Hero Tomorrow is the story of David, a determined comic book artist who wants his story published. Soon enough, he becomes so enveloped in his own character that he puts on a costume and gets to work. There are a lot of issues that hold this otherwise simple plot back. Lines that should be important are instead laughable, or simply make you cringe. It eventually becomes impossible to tell whether the actors or the writers are to blame for this (so I contend they share the blame equally).
The story, as told here, is too goofy and alternately intensely serious, for its own good. It also has the unlucky fate of being released nearly the same time as the similarly-themed, far more interesting, "Special".
The one thing that stood out to me (aside from the poorly introduced twist at the end), was the set and costume design. Discussed in the Bonus Features are notably the comic shop and associated costume of Apama. These set pieces were created specifically for the film - which is a real surprise, considering the low-budget. You certainly don't notice costume design in any other modern indie film - because it's most often just the clothes off of the actor's backs.
With the bonus features turning out to be so enlightening, you're left with some actual answers. The actors had so much fun filming Hero Tomorrow, despite how the film turned out. That they also openly admit to not knowing what the heck their squid sub-plot meant easily sums up what's wrong with the film. It's an unformed collection of random ideas that could have made for an amazing story. I do hold out hope for the future's of both the director, and lead actress (Jocelyn Wrzosek).
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Sounds like a real missed opportunity, interesting initial ideas, however i also feel the 'normal people donning superhero costume' is a soon to be regurgitated plot, what with the likes of Kick Ass coming out.
ReplyDeleteOh it definitely is a missed opp. Like I said, Special does this idea so much better, because the director put actual thought into it, cast great actors, and didn't fall into the trap of cliche´s.
ReplyDeleteAnd, just based on Kiss Ass' trailer, I think they have no hope at all of making something unique. Now that I've seen the trailer 5 times in a row, every time I've been to the theater, and on TV, I'm just sick of it.
I love superhero films, but you're right, you can only do the same thing a few times before you kill the idea.