Nightclub bouncer Maco Gutierrez (a likeable and convincing portrayal by Marko Zaror) decides to become a vigilante superhero called Mirageman after he intervenes in a robbery one fateful night.
Writer/director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza deftly grounds the absorbing and enjoyable premise in a plausibly drab, harsh, and sordid workaday reality: Mirageman gets both mocked and exploited by the media, elicits mixed responses from the public at large, works for a guy who treats him like dirt, has to deal with the unwanted attention of annoying wannabe sidekick Pseudo-Robin (a hilariously obnoxious performance by Ivan Jara), and even at one harrowing point almost gets himself killed when he attempts to rescue a young girl from evil sex traffickers. Moreover, the rough'n'tumble martial arts fights are quite exciting while the subplot about Maco's traumatized catatonic brother adds a surprising amount of additional depth and poignancy. Best of all, this film comes complete with a spot-on uplifting central message about how one man can indeed make a positive difference. Plus it's impossible to dislike a movie in which the earnest and appealing blue collar bloke protagonist rides the bus to various crime scenes at first before eventually resolving that transportation issue and has to change into his uniform while squatting behind a dumpster in an alley before making his public debut.
Writer/director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza deftly grounds the absorbing and enjoyable premise in a plausibly drab, harsh, and sordid workaday reality: Mirageman gets both mocked and exploited by the media, elicits mixed responses from the public at large, works for a guy who treats him like dirt, has to deal with the unwanted attention of annoying wannabe sidekick Pseudo-Robin (a hilariously obnoxious performance by Ivan Jara), and even at one harrowing point almost gets himself killed when he attempts to rescue a young girl from evil sex traffickers. Moreover, the rough'n'tumble martial arts fights are quite exciting while the subplot about Maco's traumatized catatonic brother adds a surprising amount of additional depth and poignancy. Best of all, this film comes complete with a spot-on uplifting central message about how one man can indeed make a positive difference. Plus it's impossible to dislike a movie in which the earnest and appealing blue collar bloke protagonist rides the bus to various crime scenes at first before eventually resolving that transportation issue and has to change into his uniform while squatting behind a dumpster in an alley before making his public debut.