Friday, April 05, 2013

Give It Time; It Gets Better

Alter Egos (2012)
Attic Light Films, Cloud 9 Film Partners and Off Hollywood Pictures
Jordan Galland, writer, director
Kris Lemche, Brooke Nevin, Joey Kern, stars




The first scene of this film grabs your attention as we see someone dragging a body down a pier to a boat. Then the scene switches to earlier that same day, and the film seems to fall apart.

We see a hero in a powder blue and white costume with an "F" on his chest. Soon we will learn that the "F" stands for Fridge, short for Refrigerator, his superhero code name since he can generate cold and ice. But our first image of Fridge is of him sleeping in his costume. Fridge has a lot of hang-ups and insecurities, all fully on display as he goes about his day, eventually heading out to meet up with fellow hero, C-Thru, who can see through walls.

The film begins very slowly and proceeds very slowly. The only thing it does quickly is seem to be filled with little more than cliches. Fridge is about to break up with his girlfriend because she likes Fridge more than she likes him in his civilian identity. Unbeknownst to Fridge, C-Thru seems to have some sinister alternate agenda for their team-up, and is holding a super villain hostage in a motel room where the two heroes meet up. Along the way, we also get a lot of background on the world these characters inhabit: Quite a few people have powers and the heroes' exploits used to be subsidized by the government for the good of society. But all of the major villains have been captured and incarcerated, and now the general public sees little need for the heroes or for the feds to continue paying them. In fact, many average folks seem to look unkindly on superheroes, viewing them as elitist snobs. It doesn't seem like a very nice reality, and while they have their charms, neither Fridge nor C-Thru are especially heroic or likable from what we see.

As C-Thru's motivations finally begin to dawn on Fridge, the movie takes a bit of a turn. It still moves along slowly, but a brighter point starts to become apparent to viewers who have made it this far. I stayed with the movie at first because I was curious where it was going. Despite his pathetic hang-ups, I found myself hoping Fridge would figure out that his friend is setting him up. Then once things go really off the rails concerning C-Thru's true motives, both heroes prove themselves a little more worthy of the title. By the end, I really kind of enjoyed this film and wouldn't be averse to watching it again sometime.

If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend checking it out while keeping expectations realistic.

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