Christmas fairy tales best connect with their audiences when their stories are grounded in true emotions, particularly drama and grief, and their visuals
ARCHENEMY Review – A Wild, Heartfelt Antihero Epic That Doesn’t Pack Enough Punch By Drew Tinnin
Written by Adam Egypt Mortimer
Starring Joe Manganiello, Skylan Brookes, Zolee Grigs, Amy Seimetz
In one of the year’s most inventive redemption stories,
Archenemy is bubbling with imagination. For a cosmic tinged tale filled with so many grand ideas and infinite possibilities, there’s an indie ire and a strong beating heart to this intimate epic that imbues Adam Egypt Mortimer’s film with a generous spirit. That balance of big ideas and small scope doesn’t always pay off, interestingly, much like the grand delusions of antihero Max Fist (Manganiello) don’t necessarily come to fruition.
Archenemy Review: Small-Scale Superheroics With Looks but Little Depth lmtonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
12/11/2020
Joe Manganiello plays a homeless drunk who may or may not be an interdimensional warrior in Adam Egypt Mortimer s midnight movie.
Sharing DNA with everything from
The Terminator and contemporary superhero films to
The Fisher King and
Liquid Television, Adam Egypt Mortimer s
Archenemy is named for a villain who may exist only in the mind of a homeless schizophrenic. Joe Manganiello plays that man, who calls himself Max Fist and claims to be a hero who got stuck on our Earth after saving all life in some other dimension; that claim s truth may or may not matter to the aspiring blogger (Skylan Brooks) who wants to ride Fist s boasts to viral fame. A critique of post-millennial journalism is one of several ideas raised but mostly abandoned in this genre pastiche, which never really coalesces despite some promising elements.