movie review - Comic Book Villains

From Dweomera Lagomorpha

Comic book Villains starring DJ Qualls, Donal Logue, and Carey Elwes was an interesting sort of film. It was most certainly not a comedy like Netflix advertised it as being. It was gruesome and tiring.. and beyond a few gags had very little in the way of levity.

The basic story of the film is that in a small town some where in America two competing comic book shops are looking for an edge, one which is run by the extremely knowledgeable comic guru played by Donal Logue is struggling to make ends meet. The other run by a husband and wife team who care little about comics but more about making money. One day they are both separately visited by the character named "Conan" (as I mentioned previously) who is "Switch Hitting" meaning he opportunistically shops at both stores, where in he informs both shop owners of the recent passing of a man who had been collecting comics for some 50 years or so.

The race is now on for the two owners to convince the mans elderly mother to sell them the books, which turn out to be the equivalent of Aladdin's cave of comic books. She's not interested however in selling to anyone.. and things inevitably break down from there as the two owners become more and more desperate to get these books. Throughout all of this, Archie (DJ Qualls) is legitimatly making friends with the old lady. Helping her around the house and listening intently to her stories of visiting Europe, Something which has been hinted that Archie longs to do.

Eventually Donal Logue enlists the aid of Cary Elwes's character, Carter, who used to beat him up in school.. and also used to really like comic books. There follows a long series of back stabbings.. and culminates in Carter simply stealing the collection... by the end of the movie essentially everyone except Archie is dead and the comic book hoard is dissolving in a fish pond.. As mrs. Cresswell expends her final breaths she tells Archie to look in the closet, though the comic are gone her son collected something else. something far more valuable than even comic books. Baseball cards. So we end the movie with Archie having sold the vast collection of baseball cards, and is now sitting in a cafe in Spain. The End.

Over all I was admittedly disappointed in the film. Not least of all because I'm not used to seeing Cary Elwes as the bad guy.. I grew up with the Princess Bride being one of my favorite movies.. And I also disliked the message that the old lady seemed to be setting out to send to poor Archie. That comics are for kids and that he was to old to enjoy them and should be liking more adult "Literature" like Hemingway. And it is mainly through his acquiescence to this goading that endears him to her. Essentially he fulfilling the job of her own son to 'Grow up'. I especially felt that towards the end of the film when the death toll begins to mount that it was gratuitous.

I'm glad I didn't buy it, and I seriously doubt I'll watch it again. It just wasn't that great of a movie.. and thats probably why it's taken me nearly 10 years to even find out about it.