Bad Hero

Bad Hero is one of those rare gems that comes along every now and then and makes you appreciate the beauty of film and the kind of emotional impact it can achieve on its audience. This film is very good on both a technical and artistic level and the acting is extremely strong - especially Matt Zemlin who stars in, wrote and co-directed the film. This is a film that should have had access to more funds to allow it to realize its fulls potential as a feature film and certainly the script, direction and acting warrants it. Bad Hero also impacts you on an emotional level because of its strong moral backbone with Zemlin has masterfully weaved throughout his script, leaving the viewer completely satisfied by the end of the film. A beautiful film, I highly recommend Bad Hero.

When I saw Bad Hero at the festival, I found the artistic as well as the technical realization - and the rest of it - completely matched the story: Though the filmmakers mentioned that it was filmed with a Canon 5D because the Red One broke down and there was even no budget to rent a substitute, Bad Hero successfully sends out the message of moral courage, to stand up for one's beliefs and to help people in danger - showing that even someone's shady background is no excuse not to help...The actors and directors work and the simple cinematography vividly and efficiently make the key points of the story alive. It seemed originally been planned as a feature and it's a shame that it had to be cut down to a short for budget/technical reasons.

In a few shots the viewer is able to understand there's some drug dealing going on without actually having to see any drugs. Very soon we see the motivational/educational message coming through when Jason the top dog watches Linda getting kidnapped while heading to her car. Jason doesn't hesitate a second, runs and jumps like a big cheetah following the kidnapper and you get the impression that it's the only thing you can do in that situation. Though it's obvious he could have collected the money instead and not have bothered what's happening on the street. After a realistic fight where he knocks out the kidnapper, he manages to awaken the fainted Linda, which is also shown realistically and charmingly. The simple camera-work - possibly solely used the Canon EOS 5D - and the basic lighting do have a positive effect on the believability; the content and message are delivered at ease.