Talk about a Christmas present. After years of horribly manipulative “kid with cancer” films finally someone gets it right. Ian Fitzgbbon’s filmography has proven lacklustre, experimenting with uneven comedy in A Film With Me In It and inert action in Perrier’s Bounty. With Death Of A Superhero he manages to balance dark humour, smart characterisation, artistic flair and sentimentality.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster casts off his Love, Actually innocence to play Dubliner Donald; an acerbic, artistic and volatile teen with a head bald from chemotherapy and an imagination overrun with stunning, macabre cartoons. Railing against his inevitable fate, Donald refuses to go gently into that good night and develops an addiction for daredevil activities, attempting to exert some control over his sense of mortality. Donald also frequently retreats into his own parallel universe of beautifully stylised comic book creations. His alter-ego is a silent heartthrob hero; his arch-nemesis a man with syringes for fingers. The striking art-work proves an emotive and edgy way to portray Donald’s still-innocent way of processing the darkest of all realities.
Ironically, Donald’s grounding force from these flights of fancy is Andy Serkis, the motion-capture king of fantasy films. Playing Donald’s thanatologist or “death therapist”, Serkis gives a beautifully understated and comfortably rumpled turn as the teen’s unconventional confidante. Navigating a tricky relationship with death himself, Serkis’ character acts as a calm foil. Over time the two form a warm, intuitive bond as they challenge each other to embrace life.
Beautifully shot Dublin coastlines and cityscapes add to the visual delights, and a breathy score featuring Angus and Julia Stone tugs on the heartstrings. Death Of A Superhero is an emotive and life-affirming coming-of-age story – with not a crocodile tear or cancer cliché in sight.