Frustrated that there are no real heroes, a normal school kid decides that someone needs to right some wrongs. However, in the real world superheroes don't find it that easy, especially when they have no special powers. His first attempt at being a hero leaves him lying bleeding in a gutter.

One day, though, whilst trying to right the wrong of a girl he likes he meets a real vigilante hero. A highly trained young girl and her father (Nicholas Cage) come in and kill the drug dealers. Suddenly out of his league, he freaks out and almost gives up and were it not for the other two, he might have.

Although there may not be real superheroes, there are super villains, and after they find out that their men have been killed - they make it their new job to eradicate him.

This film is gritty, there is a lot of swearing and blood. So this film is not for everyone, that's for sure. However, some of the points it makes are very valid. The most important thing I got from this film is how people ignore people in need out of fear.

As misguided as the main character in this film is, he is willing to stand up to the crooks and murderers in this world. The tactics of Nicholas Cage's character are those of revenge and frustration at the system that had him framed.

This is never going to be a film I'll want on DVD but it is certainly a film with a point to make.

see also:
Hot Fuzz, Anchorman, Big Nothing, Zombieland

[rate this movie] [official site]
photo © Lionsgate Films.