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.

*Spoiler/plot- Superheroes, 2011. Follows the public service exploits of several real-life people dressed as comic book superheros who wish to make the community better and safer.*Special Stars- The superhero names are confidential to protect themselves, families, and their work.*Theme- Community service is for everyone.*Trivia/location/goofs- Documentary.*Emotion- At first the people behind the costumes seemed very naive and obsessed with the more trivial superhero minutia like capes, costumes and cars. The more you watched you started to see that they genuinely want to make their city better by using their community awareness to help others.*Based On- Comic Books heroes and Stan Lee of Marvel Comics.

This is one of the strangest documentaries I've ever seen--though I still wondered as I watched it if perhaps this ISN'T a real documentary but a giant put-on. I did a bit of internet research and, yes, it DOES appear that these are real people! The film is about some VERY strange people who have created their own costumes and patrol city streets in the US and Canada as self-styled superheroes. At first, I thought they were all crazy. But, as I watched, I realized some were indeed very crazy (including the psychologist who seemed to think these folks were normal!) but some actually had some depth to them and contribute a lot to their communities. You'll see this in the second half of the film as many of them do a lot just to look out for folks in the neighborhood--helping the homeless, giving out toys to the underprivileged at Christmas and other community service activities. However, actually fighting crime and putting themselves into harm's way--that made me worry a lot about some of these folks.The film is, at times, inspiring and others very funny. One of the funniest moments was Vigilante Spider and his comment about girlfriend (29 minutes into film). Another was seeing Mr. Xtreme getting his butt kicked in a martial arts competition (as apparently he did NOT have superpowers when it came to fighting). And, I also had to laugh about Master Legend--apparently his superpowers needed to be recharged regularly with beer! Although these are very strange folks, provided they DON'T get themselves killed by taking the law into their own hands, they could be very much like the Guardian Angels...in funny costumes. Well worth seeing...and weird.

This fascinating HBO documentary follows several real life people as they dress up in superhero costumes and patrol their neighborhoods. Despite sharing this peculiar hobby, all of the people featured seemed to have different reasons for doing it. Some are misfits while some are clearly attention seekers. Others are out for vigilante justice. Some want to raise crime-prevention awareness in their communities. And some are tough to categorize, like the lovable Master Legend, who at first glance appears to be a troubled alcoholic but eventually reveals himself to be a compassionate do-gooder who passes out food and water to the homeless. He also provides much of the unintentional comedy of the movie.And this is a funny film. Some of the lines are so perfectly ridiculous or well-timed that it has led some viewers to suspect it's a scripted performance, but assuredly these are real people. And while they may dress oddly, the filmmakers never stoop to mockery for cheap laughs. The entertainment lies in just letting these superheroes be themselves. If you are a fan of the documentary "American Movie" then you are sure to enjoy the same type of genuine human comedy in this film.The one thing that these superheroes do share in common, though, is that most of them are struggling to overcome hard circumstances. Many had heartbreaking stories of childhood abuse. Zany as their costumes may appear, ultimately these people are victims looking to make sense of a world that hurt them and trying to make it a better place.This is an excellent and thought-provoking documentary. I highly recommend it.Master Legend rocks!