robinski34 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.

Joe Kucharski (joker-4) 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.

poe426 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.

Danny Blankenship Just recently watched this HBO documentary titled properly "Superheroes" and oh boy it's neat and interesting to see just how far our love of comic books and superheroes has come. You guessed it real life ordinary people have resorted to dressing up as actual crime fighters and help the less blessed often giving food and shelters to the homeless at night. Really great access to this uncommon and feel good underworld as director Michael Barnett takes his projector all across America from coast to coast New York to California for a look at a group of unsung heroes who fight crime their own way it's really a good hearted style of vigilantism! True these fighters are not actual super people with powers like those in the comics, still they have enough determination and will to be a service to society. And true they are not law enforcement certified, yet they do a lot of good deeds and services that law enforcement does not as the film points in Orlando, Florida the police are wrongfully throwing the homeless in jail and always looking for petty little things to arrest people, yet these people of masks and caped crusaders and homemade costumes help those in need as many American cities are tired with police corruption. So we all need a new line of "Superheroes"! Overall nice little showcase by Michael Barnett I know it's unrealistic and far out still a select group of dreamers and hopeful people of good hearts rule the night in a city near you. Vigilantism needs to rock on!