Peter Stebbings' Defendor

Woody Harrelson, mentally challenged, and Superhero are three things you wouldn't think would go together, but Peter Stebbings' Defendor is just that. Harrelson plays the part of Defendor, a masked vigilante seeking revenge for the people who killed his mother. When Harrelson is not out fighting crime as Defendor, he is construction worker Arthur Poppington. The movie is told to us by Poppington, as he is explaining everything to a criminal psychiatrist after he is arrested for a crime we will later discover as the movie unfolds. Through his story, we learn that Poppington was abandon by his mother at an early age and that he has lived a reclusive live ever since. Poppington isn't just your everyday construction worker, Poppington is mentally and socially challenged on a number of levels and believes that what he reads in comic books are in fact real.

Defendor's main mission in this movie is to find "Captain Industry" whom he believes killed his mother. Along the way, Defendor befriends a young street hooker named Kat, played by Kat Dennings. At First Kat uses Poppington for his money and a place to stay, but comes to realize how special he really is. This movie does a great job at making you want to root for the good guy, even though you know he doesn't stand a chance against gangsters with real guns. Surprisingly, against all odds Defendor is able to get himself out of trouble more often than not with his toy gadgets and unique fighting tactics.

This movie can be seen as a comedy with the way Defendor acts, but in the end is quite sad, as Defendor seems to be the only one willing to fight the crime. Harrelson does an outstanding and convincing job playing the socially challenged Arthur Poppington, making you want to root for him all the way until the end. At times you do feel bad for him, the way others take advantage of his generosity and general lack of common sense, but that adds to the character.

Defendor is definitely one of those hidden gems worth seeing. As a fan of superheros and comic book characters growing up and knowing the difference between fiction and reality, this movie really hits the spot with tagging what a real life superhero would be like in a world with real criminals and real weapons.