MOVIE REVIEW: Once Upon a Superhero

Examination into the mind of a self-proclaimed Superhero called Solar Flare, who walks the streets of Los Angeles and is puzzled by the loss of his powers.Â As we travel with him through LA he falls foul of the sex, drugs, and violence that plague the city.

Low budget films can overwhelm me sometimes, both in the experience and the amount of them that fill my inbox waiting to be reviewed.Â You can make a safe bet that 90% of them are just plain unremarkable, most un-markable, in the fact that I cannot seriously give them anything out of five.Â It’s not a prejudice against low-budget films, as when they are done right they are done amazingly right, but when they get it so often wrong it’s a disaster.

Once Upon a Superhero had nearly everything set in place in the first half of the film to be an edgy exploration of our modern fascination with heroes, and fame, yet by the end of the film I was so ready for it to be over.Â Solar Flare has been sent here from his planet and has lost his powers.Â The people of Los Angeles, the fame hungry, and the abusers of different substances, they all offer colour to the background and give the film that edge that it needs, and also something darker for Solar Flare to interact with.

One problem with the film is that it’s too long, for what it is, it should have been about 30 to 40 minutes shorter, which would have given it a more punchy tone.Â Nearly two hours of a running time, and there were easy cuts that would have never been missed, to get more focus on the story of the hero.Â Performance wise Solar Flare himself Adam Marcinowski gives a great performance as the main character, but is let down by the lack of bravery of the film.Â I’m going to explain what I mean by that.Â If this is just a man who thinks that he’s a superhero in some form of mental breakdown, with our modern superhero movies dominating the box office, that’s needed to be explored, it needed to be shown that people in his normal life want him to come back or to get some help.Â If this is a superhero that has genuinely lost his powers and is falling prey to the vice of the city of LA then there still needed to be a better reckoning during the finale.Â Again cuts to the film would have given the film makers and screenwriter time to add in that complexity.

If they had done something different, added to the story, maybe not my ideas but something out of the box, then I would be online in moments and buying this film.Â I would be giving it a four instead of a two, taking one mark off only because most of the supporting roles are terrible performances.Â Two is a fair score here.Â I did like the design of Solar Flare’s superhero costume.

Once Upon a Superhero though has done one thing, it will make me look to see how the film makers develop their craft in the future, to see can they become the creators of silver screen memories at any budget that goes past this film, that would bring me back.Â I don’t know if I would watch this film again, I don’t even know if you should, there are too many missed chances to provide us with something truly original, but there is a nice set up that could have been, and sometimes a film that has a nice set up will promise more from the creative team.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Director & Writer X.S.E.S.
Cast members Solar Flare, Yvette Monreal, Thomas Dekker, Mike Foy, Jason Hughes, Ron Bush, Kitty LaRouge & Houdini the dog
Producers John M. Kline & Scott Weil
Website:Â http://www.onceuponasuperhero.com/

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Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!