I was interested in Defendor after I first heard about it.  I only just recently got around to watching it though.

Troubled Arthur Poppington creates Defendor, a crime fighting alter ego.  By day, he works construction, and at night, he dresses in black, with duct tape accents, and fights crime while trying to find Captain Industry, the person he believes is responsible for basically all the crime in the city.  Arthur clashes with corrupt cop Dooney, which also leads to him meeting Angel, a drug addicted prostitute.  She sort of latches onto Arthur, even claiming to have information about Captain Industry.  Arthur’s efforts as Defendor place him in danger.

When Defendor begins, Arthur is talking to a psychiatrist.  She manages to get him to talk, and then the movie goes back to show how he first encountered Dooney.  The movie mostly progresses in a straight forward way, though every so often, there is a scenes showing Arthur with the psychiatrist again.  Those scenes don’t always flow the best with what had been happening, and they do mess with the pacing a bit.  It is a little jarring when it jumps back to Arthur and the psychiatrist a few times.  I think that could have been handled a little better.  That set up sort of makes most of the movie a flashback.  

It sort of seems like Defendor doesn’t know exactly what type of movie it wants to be.  Some things, like how Arthur uses homemade weapons - including marbles - is funny.  Other things, like when Arthur ends up in danger, are more serious.  There are a few very serious things as well as some dark moments and even one or two things that are a bit depressing.  The movie just sort of jumps between the extremes instead of flowing more naturally between them.  The balance is off, and it makes things a bit uneven.  I have seen the movie described as a comedy, but I really don’t think it is that funny overall.  The movie has funny moments, but it is more serious to me overall. 

There is a bit of action in a few scenes as well as some violence.  The violence isn’t too extreme overall and doesn’t seem as bad since some of it involves the odd self made weapons.  Those scenes do help to keep things interesting, though I don’t consider the movie to be action packed.  Angel uses a lot of drugs for a while and there is a lot of swearing.  The movie is rated R and not child friendly in any way.  The score is kind of cheesy sounding most of the time, with one piece sounding like it is trying to imitate a more well known score.  It was just different enough I couldn't place what it sounded similar to.

Arthur isn’t the smartest guy and it does seem like he has a disability with how he acts.  He does have some issues.  He believes that he is doing the right thing by dressing up as Defendor, but that doesn’t exactly go as he wanted.  He gets ends up getting injured more than once.  Even though duct tape can do just about anything - as fans of Mythbusters know - it doesn’t do anything to add protection to his outfit.  Maybe he should have tried truck bed liner instead.  Woody Harrelson handles the part well.  Captain Roger Fairbanks is a police office that Arthur comes into contact with.  Fairbanks seems to like Arthur.  Clark Johnson is good in the part.

Angel is a drug addict prostitute messed up with Dooney with Arthur first meets her.  She starts out using him, telling him what he wants to hear, and eventually starts to like him.  They have an interesting friendship.  She eventually admits that her name is actually Katerina.  Kat Dennings is fine in the part.  Dooney is a crooked cop who is messed up with drugs.  He and Arthur have a few run ins.  Elias Koteas handles the part well. 

Dr. Ellen Park is the psychritrist that Arthur is talking to during some scenes.  She does seem a little baffled by him at times, but she manages to make a connection with him.  It does seem like she comes to care for him.  Sandra Oh is fine in the part.  Paul Carter seems to be Arthur’s only friend.  He tries to look out for him.  Michael Kelly is good in the part.  The other characters don’t stand out as much.

Main Cast

Kat Dennings - Katerina
Woody Harrelson - Arthur/Defendor
Clark Johnson - Captain Roger Fairbanks
Michael Kelly - Paul Carter
Elias Koteas - Dooney
Sandra Oh - Dr. Ellen Park

Peter Stebbins - Director

I watched Defendor on DVD.  I’m not sure if it is also available on Blu-ray or not.  There are some deleted scenes, bloopers, and commentaries for extras.  

Defendor is a bit different from what I expected.  The movie is entertaining, though it isn’t a movie for everyone.  Something seems a little off, but it is entertaining overall.

This review is part of elvisdo’s 2012 Funny Pages Write-off and his 2012 Canadiana Write-off.  The director is from British Columbia and the movie was filmed in Ontario.

Independent or Original Superhero/Comic Book/Graphic Novel Inspired Movies
30 Days of Night ~ Barbarella ~ Bulletproof Monk ~ Cowboys & Aliens ~ Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog ~ From Hell ~ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ~ The Greatest American Hero - Season 1 ~ The Greatest American Hero - Season 2 ~ The Green Hornet ~ Hancock ~ Judge Dredd ~ The Legend of Zorro ~ The Mask of Zorro ~ Masters of the Universe ~ Mystery Men ~ My Super Ex-Girlfriend ~ Richie Rich ~ The Shadow ~ Sky High ~ Superhero Movie ~ Tales From the Crypt - The Complete First Season ~ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ~ Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze ~ TMNT ~ Transformers ~ Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ~ Underdog ~ Wanted ~ Whiteout ~ Zoom ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD