Death of a Superhero tells a story we've heard before: A likeable, complex person with a terminal illness is coming to terms with their mortality, living life how they want before it's too late.
Like Laura Linney in The Big C, the movie's protagonist is being treated for cancer. But unlike the melanoma-battling mom in the Showtime series, Donald is a teenager who hasn't had the chance to raise a family or even be kissed. And his coping mechanism isn't dry humor, brutal honesty or taking crazy chances.
Instead, Donald (played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster) uses art to deal with the fear, grief, anger and frustration he feels, all of which pile on top of the illness itself. He doodles characters in his sketchbooks, schoolbooks and on the occasional building.
Donald's imagination rivals his talent, and his drawings come to life throughout the film as he retreats into the fantasy world he has created for himself, in which he is a strong but socially withheld superhero fighting a twisted villain – his cancer. He's dismissive of therapy and ambivalent about fitting in at school. His parents worry about his avoidance of his fate. "Oh god, not again," says his worried mother as he is escorted home once more by police for tagging a building with one of his drawings.
He begins to see the light, so to speak, when he meets an unconventional therapist, played by Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies but looks nothing like a Tolkien character in this film). The doctor's specific type of practice is called thanatology. "Dr. Death," says Donald. The two form a trusting bond, and his relationship with the therapist helps Donald start to sort out what's happening to him.
Director Ian Fitzgibbon's film, adapted by Anthony McCarten from his own novel and screened recently at the Tribeca Film Festival, is in many ways wonderful. The visuals are stunning, both in the cartoon and real-world shots of Donald's life. It's truly a beautiful movie to look at. Even when the depth of character is shallow, or clichéd, the actors are fantastic. Serkis and Brodie-Sangster perfectly perform their roles, adding an emotional range that may not have been written in.
However, in many ways there was lost opportunity to step out of the coming-to-terms-with-death formula that can't be accomplished with cartoon fantasies alone. The supporting characters – the new outsider girl at school who finds Donald interesting; the popular, handsome, womanizing older brother; and the like – were well-acted but remained unmoving. Though Death of a Superhero can at once be sweet and devastatingly sad, the movie just doesn't tell a story that's all that new.
That said, there is a reason this tale gets told again and again, and all of its manifestations reveal something about the human condition. In the case of Death of a Superhero, we remember the confusion, pain and frustration of just being a teenager – one needn't be diagnosed with cancer to make one want to avoid one's adolescence. It's the unchanging part of this story that keeps it relevant: Death, mortality and loss are part of being alive, and these stories help us feel not alone.
WIRED A visually stunning, endearing story that is well-acted and part of a timeless narrative about coping with one's mortality.
TIRED Isn't as deep and imaginative as a story about a deep and imaginative teenager suffering from cancer should be.
Rating: 
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