Arthur Poppington, a regular man who adopts a superhero persona, known as "Defendor", combs the city streets at night, in search of his archenemy, Captain Industry.Arthur Poppington, a regular man who adopts a superhero persona, known as "Defendor", combs the city streets at night, in search of his archenemy, Captain Industry.Arthur Poppington, a regular man who adopts a superhero persona, known as "Defendor", combs the city streets at night, in search of his archenemy, Captain Industry.
- Awards
- 1 win & 7 nominations total
Kristin Booth
- Wendy Carter
- (as Kristen Booth)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
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Featured reviews
A different kind of superhero.
Defendor is the story of a simple, deluded, child-like man, who thinks he's a super-hero. In all likelihood, he should have died a swift and brutal death no later than ten minutes in, but it seems that God watches out for the simple-minded, even in movies. Somehow, Defendor even ends up bumbling his way into doing some good.
Woody Harrelson portrayed Arthur in a way that completely avoided mocking him. Imagine Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Arthur has definite reasons for his quest and his actions, and as those reasons are revealed during the movie, you become more and more attached to his character. Kat Dennings plays a young prostitute who befriends Arthur and is instrumental in helping him to his final destiny, and Sandra Oh stars as a psychiatrist who learns about Arthur along with the audience. No one is responsible for the acting burden that Harrelson has, but their performances are still solid.
I liked this movie a good bit. It was funny in some parts, and sad in others. We really don't get to spend enough time with Arthur/Defendor and his world, but what's here is pretty satisfying.
Woody Harrelson portrayed Arthur in a way that completely avoided mocking him. Imagine Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Arthur has definite reasons for his quest and his actions, and as those reasons are revealed during the movie, you become more and more attached to his character. Kat Dennings plays a young prostitute who befriends Arthur and is instrumental in helping him to his final destiny, and Sandra Oh stars as a psychiatrist who learns about Arthur along with the audience. No one is responsible for the acting burden that Harrelson has, but their performances are still solid.
I liked this movie a good bit. It was funny in some parts, and sad in others. We really don't get to spend enough time with Arthur/Defendor and his world, but what's here is pretty satisfying.
Surprise! This is a great movie!
Wow, that was surprising.
I stumbled across this film by accident, I saw that Woody was in it so decided to give it a try. I wasn't expecting much because I had never heard of it. But I was very pleasantly surprised.
This movie is great! "Defendor" is very funny, yet has a real story, and will get you emotionally involved when your not laughing your butt off. You pretty much can't go wrong here. Most importantly it was all thrown together beautifully, hats off to the writers and director. Every actor did a great job as well, but Woody stole the show, he deserves an award for this - he nailed the roll and then some. 110%. Well done.
This movie is underrated!
I stumbled across this film by accident, I saw that Woody was in it so decided to give it a try. I wasn't expecting much because I had never heard of it. But I was very pleasantly surprised.
This movie is great! "Defendor" is very funny, yet has a real story, and will get you emotionally involved when your not laughing your butt off. You pretty much can't go wrong here. Most importantly it was all thrown together beautifully, hats off to the writers and director. Every actor did a great job as well, but Woody stole the show, he deserves an award for this - he nailed the roll and then some. 110%. Well done.
This movie is underrated!
Defendor: Not what you're expecting
While at first I thought it was a comedy, I was soon proved wrong. I like Woody Harrelson for his comedic value, this pushed his acting skills in a newer direction. While still maintaining a comedic overtone it settled into a serious note that is very seldom seen in most newer movies. It's not big on special effects or huge explosions, but the movie its self makes up for all that for being big on heart and able to touch feelings that haven't been touched in a while.All in all I'd say Woody Harrleson doesn't deserve an Oscar for his performance(while it was quite memorable), the movie does deserve an honorable mention at as many award shows as possible!
Brilliant
One of the best movies I have seen this decade, funny, touching and clever. It would have totally passed me by if someone hadn't recommended it, which is a shame as it's an excellent film.
Acting, music score, writing all come together really well. Thank you Woody for another great movie.
I would really recommend this film to anyone even if the "superhero genre" is not your thing, since that is only tertiary to the theme anyway.
I look forward to seeing more from Peter Stebbings.
I can only hope that "Kick Ass" is half as good as Defendor.
Acting, music score, writing all come together really well. Thank you Woody for another great movie.
I would really recommend this film to anyone even if the "superhero genre" is not your thing, since that is only tertiary to the theme anyway.
I look forward to seeing more from Peter Stebbings.
I can only hope that "Kick Ass" is half as good as Defendor.
A Don Quixote for our times
This was a rather enjoyable and strangely touching action caper, with moments of genuine depth and truth.
Woody Harrelson proves once again that he's an incredibly versatile and emotionally astute actor, with an arresting performance that carries the story along with remarkable zeal and fun. And while the plot and direction skirt close to sentimentalism towards the end, Harrelson executes the last few scenes in a manner so as not to spoil the quirky edge of the film.
Another angle that I found particularly enjoyable were the deferred references to Don Quixote - if you've read Cervantes's hilarious Rennaissance series you'll no doubt notice uncanny similarities that suggest homage: In lieu of the outlandish chivalric tales that madden Don Quixote and compel him to forge his own suit of armour and 'sally forth' into the wilds of quiet old La Mancha, we have 'Defendor', who similarly loses what few wits he has to begin with by obsessively reading comic books and deciding to become a superhero in an anonymous post-industrial slum. Sancho Panza is replaced by a saner but similarly pliant crack-addict, Kat, and Rosindante is supplanted by his 'defendog' mobile.
There are other similarities the movie has with D. Quixote, but to mention those would give the game away. It will suffice to say, however, that the film is quite highly recommended by this viewer, if not just for the joy of seeing Don Quixote once again take to the streets in all his glory.
Woody Harrelson proves once again that he's an incredibly versatile and emotionally astute actor, with an arresting performance that carries the story along with remarkable zeal and fun. And while the plot and direction skirt close to sentimentalism towards the end, Harrelson executes the last few scenes in a manner so as not to spoil the quirky edge of the film.
Another angle that I found particularly enjoyable were the deferred references to Don Quixote - if you've read Cervantes's hilarious Rennaissance series you'll no doubt notice uncanny similarities that suggest homage: In lieu of the outlandish chivalric tales that madden Don Quixote and compel him to forge his own suit of armour and 'sally forth' into the wilds of quiet old La Mancha, we have 'Defendor', who similarly loses what few wits he has to begin with by obsessively reading comic books and deciding to become a superhero in an anonymous post-industrial slum. Sancho Panza is replaced by a saner but similarly pliant crack-addict, Kat, and Rosindante is supplanted by his 'defendog' mobile.
There are other similarities the movie has with D. Quixote, but to mention those would give the game away. It will suffice to say, however, that the film is quite highly recommended by this viewer, if not just for the joy of seeing Don Quixote once again take to the streets in all his glory.
Did you know
- TriviaApparent homage: The headline of a front page of a newspaper seen in the film reads, "HERO OR MENACE?". This is the same headline that appears in Marvel Comics' "The Amazing Spider-Man" comic on the front page of The Daily Bugle newspaper.
- GoofsArthur makes a big deal about being called "DefenDOR", yet when he's talking with Kat, he calls himself "Defender".
- ConnectionsFeatured in Starfilm (2017)
- SoundtracksOne Track Mind
Written by Classified (as Luke Boyd) and Joel Plaskett
Performed by Classified ft. Joel Plaskett
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc.
Published by Classified (as Luke Boyd) (SOCAN), Songs For The Gang Inc. (SOCAN)
- How long is Defendor?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $44,462
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,265
- Feb 21, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $44,462
- Runtime
- 1h 41m(101 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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