The Specials
I really enjoyed this movie! Released in 2000 for a minimal budget of one million dollars, this movie has real heart. The writing is top notch, and the main characters are really well fleshed out.
Witch the exception of Rob Lowe, I didn’t know who any of these actors were. Almost all of them are journeyman actors with long resumes and regular work, but I just wasn’t aware of them. That having been said, they took their parts seriously, acted as if they weren’t in a small budget film that would go largely unnoticed, and they really grew on me.
There is virtually no super heroic action in this movie, and almost no special effects shots. Only one punch is thrown, and the movie is really a relationship film. Despite their awesome powers, these characters lead really lonely, dysfunctional lives, and in the end they need each other. As the 6th or 7th most popular super team in the world, they get little attention and have lives full of indignity piled on top of more indignity. Some of them are angry (Amok), some are self-deluded (The Great Strobe), some are oddballs and outcasts (Nightbird), some are disconnected from themselves (Deadly Girl), and some have a sense of existential sadness and self-awareness (the Weevil).
James Gunn, who wrote this screenplay and played the part of Minute Man, is an exceptional writer. I say this, because, despite the large cast, none of these characters are really one-dimensional. Amok, besides being angry, is a would-be artist. Deadly Girl, despite her rough-edged Goth attitude, has close friends and a gentle side. Power Chick is the living embodiment of a positive attitude, yet she is the self-appointed guardian of Doug, the alien orphan. The Strobe, probably the most one note character in the film, has his world fall apart and he realizes that he has been deluding himself, that he’s not what he thought he was.
I’ve often commented that small budget films like this can excel because a lower budget means fewer intrusions from outside. This movie absolutely excels, and I intend to purchase this movie as soon as I can to watch it repeatedly.
I give the Specials an unqualified A.
