vvowell
J Hanna's approach to the super hero genre was both extremely creative and smart. The use of animation and a story line that highlighted the adventures of the side kicks (instead of the super heros themselves) proved that Hanna is an able director and writer.With a likable cast, Hanna creates a world that's both incredibly real and yet somehow off kilter. I was a Teenage Super Hero Sidekick is a charming movie for the whole family.I look forward to seeing more of Hanna's films as his budgets and scripts grow from the world of super low budget independents to studio films.Well done!
Bran R
I was always a huge Batman fan, but (especially when I was a kid) I was always much more interested in Robin than I was Batman. Which was the point of teenage sidekicks I think-- for kids to see themselves in the comic fighting along side the larger than life superhero. I Was a Teenage Superhero Sidekick is an original look at what happens when the teenage sidekick, Kid Dynamic, grows up and is wondering what he's supposed to do with his life. A feeling that, now that I'm older and just out of college, makes Kid Dynamic just as relatable now as Robin was to me years ago. Kid Dynamic's (or Larry's) journey is a great balance of jokes and real heart. Same goes for the hilarious scenes with Frog King and his personal struggles. It's good to see that even crime fighters can be delightfully screwed up. The animated back stories are a nice touch to building this world where superheros can believable exist, but the acting and writing really sell it. The film is well written and relatable enough that it doesn't need crazy special effects and huge fight scenes to be believable. Overall, a fun movie that looks at superhero's actual character instead of their powers.
Tom Rizzuto
Any fan of the superhero genre should see this movie. In a world were major studios are spending millions to choke you into submission with special effects and overdone reboots, this film proves that you can tell an original story about superheroes and still make it about the characters first. I saw this movie at a festival in New York. I actually went to see another film but decided to stay because of the interesting title. I was immediately drawn in by the combination of animation and live action. By choosing to animate the majority of the action scenes, this film avoids taking itself too seriously, and lets the audience focus more on the relationships between the characters. While the technical aspects of the filmmaking are impressive, the performances of the actors cannot be ignored. The whole cast is extremely likable and the chemistry between the two male leads is great. You really believe that these two guys grew up fighting crime together.Overall, this movie succeeds in telling a story that is as original as it is heartfelt.
laughlin-254
I kept thinking throughout that "this is an extremely clever way to make a low budget, independent film about super heroes." Instead of the Batman/Superman/Ironman method with big stars and huge special effects, the film chose to focus on the sidekicks (non-stars) in the super hero world, so it helped that the actors were all non-stars themselves. And the fact that several were ex-super heroes meant that you could do most scenes without costumes and elaborate effects. And the few times that flashbacks were needed to explain previous super hero exploits, those were handled capably with animation. A very clever "hack." So, overall, I thought it was a very smart "moneyball" approach to making a film. Plus I liked the emotional core of the film -- the somewhat Oedipal struggle between KD, Dynamic Man, and Electra Girl. Which all got neatly resolved at the end. Who knew that super heroes just wanted to stay home and bake pies?