The Hyperions | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jon McDonald |
Written by | Jon McDonald |
Produced by | Jon McDonald Justin Bell Jon Michael Kondrath |
Starring | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | The Daily Wire |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Hyperions is a 2022 American superhero action-comedy film written and directed by Jon McDonald and starring Cary Elwes, Penelope Mitchell, Elaine Tan, and Alphonso McAuley.
In 1960, Professor Ruckus Mandulbaum invents a device known as Titan Badge, which offers humans superpowers by altering the wearer’s DNA. He gave three Badges to three down-on-their-luck children, creating America's most famous family of superheroes, which included telepath Vista, super-strong Ansel, and teleporter Maya.
But over the years, as egos bruised and resentments developed, the professor replaced the team with newer members. In 1979, Vista and Ansel want their powers restored and they’ll stop at almost nothing to get them back. Their plan: stage a heist of their Titan Badges from The Hyperion Museum.
But the robbery runs into trouble when they realize that access to the badges requires Professor Mandulbaum’s biometric scan. So Vista and Ansel instead take the museum staff and visitors hostage, forcing a confrontation with their former father figure, the police, and, ultimately, against a supervillain, Ares, who threatens to destroy them all.
In December 2018, it was announced that Elwes was cast in the film. [1]
In June 2021, it was announced that Saban Films acquired North American distribution rights to the film. [2] In February 2022, it was announced that The Daily Wire acquired the domestic rights to the film from Saban Films. [3] The Daily Wire released the film on YouTube on March 10, 2022. [4] [5]
Richard Propes of The Independent Critic gave the film 3.5 stars and called it a "retro-styled superhero flick with a campily beating heart" and "an imperfect yet sublimely inspired" film "that weaves together past and present, family and fantasy all into a motion picture that made me smile from beginning to end." [6]
Alan Ng of Film Threat rated the film a 7.5 out of 10 and wrote that "the story of a family of Superheroes is excellent." He continued, "Add Professor Mandulbaum as a father, who should never be a father, and the exploration of power granted and taken away absolutely works." But he noted that the film's "overall energy" was "low," which he thought was a "a creative choice" by the director. "In the end," Ng wrote, "The Hyperions is good, not great… worse, as it has the potential to be great." [7]
Matthew Pejkovic of Matt's Movie Reviews gave the film 3 stars and called it "a surprisingly tender exploration of family and abandonment that embraces the quirky campiness of its 1970s kitsch setting" with "[d]ry, absurdist humour that is reminiscent of the films of Wes Anderson and Jared Hess." He wrote that "[a]lthough its style is retro, its themes remain poignantly relevant." However, he noted that some of the performances were lacking. [8]
Ivan Simon Cary Elwes is an English actor. He is known for his leading film roles as Westley in The Princess Bride (1987), Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dr. Lawrence Gordon in the Saw film series.
Power Rangers is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise Super Sentai. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entertainment, later by Saban Brands, and today by SCG Power Rangers LLC and its parent company, Hasbro, the Power Rangers television series takes much of its footage from the Super Sentai television series, produced by Toei Company. The first Power Rangers entry, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, debuted on August 28, 1993, and helped launch the Fox Kids programming block of the 1990s, during which it catapulted into popular culture along with a line of action figures and other toys by Bandai. By 2001, the media franchise had generated over $6 billion in toy sales.
A superhero film is a film that focuses on superheroes and their actions. Superheroes are individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature action, adventure, fantasy, or science fiction elements. The first film about a particular character often focuses on the hero's origin story. It also frequently introduces the hero's nemesis.
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series Baywatch: Hawaii (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the Syfy science fiction series Stargate Atlantis (2005–2009), and Khal Drogo in the first two seasons of the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2012). He went on to play the lead roles in the Discovery Channel historical drama series Frontier (2016–2018) and the Apple TV+ science fiction series See (2019–2022).
Sky High is a 2005 American superhero comedy film directed by Mike Mitchell, and written by Paul Hernandez, and Kim Possible creators Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. The film stars Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kurt Russell. It follows Will Stronghold (Angarano), the son of two superheroes who is enrolled in an airborne high school for teenage superheroes where his powers kick in; he must deal with a growing distance from his old friends, a threat from a mysterious supervillain and get the girl of his dreams.
Keli Price is an American film producer and actor known for executive producing the biographical crime film Bandit, and for his role as Chris Abeley in the Warner Bros. film The Clique, based on the best-selling young adult book series of the same name.
The arthouse action genre is an emerging film genre in contemporary cinema that traces its roots back to Asian and European films. Characteristics of arthouse action films include stylized action, an arthouse atmosphere, metaphysical subtext, psychological characterisation and a disjointed, fragmented narrative with more complexity than the typical action film. These come together to create a sense of "dreamy surrealism."
Ansel Elgort is an American actor and singer. He began his acting career with a supporting role in the horror film Carrie (2013). He gained wider recognition for starring as a teenage cancer patient in the romantic drama film The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and for his supporting role in The Divergent Series (2014–2016).
Billionaire Boys Club is a 2018 American biographical crime drama film directed by James Cox and co-written by Cox and Captain Mauzner. The film is about the social club and Ponzi scheme of the same name. The film stars Ansel Elgort, Taron Egerton, Emma Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irvine, Thomas Cocquerel, Rosanna Arquette, Cary Elwes, and Judd Nelson. The film is based on the real life Billionaire Boys Club from Southern California during the 1980s, a group of rich teenagers who get involved in a Ponzi scheme and eventual murder. The story was previously made into a television film in 1987, which starred Judd Nelson as Joe Hunt, while he plays that character's father in the 2018 version.
The Daily Wire is an American conservative news website and media company founded in 2015 by political commentator Ben Shapiro and film director Jeremy Boreing. The company is a major publisher on Facebook, and produces podcasts such as The Ben Shapiro Show. The Daily Wire has also produced various films and video series. Its DailyWire+ video on demand platform launched in 2022, and its children's video platform Bentkey in 2023. The Daily Wire is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Tanner Emmanuel Buchanan is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Leo Kirkman in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor and Robby Keene in the Netflix series Cobra Kai. He is also known for his role in the Nickelodeon television series Game Shakers as Mason Kendall.
The Old Guard is a 2020 American superhero film directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Greg Rucka, based on his comic book of the same name. The film stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Harry Melling, Veronica Ngo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and follows a team of immortal mercenaries on a revenge mission.
We Can Be Heroes is a 2020 American superhero film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is both a standalone and legacy sequel to the 2005 film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. Rodriguez was also the cinematographer and editor of the film, which stars YaYa Gosselin, Lyon Daniels, Andy Walken, Hala Finley, Lotus Blossom, Dylan Henry Lau, Andrew Diaz, Isaiah Russel-Bailey, Akira Akbar, Nathan Blair, and Vivien Lyra Blair. It was released on December 25, 2020, by Netflix and received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel is in development.
Blue Beetle is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC character Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle. Produced by DC Studios and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the 14th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, and stars Xolo Maridueña as Reyes alongside Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez. The film focuses on Reyes, a recent college graduate who is bestowed with an armor that grants him superpowers after being accidentally chosen by an ancient alien relic known as the Scarab.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a 2023 spy action comedy film directed by Guy Ritchie, and written by Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies. The film stars Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone and Hugh Grant. The film is about a spy, Orson Fortune (Statham), who must retrieve a stolen high-tech device before an arms dealer (Grant) can sell it to the highest bidder.
Secret Headquarters is a 2022 American superhero comedy film directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who co-wrote the movie with Christopher L. Yost and Josh Koenigsberg, based on a story by Yost. Starring Owen Wilson, Walker Scobell, Jesse Williams, Keith L. Williams, Momona Tamada, Charles Melton, and Michael Peña, the plot follows a child (Scobell) and his friends who begins to suspect his father (Wilson) might be a superhero after discovering a secret headquarters in his basement.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an upcoming action spy comedy film directed and co-written by Guy Ritchie, based on the 2014 book Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis. The film portrays a heavily fictionalized version of Operation Postmaster.