Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

How sad is this?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Superheroes is a worthy addition to this well-establish genre, arguably re-popularised by Michael Moore in the 1990s. Filmmaker Mike Barnett's piece is a straightforward portrait of some of America's real-life superheroes. Other than the nicely done cartooning that marks the film's chapters, and some shaky 'ride along' footage, it is mostly talking heads, but no worse off for that. The tendency might be towards a first reaction of 'Really?' but, while there seem to be varying degrees of 'grip on reality' among the subjects, it's hard to argue that their intentions are anything other than good. There are a surprising number of participants, with a wide geographical spread, revealing the breadth of this activity, and almost all have a sense of their own limitations, operating within those bounds, and the law - setting their sights on realistic and attainable objectives. No-one here is going to affect the spin of the Earth or fly an atomic bomb through a portal in the space-time continuum (of course!), but it would be a cold person who was not affected by the good deeds that these citizens do. Their public spirit is admirable and it's to be hoped that there are many more people out there willing to step up in their own (quieter) way when evil rears its head in our communities. Barnett's film is well worth a watch.

A journey inside the world of real life caped crusaders. From all over America, these self-proclaimed crime fighters, don masks, homemade costumes and elaborate utility belts in an attempt to bring justice to evildoers everywhere.Many of these folks are interesting -- some being sad, some really making a difference. The group that actively films drug sellers in their neighborhood probably has the best chance of really changing the world.The strangest is probably Master Legend, who tells us that "when a man works up a whopping thirst" it is Busch that quenches it, "not some Kool-Aid." He claims he was raised by the KKK and forced to fight and has some sort of psychic ability. He likes to tout his battle with a crack smoking child molester...One police officer asks: Is "bait patrol" entrapment? An excellent question. A crime is a crime, but is it right to coax someone into a crime? Is it right to dress up and hope that someone attacks you for "looking gay" while at the same time acknowledging you look "ridiculous"?

Hollywood has perhaps reached its saturation point with comic book and superhero movies with every film now becoming more of an event: a-list stars, groundbreaking f/x, tie-ins, lead-ins and hints at a larger universe packed with even more superheroes. Maybe it's time to take a step back. Show a real hero, totally DIY. Mike Barnett has attempted this.The WATCHMEN Blu-ray set contains a featurette interviewing "real life" superheroes. Mostly these were young men wearing bulky costumes of sewn together sports equipment and pronounced delusions of grandeur; although one interviewee was ex-military and simply patrolled as a concerned citizen in fatigues and a buzz cut. The HBO documentary SUPERHEROES amps this idea into a feature-length spectacle.Mike Barnett presents a typical day-in-the-life perspective of the non- typical man-in-tights. Or clunky plastic armor. With names, among others, like Mr. Xtreme, Zimmer and, ahem, Master Legend. Although their hearts are in the right place, a food-and-clothing drive conducted and distributed to and for the homeless of San Diego being a very worthy effort, their heads most definitely are not. Barnett shows these heroes as misguided - Mr. Xtreme possess no guide in life other than comicbooks, which he reads obsessively in his van – publicity-seeking – an unintentionally-hilarious Master Legend drinks and cavorts with college girls in that crime-ridden gotham of Orlando – or thrill-seeking – the NYC-based Zimmer who patrols dark streets just looking for a head to bash in. Unfortunately, Barnett's docu never presents a clear viewpoint. Are these losers real and sympathetic, slaves to a worthy ideal? Or are they to be mocked at? Severely. Throughout the film the viewer does both. But they shouldn't. At times, the film appears to be as just as a rambling mess as Mr. Xtreme on patrol: sometimes boring, at times embarrassingly cringe-worthy. Also unfortunately, the preventing of crimes, or exacting flying fists of justice as Zimmer so obviously wants, never occurs. Giant aliens don't attack. There are no criminal masterminds' plans to foil. Not even a simple grab-and-run from the local 7-Eleven. This exacerbates the question running through the whole film: so what?Hey, if anything, the film invites you to grab a drink with Master Legend. He has a Facebook page.

That's what some of the masked heroes were called way back in the Golden Age of comics: "mystery men." The distinction between mystery men and superheroes is an obvious one: mystery men wear masks and costumes and fight crime (usually armed with some kind of gadget), whereas superheroes have super powers that they use against evil doers. Not exactly six of one, half dozen of the other... One of my (many) complaints over the years has been the unfortunate tendency of filmmakers and television producers to turn live-action superheroes into social workers. On television, THE INCREDIBLE HULK (like David Jansen in THE FUGITIVE before him) wandered the land righting wrongs and uplifting the downtrodden. Sure, there was a brief encounter with "The Abomination," but not very much else in the way of super villains on that particular show. Even THE SWAMP THING came to the Small Screen more often than not simply solving social ills. But I digress. The masked men (and women) in SUPERHEROES follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned teleheroes. In my book, that makes them HEROES, with a capital H; not super-powered by any means, but Heroes, nonetheless.