Joris A superhero movie is best when it subverts the genre itself, like in Chronicle or Birdman. Defendor does just that. What happens when someone with a vulnerable mental state claims to be a superhero, fighting Captain Industry? They are looked down upon. They are seen as harmless and pitiful. Until they start to take action. Then they need to be contained and get psychological help. This movie tries to shine a light - through the psychologist - on that vulnerability and shows us there's something noble, even something pure in people who (try to) fight injustice. Woody Harrelson is in top form playing the protagonist Arthur aka. Defendor. His quest to defeat Captain Industry is a sobering and fruitless one, but the public begins to care for him. Maybe just because of Athur's general naivety. A graffiti artist paints a wall with his portrait, calling out to "fight back". That's what this movie was about for me. Fight back. Fight the self-righteous world who divide 'normal' people from those whore aren't according to some arbitrary measurement. Defendor is a warm eulogy for those defying normality and a subtle criticism on what is perceived as sane.

oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- Defendor, 2009. The story about a developmentally challenged man who is seeking to right his mother's death by becoming the neighborhood superhero for good.*Special Stars- Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings.*Theme- Might is not always right.*Trivia/location/goofs- The 'goofs' in this film are made purposely to make additional plot points to the audience.*Emotion- A well made and acted adventure story with a sweet theme. Mr. Harrelson does a great job depicting the sweet and heroic side of his lead character. This film is inspiring and well worth you interest and time.*Based On- Present day comic book hero story's.

ashleybrownmedia Woody Harrelson is one of those actors whose movies I never initially set out to watch, not in the same way I would for Robert De Niro or someone. However just recently it's occurred to me that most of the films that I've seen of his I've enjoyed.So when I saw he was in Defendor I thought why not give it a go? I was expecting a kind of Kickass style superhero flick about a bumbling idiot who ends up a hero. And in many ways, at least on the surface, you could say that that would be a decent one line summary of the film. However there's far much more to it than you'd expect.Harrelson plays Arthur Poppington, a somewhat homeless man who appears to be suffering from a few learning difficulties. He is helped a lot by his friend, Carter, who has given him a job and some kind of construction site. However after being majorly influenced by comic books Poppington sets out to take to the streets and take revenge on some of the drug lords in the city.He lacks any sort of super powers, but what he lacks in power he makes up for in sheer determination and as much as Poppington is slightly frustrating to watching he is also a character that you can't help but root for, with Harrelson playing him to perfection. One of his exploits he comes across a drug-addicted, teenage prostitute (Kat Dennings) who he sort of takes under his wing - although at times she appears to be irritatingly ungrateful and at the same time Poppington manages to annoy a local corrupt cop (who looks an awful lot like a bald Robert De Niro) as he sets himself up to take on a man who he believes to be his arch-rival, Captain Industry.Does Defendor a.k.a Poppington manage to thwart the villains? Does the city embrace him as a hero? Does Kat Dennings ever thank him? I couldn't spoil it for you. However all I'll say is this really is a touching character study at times and is perhaps as close to life as a vigilante "superhero" type might ever actually be. If only this film was marketed better at the time I think it would have found a good fan-base, however it isn't really a popcorn film and by not being so genre conforming it does lose some of its possible audience.

Uday Pulleti I'm really not interested in writing a review here. This movie is an experience. People...just watch it. Hats off to the indie studios of Hollywood. They produce these gems of movies. PS: Found out that this movie is produced by Darius Films. Great going Darius Films.PPS: OK, after writing the above comments, I tried to post it and IMDb will not allow it saying it is too short. This is exactly the antithesis to an unconventional movie like this. IMDb, hope this unnecessary comment fulfills your "length requirement". Please don't enforce stupid rule like this.