Its a touching story of heartbreak that Fitzgibbon handles nicely, the crude animation its only distracting point of contention. But its there for a reason, so Donald can prove he can save his own soul alongside the innocent victims he draws. No matter how ready or how nave he is to think killing himself is control, only anger will survive until hes able to give into his monsters. Death isnt a free pass to walk the Earth disrespecting the gift of life; it is an escape from the unknown to continue on without fear. And Brodie-Sangster embodies these sentiments throughout his performance, showing anger, joy, frustration, and eventually love. To be the superhero of his dreams, he must find a way to let the others continue living for him. By giving into his own emotions to finally comprehend his fight is for them and not his himself, Donald becomes their savior. A martyr to those whod rather wallow in the depression of death, its through his passing on that they all regain the ability to live.

Cancer is a tough topic to address in film, if only because mortality offers a thin line to walk between sincere reflection and blatant emotional manipulation. It is an even greater problem when youre dealing with a younger protagonist, one who has barely had a chance at life before the disease conspires to rip them away from the world and their loved ones. Death of a Superhero is far to schmaltzy for its own good, often pandering to its audience while trying to distract away from its cloying manipulations with predictable doses of humour and a wry cynicism that the hero must vanquish before his untimely passing.Theres very little in Death of a Superhero that is hard to predict. And Im not even discussing the final fate of the protagonist. We know that his anger and cynicism will fade to be replaced with optimism and affection as he grabs the remaining life, rather than rejecting it. We know what the third act twist will be from the moment our leads cancer enters remission early in the film. Even the humourous devices the story uses to distract us from the grim storyline are entirely predictable. Since this is a movie about a teenager dying, the thought of dying a virgin will undoubtedly become a key plot point and it does. Similarly, medicinal marijuana provides a comic relief sequence towards the middle of the film. Watch free movies online

Both sequences seem more than a little disingenuous, inserted because the film makers realise that the movie can only really turn out in particular way. Understandably, they want to lighten the tone for the audience while providing a life-affirming moral. While 50/50 managed this delicate task with restraint and consideration, Death of a Superhero feels a little obvious in its use of humour as a means of fending off the hard and cold realities of the situation. The fact that our young protagonist isnt guided out of his depression by anything approaching a profound meditation, but instead through tried-and-tested clichs, leaves the movie feeling more than a bit shallow.Thats a shame, because the early scenes of the film work quite well. Thomas Brodie-Sangster portrays the young characters anger and rage remarkably well he crafts a character who seems to genuinely rage at the cruel hand that fate has dealt him, and is struggling to cope. However, Brodie-Sangster doesnt have the material to work with, and the characters arc feels rather trite and predictable. It is, of course, young love that teaches him the value of his young life. Indeed, there are all the problems that one associates with the romantic-comedy version of love, including a completely unnecessary misunderstanding and a later reconciliation. The problem is that theres no real substance to any of these ideas or themes or moments. They just unfold, because they seem to be expected in a film like this.

In fairness, Death of a Superhero does have a lot going for it, at least among the cast. As mentioned above, it has a solid lead. However, it also has a superb ensemble. Andy Serkis is fast emerging as a credible actor outside the motion capture suit, even if he doesnt seem to choose the best movies. Michael McElhatton is great as the father struggling to cope, trapped with a relatively small role. Aisling Loftus continues to mark herself as a young talent to watch, deservedly picking up a special prize from the Dublin Film Critics Circle for her work here. However, the cast here is infinitely stronger than either the writing or the direction, and they cant quite offset the cloying sensation that the movie generates.

The bigger problem is the way the film integrates them with the narrative, or fails to. The movie features them heavily at the start, and then seems to lose interest in these vignettes as an insight into our protagonists psychology. They disappear mostly from the middle, and then appear again at the end, as if the film realised it had to tie these images back into the main storyline. It starts off as a novel storytelling tool, to explore the lead characters psyche in a way that he wouldnt otherwise allow but it ultimately ends up as a bit of an afterthought.Death of a Superhero feels like a very cynical little film, one that uses the notion of child mortality to leverage a greater emotional pay-off out of standard coming-of-age tropes and clichs. It has an interesting hook, which it fails to exploit, and an impressive cast, who are saddled with disappointing material. This superhero was dead on arrival.