Archenemy
Ratings: 2.5/5
Duration: 90 Minutes
Original Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer
Story: Adam Egypt Mortimer, Lucas Passmore
Producer: Daniel Noah, Elijah Wood, Kim Sherman, Lisa Whalen, Joe Manganiello, Nick Manganiello
Music: Matt Hill
Cinematography: Halyna Hutchins
Editing: Chris Patterson
Released On: 11 December 2020 (United States)
Cast: Joe Manganiello, Skylan Brooks, Zolee Griggs, Paul Scheer, Amy Seimetz, Glenn Howerton
Plot: This is a story of Max Fist (Joe Manganiello) who claims to be a superhero from the planet Chromium. According to Fist, Chromium was threatened by Cleo, a supervillain until Fist "punched through the molecules to create a vortex" in "the silence between space and time". Fist destroyed Cleo's planet-destroying weapon but, in doing so, he was ejected from his dimension. That is how he dropped to earth without any of his powers.
On earth, Fist is a homeless schizophrenic despite being supremely power in another world.
No one believes his story. But one fine day, while he is fisting in the walls, Hamster (Skylan Brooks) hears him.
Hamster is a self-proclaimed storyteller who is in search of an audience. To get there, he tries to charm his way into a tryout gig for a hipster new-media outlet called Trendible. But it doesn’t work well, in fact, he ends up upsetting his sister Indigo (Zolee Griggs). He starts to film Fist for his work wherein Fist is punching the hell out of a brick wall in an alley. He may or may not believe the stories Fist starts spewing, but he laps them up eagerly and shoots videos of his violent outbursts, calling them ‘splash worthy’. He is pretty sure he can milk this loon for a full-time gig at Trendible.
Indigo is a drug dealer who entered the game hoping to get Hamster into college and out of the hood. She works at a place where a kingpin called The Manager (Glen Howerton) oversees, a heightened crew of bad guys.
Everything is working well so far, but things change when Indigo is tasked with getting some money from one of The Manager’s recalcitrant operatives, named Krieg (Paul Scheer). Post which Indigo and Hamster find themselves on the Manager's bad side.
Fist comes as their saviour. At first, they don’t know if they can trust Fist. But they have very little choice, and so they accept his offer to go to war on the gangster.
What will happen to the kids? Will they stand a chance against the Manager? Will Fist return to his dimension? – all these questions get answered eventually during the film.
Review: One more superhero movie with a different story but made with the same underlying principles. In fact, superhero movies have become so pervasive since the turn of the millennium that they have spurred a whole subgenre of films subverting their formulas — primarily low-budget efforts like Super, Special and Defendor, but also major-studio projects Hancock and Joker. All share an interest in peeling back the mask, exploring the antisocial, delusional-fantasy side of superpowers (and by extension, super fandom).
Writer and Director Adam Egypt Mortimer’s third feature ‘Archenemy’ is also on similar terrain, resourcefully using modest means to create a stylized yet gritty comic-book world in which a supposed fallen superhero may just be some homeless guy with mental issues. The movie tries its best to have complexity by opening a door between worlds, but neither of them has any dimension. As one rides through the film, there is very little contrast or commentary between the ‘super’ plane and an earthly one that itself feels artificially composed of genre tropes. The director’s prior features, Some Kind of Hate and Daniel Isn’t Real, both similarly tinkered with different genre conventions to more satisfactory sum effect.
The script doesn’t give the actors a lot to chew on — beyond those supporting thugs encouraged to chew scenery. Talking about the two kids, who apparently are the main cast, Griggs and Brooks instead come off as unironically old-school ingenue types.
Halyna Hutchins’ cinematography and Ariel Vida’s production design provide the right Gotham-esque mix of lurid colour and grunge.
While this film ends with a sequel-ready new beginning, it hasn’t accrued enough narrative or thematic heft to sign off yet; we are still waiting for some missing depth or point that never arrives.
The animated sequences keep coming back, and they are useful—the low-budget movie seems to keep its powder dry with respect to effects until certain crucial moments, and the animation livens up the expositional walk-and-talks Fist and Hamster often take.
Adam is clearly a movie-mad soul, and if he can get a little further out from under his influence, he may concoct something a more consistently geekily transportive.
If you ask you then it is ok to skip on this superhero movie even if you are a die-hard fan of superheroes. You won’t be missing out on something great for sure.
