A pitch-black comedy that falls flat regardless of its potential

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 22, 2023

[It] challenged the psychology behind what makes someone retreat into the delusion of unique greatness to begin with...

| Jan 30, 2023

Smartly written, extremely well acted, you'll be in your own happy place on seeing DEFENDOR.

| Nov 7, 2019

... to see Harrelson's power as an actor emerge through the guise of this sweet, goofy character, is the most astonishing thing of all.

| Jul 26, 2019

A small, decent triumph with real shades of feeling.

| Original Score: B | May 8, 2010

... for all the poignancy of this broken vigilante, it's a mess of awkward black comedy, tangled themes and screwed-up characters looking for a story.

| Apr 18, 2010

The "everyman" superhero strikes again, this time with strangely compelling results.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 14, 2010

A weird picture and not always successful selling its ideas, but it definitely retains a determined personality, making the picture convincing on a fundamental level of cinematic ambition, not execution.

| Original Score: C | Apr 2, 2010

Saving the day is Harrelson's low-key, rooted performance, adding an unexpected layer of poignancy when things take a decidedly darker turn.

Full Review | Mar 10, 2010

The conviction in Harrelson's performance sells the movie -- he and his character are both unsung heroes who give their roles everything they've got.

| Original Score: C+ | Feb 26, 2010

Stebbings is more interested in deconstructing heroism than creating a concrete world, sapping the movie of the immediacy it needs to come alive. For all its aspirations, the film never meshes into something cohesive or substantial.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 26, 2010

Watching a superhero at work shouldn't be such a snooze.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 25, 2010

Likable but hardly memorable.

| Feb 25, 2010

The low-budget movie continually shifts from comic-book spoof to gritty crime story to mental-health drama, the inconsistent tone preventing it from ever fully working as one or another.

Full Review | Feb 24, 2010

While it never seems to really thematically gel and while I would have liked a better script, the actors and vision on display make this a better entry in the teeniest superhero subgenre yet.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 23, 2010

The humanity and tragedy in Arthur's character, beautifully portrayed by Harrelson, raises the film to a higher level.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Feb 23, 2010

This is a deconstruction of the superhero myth that explores the deep rooted sadness and pain that a "hero" must deal with. It's also darkly funny too.

| Original Score: 7.5/10 | Feb 23, 2010

I'm just happy to see a superhero film made outside of the Marvel/DC Hollywood juggernaut, and this film is a worth rental at very least.

| Original Score: 7.5/10 | Feb 23, 2010

Though the film is not a perfect one and the script has some obvious flaws Harrelson's performance is strong enough that the flaws are easy to forgive.

| Feb 23, 2010

Modest but likable effort is packaged in a straightforward style.

Full Review | Feb 23, 2010