Mirageman (Review)

Mirageman

Mirageman (2007)

Directed by Ernesto Diaz Espinoza

[this review is brought to you by Insano Steve, who after seeing this flick, got dressed up as superhero and started roaming the streets of NYC where he met a gang of thugs who kicked his ass, he should have seen Kick-Ass first]

I was pretty psyched to see Mirage Man because of it's no nonsense action packed trailer. Our hero, Mirage Man is just a regular dude who fights crime without any of the usual frills. He has no superpowers, just his fists and his guts (and a blue ski mask!).

Plus, this is the first movie I'd ever seen from Chile. So does Mirage Man deliver? Well, kinda, .....

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Maco, a young man orphaned after his parents and surviving younger brother were brutally attacked, lives a solitary life as a nightclub security guard. One day, he intervenes in a violent robbery, rescuing a television reporter, who later reports on her masked hero. Hearing of this new superhero, Maco s institutionalized brother s mental health improves. Encouraged by this improvement, Maco takes on the secret life of the superhero known as MIRAGEMAN.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Plot: In the prologue, we find out that our hero, Marco and his brother, Tito, were orphaned as children when their parents were killed in a home invasion. Tito was particularly scarred because he was also raped(!) during the invasion.

One day, Marco, is walking home from his job as a bouncer, when lo and behold, he spots a home invasion taking place. Marco beats up one of the masked invaders, takes his mask from him, and becomes the Mirage Man! MM ends up beating the shit out of the other invaders inside the house, one of whom is in the middle of raping a girl. What's up with all the rape?

Turns out the girl that is saved from rape is local TV news reporter, Carol Valdivieso, who broadcasts her heroic story on the news the next day. Mirage Man is now famous and citizens throughout Chile begin to call out for our hero to help protect them from crime.

The movie becomes sorta standard after this. Hero is loved, Hero is taken for granted, Hero is betrayed, Hero is hated, Hero says 'fuck this, I quit', Hero returns when the city goes to shit, Hero is loved again.

T&A: Nothing that I can remember

Gore: Negative here as well

WTF Moment: On one of Mirage Man's missions, he fights what the DVD subtitles calls a 'gang of rappers'. However, the gang is nothing more than a bunch of low end thugs. Apparently, the Chileans have somehow equated 'rapper' with 'criminal'. I have no idea how they made that association.

Insano Steve's Final Verdict: There's some fine moments in this flick and it's certainly an easy watch. At the same time, it's not gonna be anything you haven't seen before. The trend of the 'alternative' superhero has kinda taken over now. I did appreciate the shitty 70s quality and feel of the movie. And also, it's nice to finally have a Chilean stereotype in case I ever meet a Chilean person!


Rating:

1/2

Check out the trailer.