I love resilience. The relentless search for true love. The reason for us to be here and to have faith. Death of a Superhero is as grim as it is bad ass. Fantastic portrayal of an adolescent soul trapped in between the fear of an unfulfilled life and a sense of rightness. The film makes no compromises even in the face of death, instead turns everything into a comic book fantasy. The Superhero lives on. Risqué, Surreal,Emotional and funny at times. Death Of a Superhero tells a story that we avoid talking about and rarely deal with so boldly. Must watch for all of us whether you have lost a dear one or not. The plot gives enough time for the characters to evolve. The combined effect of performances, cinematography and music builds a world you would want to linger around for a while.
13 Reviews
nice dying guy coming-of-age movie
SnoopyStyle20 June 2015
Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is dying of cancer. He's angry and distancing himself from his parents. He draws comic book art and sees his world through his drawings. He is sent to shrink #6 Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis). He also falls for rebellious classmate Shelly (Aisling Loftus). She insists on using O'Reilly after her step-father Fitzgerald left.
The kid is good in the role. He's got an interesting face and was also memorable in 'Game of Thrones'. This is a pretty standard sick kid role. Andy Serkis shows that he's more than a motion capture actor although I wish he gets rid of those sweaters. It's too obvious. Donald's friends need to be fleshed out more. They are all non-descript idiots without any distinguishing qualities. It may be useful to have only one best friend played by a good young comic. Aisling Loftus is great as the dream girl. The problem is that the movie moves away from her too much. Their relationship has some of the best moments of the movie. I especially like the scene where he lets her down.
The kid is good in the role. He's got an interesting face and was also memorable in 'Game of Thrones'. This is a pretty standard sick kid role. Andy Serkis shows that he's more than a motion capture actor although I wish he gets rid of those sweaters. It's too obvious. Donald's friends need to be fleshed out more. They are all non-descript idiots without any distinguishing qualities. It may be useful to have only one best friend played by a good young comic. Aisling Loftus is great as the dream girl. The problem is that the movie moves away from her too much. Their relationship has some of the best moments of the movie. I especially like the scene where he lets her down.
The drama of dying of cancer made into a (boring) comic book
napierslogs2 July 2012
In "Death of a Superhero", Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) wants to be a superhero when he grows up. That's not going to happen because Donald is dying of cancer. He's trying to balance his survival/mortality rate with his coming-of-age interest in girls and sex. It's a drama about cancer, comic books, superheros, thanatologists, and teenage boys. It's an interesting mix which results in an odd, quiet, and unfortunately uninteresting film.
On paper it can be compared to "50/50" (2011) but it has a completely different tone and feel which makes it less palpable. It's like "Kick-Ass" (2010) but with less action, more comic book drawings, and less humour. And I mean that as a good thing. I think. This is a very slow-moving film about a depressed teenager who draws out his superhero and superheroine fantasies. I think it would have been easier to take if he really did fall or jump off the bridge that he teetered on the edge of. It started getting more entertaining when he met a girl and she elevated his graffiti to revealing heights. But, as it has a tendency of doing, cancer slowed that down.
Remember the cute and only slightly annoying kid from "Love Actually" (2003) and then remember the knowing laugh of amusement when he appeared as a young Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy" (2009)? This is your chance to see him in a very impressive dramatic role. The other stand-out was Andy Serkis as the thanatologist hired by Donald's parents to help him and themselves deal with his impending death. For all intents and purposes, let's call him a therapist. It's the usual character which all of these types of movies have, but there was something more here which I can't quite put my finger on which grabs your attention and then makes you bookmark his IMDb page.
The drawings were insanely impressive; unfortunately, I'm not one for comic book stylings. "Death of a Superhero" is certainly a good film that I appreciated, but I can't say I liked it.
On paper it can be compared to "50/50" (2011) but it has a completely different tone and feel which makes it less palpable. It's like "Kick-Ass" (2010) but with less action, more comic book drawings, and less humour. And I mean that as a good thing. I think. This is a very slow-moving film about a depressed teenager who draws out his superhero and superheroine fantasies. I think it would have been easier to take if he really did fall or jump off the bridge that he teetered on the edge of. It started getting more entertaining when he met a girl and she elevated his graffiti to revealing heights. But, as it has a tendency of doing, cancer slowed that down.
Remember the cute and only slightly annoying kid from "Love Actually" (2003) and then remember the knowing laugh of amusement when he appeared as a young Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy" (2009)? This is your chance to see him in a very impressive dramatic role. The other stand-out was Andy Serkis as the thanatologist hired by Donald's parents to help him and themselves deal with his impending death. For all intents and purposes, let's call him a therapist. It's the usual character which all of these types of movies have, but there was something more here which I can't quite put my finger on which grabs your attention and then makes you bookmark his IMDb page.
The drawings were insanely impressive; unfortunately, I'm not one for comic book stylings. "Death of a Superhero" is certainly a good film that I appreciated, but I can't say I liked it.
Overall, great film.
jkrawczyk-223 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
"Death of a Superhero's" titular character is fifteen years old, and fifteen is a pretty rough age. The body's changing, hormones are overloading the brain, and the once pointless female is miraculously the best thing on the planet. Combine that with school, starting to think about your future, parents, a menial job, and being surrounded by other hormone imbalanced punks, and fifteen is a pretty crappy age. But that's what the average fifteen-year-old boy has to deal with. Adding chemotherapy into the mix is only going to make life all the more unbearable. "Death of a Superhero" is about Donald (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) coping with his life- threatening cancer. Given his low chance of survival, Donald toys with the idea of suicide. He stands in front of trains and teeters on the edges of bridges. To help manage his emotions with his practically imminent demise, Donald draws himself as a superhero battling the evil Dr. Glove. We see animated sequences of Donald's alter ego saving lives and battling evils that parallel the dilemmas in his own life. Donald's parents are torn on how to handle his deeply imbedded depression. Psychiatrists have seemingly been a lost cause, but in one last attempt, Donald's parents hire Dr. Adrian King (Andy Serkis). Dr. King seems to create a balanced relationship with Donald as he stays honest with his situation and acknowledges his anger instead of trying to subdue it. Dr. King is the Dirty Harry of psychiatrists as he's grizzled, blunt, and seems to have a perpetual hangover. Working with a sense of reality, Donald feels comfortable enough to actually open up to Dr. King. "Death of a Superhero" has a nice mentality. It's brutally honest, but there's a fair sense of humor and heart. It's always nice seeing Andy Serkis in his actual skin and Thomas Sangster's performance is nothing short of impressive. The animated sequences show Donald's resentment better than words ever could, and the movie's pacing is fairly quick for what would be expected with this subject matter. This movie's been out for about three days, since I wrote this review, and I'm already hearing comparisons to "50/50." Both are good movies with similar plots, but the themes are radically different.
Not wanting to go because you can't accomplish the bang
ganymedes198531 March 2019
As you follow the last weeks of a teenager who escapes in his drawing skills, we get to experience parts of what it feels like trying to outrace Death, while having a last good moments with family and friends... and maybe have a go at this thing called Love if we can spare a heartbeat or two.
Realistic view of a dying teenager
wrxsti5425 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The title of the movie does not do this film justice as it is a very gritty and realistic portrayal (by Thomas Brodie-Sangster) of a 15 year old boy in Dublin dying of cancer. So many movies of sick/dying children have a saccharine predictable battle-against-the-odds-with-stoicism theme, this one tells it how it really is when a mid-adolescent boy must traverse all the usual challenges of teen peer pressure, bullying, acceptance, sexuality, parents responses to teen growing pains, love, rejection etc all the while facing grueling treatments that leave him bald and gaunt. Anger, acting out and suicidal tendencies mingle with family anxiety, denial and fear in a potent brew of emotion. Into this milieu steps a quirky psychiatrist Dr Adrian King played by Andy Serkas, the 3rd such professional to try and moderate Donald's extreme behavior.
Donald expresses his emotions via sometimes dark and sexualized cartoon superhero type art (hence the title) and this becomes the entry point that the shrink uses to connect with a boy on a nihilistic even suicidal path. Although Sangster was 20 when he played this role, he is very convincing in the role, age and stressful circumstances of the story line. Serkas is brilliant as a psychiatrist who specializes in the mental health of dying patients and shows remarkable flexibility and resilience in dealing with Donald's volatile world.
Having watched a parent die from cancer, this movie captures some of the raw see-sawing emotions loved ones have around a dying person with a superb portrayal of the realities of teenage life woven in.
Donald expresses his emotions via sometimes dark and sexualized cartoon superhero type art (hence the title) and this becomes the entry point that the shrink uses to connect with a boy on a nihilistic even suicidal path. Although Sangster was 20 when he played this role, he is very convincing in the role, age and stressful circumstances of the story line. Serkas is brilliant as a psychiatrist who specializes in the mental health of dying patients and shows remarkable flexibility and resilience in dealing with Donald's volatile world.
Having watched a parent die from cancer, this movie captures some of the raw see-sawing emotions loved ones have around a dying person with a superb portrayal of the realities of teenage life woven in.
Not avoiding the melodrama but keeping it not melodramatic
ayoreinf8 July 2012
A year ago I wrote a review about Matching Jack, an Ausralian film about almost the same sort of story. I complained then that despite of the superb acting, the story itself followed every cliché in the book. Well this one is more or less writing the textbook of how to do it right. It doesn't avoid any of the unavoidable melodrama of such a story but it does it without ever letting it spill over. The acting is superb in this one too, but the story makes you feel like you're viewing real people and not a movie about real people, and in this case it works for the film. It's nice to see Andy Serkis for real this time - he does a wonderful job even when not hidden behind fancy CG. Also excelling are the two young leads Thomas Brodie Sangster and Aisling Loftus. There's something in this sort of story that brings out the best from actors. In such a movie if they didn't do it properly it would've turned the film downright unwatchable.
Something in this film makes me believe it.
olyagiris30 January 2018
I don't (and didn't) know a person with cancer, but I think, there is something true in this story. We all can be aggressive and cruel, but we can't be so offended at life. Healthy people will never understand the one with cancer, but we can try. And we must. Because the human beings can't be alone. We need to be surrounded by warmth and care, physically and mentally.
This film is not only about an incurable disease, it's about relationship. Real, difficult, "in the raw" relationship between parents and the kid, brothers, a boy and a girl, and just between people with difficult life situations.
This film is about hard, painful, distressing acceptance that not every problem can be fixed, but it's not the reason to give up.
Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Michael McElhatton as the other actors make me believe the story, and film crew makes me live in this drama for 93 minutes. Thank you a lot.
This film is not only about an incurable disease, it's about relationship. Real, difficult, "in the raw" relationship between parents and the kid, brothers, a boy and a girl, and just between people with difficult life situations.
This film is about hard, painful, distressing acceptance that not every problem can be fixed, but it's not the reason to give up.
Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Michael McElhatton as the other actors make me believe the story, and film crew makes me live in this drama for 93 minutes. Thank you a lot.
I loved the movie ,, It's real and the acting was amazing
arcsamarfouad26 April 2018
The story is really realistic and interesting ,, How a teenager thinks with him dying , he has also an artistic way of thinking feeling the pain in a comical sort of way , that's unique perspective ,,it was sweet and a bit depressing but painfully real , I loved the acting especially from Thomas and Andy Sirkes ,, they were excellent I'm not a fan though of the inappropriate scenes it wasn't necessary ,, the idea was obvious
Thin Brew
OftenCriticalGuy17 January 2023
I think the reason I put this on my watchlist was for the lead, Thomas Brodie-Sangster. How can it be an IMDb 7 rating and not be at least worth watching, even if not great? I'm not unhappy I watched it. I was really hoping for more, though.
I'm not gonna tell you the whole story. The themes are very familiar to most movies about coming to grips with loss - lots of other movies pop to mind, the most apt being "Good Will Hunting". There's even... let's say the writers got 'inspired'.
I think Thomas Brodie-Sangster did pretty well without eyebrows and with the pretty lame writing.
And wow, the writing is thin AF. There's little real emotion. I saw another review say 'melodrama', and YES. Not drama. Milquetoast made-for-TV level drama, not real drama.
Part of this wet fart have the main character 'into' drawing and comic books. It is incredibly underdeveloped. In fact, that's what I'll say. The whole movie is incredibly underdeveloped. Avoid like an unfinished bridge. Go watch "Banshees of Inisherin" if you like tougher, realer movies. Otherwise, there's like 10 seasons of 'The OC' you're gonna love. Maybe just 6. One forgets.
There's one nagging thing - there's a soundtrack 'generic rock song' that sounds a LOT like a "Republica" song. Something about baby i'm ready to go. This movie is so derivative!
I'm not gonna tell you the whole story. The themes are very familiar to most movies about coming to grips with loss - lots of other movies pop to mind, the most apt being "Good Will Hunting". There's even... let's say the writers got 'inspired'.
I think Thomas Brodie-Sangster did pretty well without eyebrows and with the pretty lame writing.
And wow, the writing is thin AF. There's little real emotion. I saw another review say 'melodrama', and YES. Not drama. Milquetoast made-for-TV level drama, not real drama.
Part of this wet fart have the main character 'into' drawing and comic books. It is incredibly underdeveloped. In fact, that's what I'll say. The whole movie is incredibly underdeveloped. Avoid like an unfinished bridge. Go watch "Banshees of Inisherin" if you like tougher, realer movies. Otherwise, there's like 10 seasons of 'The OC' you're gonna love. Maybe just 6. One forgets.
There's one nagging thing - there's a soundtrack 'generic rock song' that sounds a LOT like a "Republica" song. Something about baby i'm ready to go. This movie is so derivative!
got sucked in by the story
Max_Ocean17 December 2014
"Death of a Superhero" is a heard touching film about a boy who has cancer. Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Andy Serkis played their roles so perfect, that I totally forgot that their are just actors. I was able to feel into the boys mind without getting distracted by any bad played scenes. Any scene, however played, seemed perfectly fitting for these two characters. Aisling Loftus played her role great too. When I was watching the film the first time, I got sucked in by the great characters and lost myself in the beautiful story. The music in the movie fits its scenes perfectly. Those comic scenes gave the film just the right touch to not be mainstream.
Excellent
peggy-machale12 August 2018
The book fans would miss something, but it would not be fair to see a filming adaptation, through the story tha latter one is based upon.
ppolo29924 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I am not into making judgemental comparisons between books and filming adaptations of the former ones, because I believe it would not be fair. Nonetheless, I can say it seems McCarten was asked to build a script that would fit in an hour and a half movie. I missed some depth in a few characters and relationships (both the live ones and the animated ones), but, yes, it might demand quiet a longer movie, I think.
I cannot help view the movie through the book, but, once again, it would not be fair to value the film in light of the original McCarten's comic- script novel.
Enjoy the movie =).
I cannot help view the movie through the book, but, once again, it would not be fair to value the film in light of the original McCarten's comic- script novel.
Enjoy the movie =).
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