time, I got sucked in by the great characters and lost myself in the beautiful story. The music in the movie fits its scenes perfectly. Those comic scenes gave the film just the right touch to not be mainstream.

I don't (and didn't) know a person with cancer, but I think, there is something true in this story. We all can be aggressive and cruel, but we can't be so offended at life. Healthy people will never understand the one with cancer, but we can try. And we must. Because the human beings can't be alone. We need to be surrounded by warmth and care, physically and mentally.

This film is not only about an incurable disease, it's about relationship. Real, difficult, "in the raw" relationship between parents and the kid, brothers, a boy and a girl, and just between people with difficult life situations.

This film is about hard, painful, distressing acceptance that not every problem can be fixed, but it's not the reason to give up.

Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Michael McElhatton as the other actors make me believe the story, and film crew makes me live in this drama for 93 minutes. Thank you a lot.