Super Amigos

Sometimes a documentary subject is so captivating that absolutely no filmmaking frills are necessary. In fact, any gimmickry serves as an annoyance. Such is the case with Super Amigos. The comic book-style animations may seem like a hip way to frame a film about real life superheroes, but the reality of these men who dress up like Lucha Libre wrestlers to fight for social causes in Mexico City is so much cooler than any silly little cartoon.

Super Barrio, a poor people's champion, protects tenants fighting potential eviction from their greedy landlords. A victim of violence and gay-bashing, Super Gay dedicates his time to bringing awareness to gay rights issues. Super Animal goes so far as to challenge matadors to a fight to the death in his campaign against bullfighting. Travelling everywhere on foot, Ecologista Universal is on a quest to make the world more environmentally friendly. A sort of real life Nacho Libre, Fray Tormenta is a masked priest who runs two orphanages.

Unfortunately, the film itself isn't as good as these mens' stories. Its comic book structure, while thematically relevant and cool in theory, mostly distracts from the real-life action and makes the viewer long for some more substance and time with the luchadores. Super Amigos is a fun, but frustrating, viewing experience.