Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Great Film overall

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

*Spoiler/plot- Confessions of a Superhero, 2007, This documentary film follows the work, lives and dreams of four performers that dress like comic book heroes to be photographed with Hollywood's tourists.*Special Stars- Christopher Dennis, Maxwell Allen, Jennifer Wenger, Joe McQueen.*Theme- Living the dream is sometimes a bad nightmare if no reality is in your life.*Trivia/location/goofs- documentary or 'mock'umentary depending on your P.O.V., Shot mostly in Los Angeles and at the Hollywood and Highland tourist complex that includes the Grauman's Chinese theater & cement footprints forecourt.*Emotion- A particularly interesting film about another strange aspect of Hollywood for it's citizenry. The film starts off very up-beat and normal. Then it descends into some of the strangest, negative, and troubling revelations about the superhero performers private lives, previous jobs, and their life's hang-ups. This film is honest, raw, and maybe carefully contrived, so a certain amount of viewer's cynicism and apprehension makes this an effective film to connect with it's audience. This film makes you uncomfortable, but somehow wanting more about the film''s performer subjects.

I've seen plenty, though certainly not the majority, of documentaries, and I must say Confessions of a Superhero is one of the most widely original to date. What other director tackles not just superheroes, but panhandlers posed as fantasy characters hanging around for a few bucks for a picture with tourists?Now, a premise can't sustain an entire feature, so luckily, Director Ogens kept up the decent pacing with the backgrounds, decent and sometimes laugh out loud dialogue and earnest people trying to make a living. In addition, the focus, the instrumental music and freeze frames were all effective and moved the "drama" through to the end. Ogens truly made you care if these people succeed or not.Though there are other characters out there, including Marilyn Monroe, Ghost Rider and a few Star Wars & Sesame Street tributes, the movie focuses on four main panhandlers: Superman (Dennis), Batman (Allen), Wonder Woman (Wenger) and The Hulk (McQueen.) I do hate using that word: panhandlers, even though that's how they categorized themselves. After watching this, I side with "Performers" or even "Street Performers." None of them are homeless, each have somewhat of a family – aside from Hulk, unfortunately for him and each make even more than me at times.During this well laid out journey, we get interviews with the subjects, of course, but a lot of their families and videos of their youths or adulthood, such as a marriage trip to Las Vegas. My personal favorite was a trip made to Metropolis, Illinois and that – sorry, spoiler – is basically the climax. Personally, I was wrapped up in the film, but I was thoroughly looking forward to that because, well…I've been there!Picture it: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 (I only remember the exact day, because it was the day of the first OJ Simpson verdict) East Peoria, Ill, me and my friend were visiting, and scouting out if we were going to move to Illinois, and we were getting ready to make the journey down south to the very, VERY southern tip of Illinois. We left the hotel late – again, everyone was in the lobby watching the verdict on the tele, but way unbeknownst to me how far this journey south would be, not to mention I got lost once.We didn't make it to Metropolis until late, like 6 or 7PM, it ended up as a 6 hour drive with the (Certainly no MapQuest/GPS in those days for normal folk) getting lost stint. Unfortunately, everything was pretty much closed. So we just wandered the town for a bit, I took plenty of pics with my cheap camera. Since this is my only, hopefully not forever, trip there since (15 years) I wish I had a better camera. And then we simply went back to the hotel in Peoria, Ill.Sorry to get off track, these are just as much as my blogs/journals as they are my reviews.Anyways…so Supe and his wife make it there following The ULTIMATE Superman, Christopher Reeve just passed on. There, they meet Margot Kidder – my #1 Lois Lane, and a few big surprises happen.Back to the LA streets, namely in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre, you'll dive into Wenger's story of yearning to be in the entertainment industry, or just plain acting. There's really no reason she shouldn't be; she's gorgeous and not only can she perform well – speaking mainly from her auditions, she can certainly act circles around a lot of the actresses I see in movies today, namely Kristen Stewart in Twilight.Also there's the "black" Hulk, or black under, McQueen who was homeless and worked his way up high enough to get the Hulk's job on the street. I only bring up black, because he does a few times.Finally the real stars of this documentary on these performer's journey for tips from tourists: Allen's Batman and Dennis's Superman. I'll begin with Allen. Seriously – this man was Batman, in and out. He's a martial artist, he's thoroughly angry and before they mentioned it in the movie, I noticed his uncanny resemblances to George Clooney – Movie Batman #3. This is his unfortunate downfall, as he didn't plan on donning a costume to spread his cape around strangers; he truly came to Hollywood to be an actor, only no one will hire a look-alike.Luckily, he has his wife and his anger to fall back on. But, he gets along with his rock, Dennis, who took him in and keeps him on solid ground, so to speak.And finally, Dennis…Say what you will, but damn! This guy looked so incredibly close to the late Reeve – the thin one. Like there's a Fat & Skinny Elvis, Reeve also had those phases. To boot, he's a huge Superman Fan – SO AM I, btw – and he's got his place covered, wall to wall with collectables. In addition, he takes his time thoroughly preparing for the street roll. He must use half a can of hairspray on that Superman Curl. All that, and he's got the lingo, the morals (out, when he's performing, that is) and dialogue down pat.I envy this guy. If I had half the balls as this guy's, I'd be out there too, all dressed up. Unfortunately for me, I'd be so caught up in character, literally trying to jump and fly, I'd forget I was there for tips.Ah-hem…anyways, this movie was very good. It's deep, but not too deep and just perfect for the subject matter. Sure, some of the drama was reached for, but it's forgivable since it wasn't over-the-top like the dumbass reality shows on TV. So…it's no "MTV's Real World: DC Universe."

They came, dreaming to be stars - never feeling they'd end up living nightmares as sexless prostitutes.Homeless Hulk, reduced to celebrating earning a part as a villain's sidekick in a film that few will see and less will remember; venerating where he slept in an alley-way and yet in a quest for the almighty dollar blacks out in 130 degree heat...Batman - more of a joke, a villain in his own mind? Claims to have Steven Segal-like capabilities yet when in in a real martial arts class his inadequacies are magnified to a humiliating extent; angry at no tips one day he finally gets the fame he wants but not in the way he expected and reduced to security work hoping to get recognised for auditioning a role...Wonder Woman - she leaves a small town in Tennessee from a father who's a preacher only to attend a Baptist church in Hollywood with her soon-to-be estranged husband; wanting to be accepted for serious roles and earning only bimbo parts she keeps the wolf from the door posing as the mighty Amazon for cheap Asians while in the background Hispanic hot-dog vendors drool over her...Superman - the most noble yet most tragic of them all... Is he really the son of Sandy Dennis? He says yes, but her family is unsure. Christopher Dennis' fixation on Kal-El: Last Son Of Krypton is more than obsession it is tunnel-vision as opposed to Heat rays or X-ray vision.He is the real story of this documentary that is a real life drama, eventually falling for a psychology student who observes him, he uses his tips to make his tiny dwelling a Fortress of Devotion to all that is Superman.On the streets, he strives ceaselessly to be the hero he yearns to emulate - no smoking, avoid cussing, etc. Even the Hollywood police admire how Christopher not only upholds the rules but makes sure others follow the correct path. But at home he is a chain-smoking, drink milk from the bottle, average horny devil! (On the DVD you can see him get aroused over his wife in the extra features, he shows it off by sprawling his legs - no less) These are but a few of the many intriguing characters who butt and abound the world-famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre, all hoping the begging they do is merely a sideline to the big ticket for Glory and not a permanent "job" in obscurity - after all as Stan Lee says in the same flick... How can you be famous if you're wearing a mask?

The cover shot- of a Superman wannabe stretched out on what appears to be a psychiatrist's couch- was all the impetus I needed to rent this one. Like most of us, the panhandlers profiled here want to be super heroes. Or to at least cash in on the craze. That's the great irony of this documentary: the people profiled here aren't like the nerds in THE BIG BANG THEORY; they are, in fact, the exact type of people who- in the real world- set in motion the kinds of crimes, big and small, that superheroes, by their very nature, try to stop. In language that comic book afficianados would get: It's like The Joker dressing up like Batman. For monetary gain. If you follow me.