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Mirageman
2007; directed by Ernesto D�az Espinoza

Coming to us via way of Chile, Mirageman is a bit of a different take on the superhero movie, mashing up comedy, drama, and martial arts into an entertaining mix. Sure, it might have just one percent of the budget of the bigger entries in the genre, but it never takes itself too seriously, and that sense of fun definitely passes on to the viewer.

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Relative newcomer Marko Zaror (whose biggest role up to this point has been being Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's stunt double in The Rundown) stars as Maco, a man who is haunted by the memories of a violent attack that he experienced as a child, which also left his parents dead and his younger brother in a mental ward. Maco tries to exorcise his demons by training incessantly, which turns him into a tremendous athlete, but leaves him living as a loner. During a late-night run, he comes across a robbery in progress, and saves the lovely reporter Carol (Mar�a Elena Swett). Sensing big ratings, Carol begins hyping her hero during newscasts, which leads Maco to turn into his alternate personality, Mirageman.

Mirageman    Mirageman

In many ways, the character of Mirageman has parallels with many classic superheroes, probably most pointedly Batman. But Maco doesn't have the resources Bruce Wayne does. He doesn't get information via a sophisticated bank of computers; he gets it from messages on his janky free e-mail account. And when Maco heads off to save people, he doesn't do it with a pimped-out vehicle -- he takes the bus. Mirageman takes this sort of thing into account, and uses a light touch for the first two acts, which really works, making Maco/Mirageman into a really enjoyable character.

Mirageman    Mirageman

Mirageman does take a more serious turn during the final act, which does feel a bit out of place. However, the action quotient also jumps up, and this goes a long way to making the viewer forgive the sudden change in the tone of the story. Martial arts films in South America are still a somewhat new territory, with director Ernesto D�az Espinoza and Marko Zaror's previous film, Kiltro, being noted as one of the first "true" entries from the continent. But if Mirageman is any indication, Chile (and South America as a whole) holds a lot of potential for the fight fans out there.

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The action scenes bring back a lot of memories of classic 1980's Hong Kong movies, with little in the way of wirework or other effects, and bone-crunching hits that look like they were barely pulled. Sure, Mirageman also shares some of the lesser elements of those productions, like an obvious low budget and acting that is suspect in parts, but there's also a lack of pretentiousness here. Most action junkies out there will probably agree that it's better to have a movie that doesn't have any money to work with, yet still delivers real excitement, is much better than a $100 million picture that looks nice, but feels hollow. Mirageman is a refreshing example of the former, and is well worth hunting down if you're in the mood for some good old-fashioned no-frills ass-kicking action.

RATING: 7

DVD Information

Magnolia's DVD, which was released through their Magnet label, is light on special features, with a collection of trailers from other Magnolia releases and a short three-minute behind-the-scenes featurette being the only extras on the disc. However, the movie itself is presented very well, with a crisp 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture, and a Spanish or English-dubbed soundtrack that can be listened to in either Dolby 5.1 or 2.0, with readable and well-translated English subtitles available. Overall, this is a solid way to check out the movie.

The DVD is available from Amazon.

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