All Superheroes Must Die, Vs (2011)
Directed by: Jason Trost
Written by: Jason Trost
Starring: James Remar, Jason Trost, Lee Valmassy, Lucas Till, Sean Whalen, Sophie Merkley
ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE (2011)
aka VS
A group of kidnapped superheroes are forced by arch-nemesis Rickshaw (James Remar) to complete a set of deadly tasks in order to save themselves and the innocent residents of the town. If they try to escape or cheat, Rickshaw will blow up the entire town. With their super powers stripped away by their foe, except for Charge, the four must work together in order to pass the impossible challenges.
ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE is a low budget movie from writer and director Jason Trost, who also stars as the main superhero, Charge. The film opens with all the superheroes awakening in a different places, some with dead bodies close by. Each superhero has been injected by some sort of solution to rid them of their powers. For heroes Cutthroat, Shadow and The Wall, it has affected them, but not Charge, who still retains his awesome strength. With nemesis Rickshaw fed up of the heroes foiling his plans, he traps them into completing challenges in exchange for the survival of the heroes and the innocent civilians. Though as time goes on, the superheroes realise its a war they cannot win.
A film doesn’t have to spend a lot of money to be good, it just has to have a decent script and plot, and actors who can fulfill the roles. Unfortunately, ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE never picks up the pace and it shuffles through its 78 minute running time. The characters are two dimensional and have little to no backstory whatsoever for the viewer to get involved with. Their almost indifference to what is going on around them is odd to watch and the heroes look little more than ordinary young adults in body stockings and masks. The weakest link of the group is Charge, who’s emotionless for the majority of the film. He lacks charisma or a likability that the other superheroes sort of have. He appears ruthless as he treats exploding innocents as just part of the game that they can’t win, whilst fellow superhero Cutthroat appears to be the only one who’s genuinely emotionally disturbed as to the events which occur.
Superheroes without powers is quite a risky plot thread to use and this means that the superheroes are just ordinary heroes, and for the majority of the time, they’re not even that. Any superhero fan will be left disappointed as the film never conjures up any genius. Instead, it plods around from one challenge to the next and never seems to raise an eyebrow. The only thing which caused some brief excitement was the appearance of Sean Whalen as Manpower, antor who I last saw as ‘Frogurt’ Neil in TV series, Lost. His version of Uncle Sam, attacking Shadow and The Wall with a flamethrower, was the high point of the film.
Not even a pantomime villain such as Remar’s Rickshaw can save this film.
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