Trailer:
“Being a Special is like being the seventh sailor in line behind a whore.”
Despite the name, there is very little special about The Specials. The only thing here is that this might be counted as one of the first real "modern" low budget attempts at a superhero film since Hero at Large. Typically these indie superhero films follow the guidelines of being about a hero with no powers...or someone who is crazy and thinks he/she has powers. The Special decides to go a different direction by being a comedy with virtually no special effects.
Overall the entire film is very stylistically similar to sketch comedy, like what you might see on the Saturday Night Live broadcasts. Similarly The Specials is very hit and miss with jokes. It can go from one scene that is highly amusing to another where you face palm at it’s stupidity. It is very inconstant in its laughs and it’s story sure as hell isn’t backing it up.
The film features no villains, no major emotional struggle, and no catastrophe of any kind looming in the future. Instead the film depicts the personal lives of the members of the 7th greatest superhero team in the world. The team is mostly filled with outcast and rebels who barely get along and seem incompetent at their job. The film features “The Specials” preparing for what is going to promote them to the big league. Notably a toy company decides to make a line of action figures based on them. As their leader Strob says, “Superheroes don’t get Oscars, they get action figures.”
Unfortunately the toy company screws them over by making figures that hardily even resemble them. With other personal matters compounding at that point, the team decides to split up and we are left with their journey to find a new future….or something like that. The fact is that most of the films plot and funnies are told through exposition rather than showing. This is mostly due to the budget which is likely less than what I spend for a can of beans. What little CGI and effects they do have is mediocre to horrible.
The majority of the film is shown through a new members eye. Unfortunately this also happens to be the least interesting character in the film. Nightbird (Jordan Ladd) is neither funny nor particularly interesting. She walks around with a blank expression which sometimes turns to confusion of whining. That pretty much sums up her acting which isn’t particularly interesting.
However, in a similar fashion to the Incredibles, the movie also attempts to do interview-like scenarios with the various members. Now these are definitely the funniest parts of the film but it still doesn’t make a lot of sense seeing as it’s not a mockumentary or anything of the sort. It makes sense for something like the Office, not so much here.
The rest of the actors vary in terms of acting skill. The best two are most likely The Strobe, played by (Thomas Haden Church) known well as Sandman in Spider-Man 3, and Amok (Jamie Kennedy) a past super villain that joined the team. They are the only ones that really give a consistent performance and the rest are rather forgettable, most of their jokes being played off their powers. Such an example is Alien Orphan who exists for the sole purpose of making retarded and gross out jokes, none of which are amusing.
Throughout the film there are a few attempts at emotional scenes but most of them come off as being insincere and forced. So with crappy production value and only half the jokes hitting, this degrades into pretty much the Family Guy of superhero films in the fact that the over the top absurdity is sometimes amusing but for some can wear off fast.
FINAL RATING: 4/10
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