Ernesto Díaz Espinoza - Mirageman (2007)

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Zaror is the titular Mirageman, a masked hero roaming the urban streets in his homemade costume, meting out his bruising brand of justice to the criminals preying upon the weak. And why don a mask to beat down thugs in the street? Because his first chance encounter led to news coverage that brought hope –- and a marked improvement –- to his superhero-obsessed, mentally ill, hospitalized little brother, of course! Want the boy to get better? Put on a mask and lay on the beatings!
(from fantasiafestival.com)

Positive Review:

Row Three wrote:

Problems with bullies at school? Too many old ladies having their purses snatched in your city? Never fear. Just send a quick email to local super hero, MiargeMan, and if he has some time he’ll stop by the next day to beat the shit out of any perps hassling you. Yes friends, here is a superhero movie I can finally get behind with enthusiasm and recommend highly. And it’s from Chile!

“Mirageman” is a crime-fighting superhero brought to life accidentally by Maco; a young man who stumbles upon a burglarly late one night and decides to take justice in his own hands. Donning a ski-mask, Maco takes out several criminals at once, rescues all of the valuables and most importantly saves two women tied up within the apartment in danger of being raped and/or murdered. As it turns out, one of the rescued ladies is actually a fairly high-profile news anchor and her subsequent broadcast publicly thanks the masked man and pleads with him to show himself once again so she can personally thank him. This prompts Maco to rethink his life and realizes that he is exactly what his city needs most.

A side story whch also contributes to Maco’s decision to continue masked crime-fighting revolves around his mentally unstable, younger brother; committed to a sanitarium. The sudden emergence of someone he can really look up to and believe in seems to improve his health and encourages Maco to press forward in his endeavor.

The joy in MirageMan really lies with its ability to take all of the conventions of your typical superhero movie and mock them mercilessly… in a loving way. It’s a look at what a superhero might actually be like in the real world should he not have the benefit of unlimited funding, the ability to fly or shoot lasers from his eyes, a weapons research and design department or the ability to climb walls and swing through the city from skyscraper to skyscraper. No. Maco is a phisically fit (understatement) man with knowledge of martial arts and the will, courage and heart to take on anyone who deems “unfit” for society.

The biggest belly laugh comes with one of the most typical and iconic moments in super-hero comic books. The hero (particularly Superman) must quickly duck into a phone booth or a dark alley-way to change into his outfit. This usually takes mere seconds and a bit of magic. In the real world though, removing your socks and shoes to put on tights and don a mask takes a few minutes. It’s uncomfortable fun as evil criminals heist a bank or beat a man senseless while our hero is busy changing clothes behind a dumpster. Without ruining things, this one aspect of typical super-hero movies is even taken a step further and is just one example of the logistics to crime fighting that are usually ignored in a Batman or Spider-Man movie.

Besides the details of crime-fighting, our hero must deal with the media and the public. If you’re a masked super-hero appearing all over the evening news with acts of heroism and your email address is out there for the world to contact you, one can imagine the sort of emails you might receive. On top of these fantastic moments in the film, you’ve got general public opinion to deal with. It seems that most citizens of the city would prefer the police handle these matters – not some “crazed” vigilante. Meanwhile, Mirageman is being manipulated and used by both the criminal element and the media, who only want to further their ratings.

During the introduction to the film, Todd Brown from Twitchfilm provided some insights into the movie that make it all the more fun to watch. For one, the martial arts in this movie are essentially “real.” In other words, while the guys on screen know how to fight without hurting each other (much), these are real kicks and real take-downs. When a man gets kicked in the gut in midair and goes down like a sack of potatoes, it looks real because he actually was kicked in the gut and went down like a sack of potatoes. On top of that, there was little choreography involved. The director just tells the guys to “go at it” and let’s see what kind of footage we can capture. A brilliant tactic that works well.

Beyond this, there is zero CGI and zero wirework. Watch the trailer below and tell me if you can believe that. Well, believe it because it’s true. All of the jumping off walls, backflips and the horizontal spin kicks are apparently within the realm of physical possbility; amazing as it looks.

Marko Zaror, who plays Miargeman, is a towering piece of iron of a man. He’s well over six feet tall, weighs an easy 250 and would give a steam train one hell of a challenging boutof tug of war. Yes this guy really is a marvel of human physicality. When you stunt double for “The Rock” though, I suppose you have to be.

So the film is a truly a joy from start to finish with the laughs that ensue and the quality martial arts. As I think back to the film as I type, it occurs to me that the amount of layering in the plot is quite astounding for a Chilean film made with a budget of about fifty bucks. Toronto After Dark is a film festival designed with qulaity fun in mind. MirageMan epitomizes that philosophy perfectly.
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Negative Review:

Daily Film Dose wrote:

Mirageman (2008) dir. Ernesto Diaz Espinoza
Starring: Marko Zaror, Maria Elena Swett, Ariel Mateluna, Mauricio Pesutic

From Chile comes an unusual and unexpected entry in the comic book genre. Hanging on the concept of a superhero film is this showcase vehicle for Marko Zaror (stuntman for the Rock in “The Rundown) and his extraordinary feats of acrobatic martial arts. In the marketing leadup to this film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, we’re told to expect something like breakout performance of Tony Jaa in “Ong Bak”.

While Mr. Zaror’s martial arts skills are indeed out of this world one has to get past the film’s unimposing no-budget home video-like stylistic exterior. With these strikes discounted, and with a forgiving and rambunctious genre-ready audience, “Mirageman” becomes a surprisingly enjoyable theatrical experience.

Marko Zaror plays Maco who is introduced to us sparring against one of those martial arts resistance boards in the basement. His speed and strength are a sight to behold. His physical stature is about 6’ 3” of pure toned muscle. This extraordinary beast of nature is actually an ordinary guy. He’s a gentle giant who cares for his crippled brother in the hospital. One day Maco happens upon a robbery and uses his beat down skills to stop the crime. Maco has an epiphany that he could be a vigilante superhero like Batman.

After brainstorming names and costumes, Maco becomes Mirageman – a low rent Halloween costumed superhero. As Maco performs his altruistic good deeds quickly the city of Santiago catches on that they have a bona fide superhero of their own. The media jumps on the story and he becomes a sensation. A template superhero plot is follows...

Watching and enjoying “Mirageman” must come with a few caveats. It’s a “no-budget” film to start, but not the charming and innovative cinematic techniques of say “El Mariachi”. The consumer-grade cameras, no lighting, no sets, real locations with real people walking the streets in the background is not kind to the film. Excessive use of news reporter footage to give expository information to the audience is a tedious and lazy storytelling device. It’s looks barely above a home video backyard filmmaking.

But it’s all about the fight scenes, most of which were choreographed on the day of filming. Zaror is a massive physical presence, which commands the screen. Director Espinoza wisely keeps Zaror's dialogue to a minimum, letting his fists and feet do the talking. Zaror spin kicks his opponent with lightning quick speed, often hitting the actual actors (who are all stuntmen though).

Espinoza has an ear for comedy too, and though his send up of the superhero genre is not original he coterie of pathetic characters provides enough humour. The funniest recurring gag is Pseudo-Robin, a wannabe superhero who tries to convince Mako to be his sidekick.

“Mirageman” only work if a) you’re a Hollywood talent looking for talent b) you’re at the Toronto After Dark film festival and you’re with a theatre full of energetic die hard genre-junkies. So despite some atrocious ‘filmmaking’ “Mirageman” turns out to be a somewhat decent cinematic experience. Enjoy.
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