The Hyperions (2022)

As the comic-book-movie industry is chiefly oriented towards super-budget summer films, the existence of The Hyperion is a breath of fresh air that disrupts this pattern with a smaller yet quite innovative addition to this universe. This is the third independent film of the right-wing media company Daily Wire, and the first accessible to the entire family as long as children are above a certain age limit.

The original trailer for The Hyperions promised some laugh-out-loud humor that makes fun of the superhero zeal, but the reality is more complex and a lot more entertaining. While not overall pleasing, it certainly does deserve praise for pulling us back to a better era of charm and feel-good movies.

The Hyperions is set in 1979, a very influential year in world history with the release of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the rise of Margaret Thatcher in the UK, and the launching of the portable Walkman by Sony. However, the main plot is engaging in is very trivial and seeks the core essence of the film’s three main characters Vista, Ansel, and Professor Ruckus Mandelbaum.

Vista and Ansel, both ex-Hyperion superheroes, have gone rogue, taking hostages inside the Hyperion museum, which houses the Titan badges. Each titan badge grants a certain set of superpowers to its users, and when slotted into a special gauntlet, the gauntlet channels specific powers tied to one’s DNA.

In between the attempt of a smash and grab towards the titan badges, the situation escalates to a hostage situation, which causes Vander and Ansel’s fellow superhero Maya to take note of the situation. Maya is the only one recovered who can contact Ruckus Mandelbaum, a dodgy Brit who is the inventor of the titan badges, and the badges themselves were his first prototype.

As time passes and the story is revealed to the public, Mandelbaum needs to come into the spotlight to maintain his already shady reputation, which inevitably causes chaos between the original ‘superheroes’. A nonfather figure has to now dive deep and embrace the situation further.

The Hyperions has some of the fastest pacing in recent memory, all thanks to incredible cinematography courtesy of Jon McDonald’s direction. He also happens to be an actor in the film. With only a short film “Muddy Corman” and a 26-minute-long piece “Chagrin”, McDonald is able to capture the essence of an entire era with exceptional visual style.

Each scene feels appropriately illuminated and framed as well as shot while at the same time brought to life with many rapid close-up shots and cutaways that create a sense of flow. It appears that the director is fond of the 1970s-style decor and appliances as he skillfully incorporates these close-up shots into the fabric of the film.

The choice to catch the feel-good spirit of the 1970s family films is what works the most for The Hyperions. The entire movie is enveloped in an astonishingly deep and surrealistic way that makes it feel like this particular comic book isn’t rested in the normal movie realm.

The craftsmen behind the scenery deserve special mention. Every tiny aspect has been handled with care and purpose so that emotional responses are provoked within the viewer. The way the vehicles are designed and the way the interiors are lighted brings about an emotional response that goes hand in hand with the lenses used.

The Hyperions are casting, which is incredibly versatile, yet strangely, also truly ‘diverse.’ It lacks that Wokeness issue and instead is a collection of characters that are united in their similarities and who (also quite literally) live and breathe family values in the positive and negative aspects of it.

The best part is that the casting is done imaginatively. One example is Penelope Mitchell, in an adopted family with Ruckus Mandulbaum, who plays Vista Mandulbaum, a character who is deeply infatuated with her adopted father and her character’s performance is brilliantly terrible. Vista’s childhood trauma and scars mirror the perspective of her other characters in the film who have had their fair share of self-doubting in their relationship with the Professor.

Ansel, depicted by McAuley who is known for his roles in The Middle, Key in Peele, and Breaking In, used to be the most powerful boy alive. However, he got expelled from the Hyperion school due to his consanguineous relationship with his sisterly figure, Vista. Ansel plays the role of temptation in the movie coupled with the incapacity to progress in life. This allows him to indulge in life while remaining stagnant, which is portrayed beautifully by the actor.

Elaine Tan, widely known for her roles in CSi, EastEnders, and Doctor Who plays Maya, who acts as a content between the banished Διαστημικοι and Ansel and Professor Mandelbaum. Alene’s performance is muted which deepens the dysfunctionality of the family hidden behind the allure of the Hyperion marketing.

The marketing of The Hyperions was indeed appealing, but it was devoid of the deeper family dynamics. Finally, we have Cary Elwes in the role of Professor Mandelbaum. As always, he impresses with his British accent and mannerisms. Elwes not only makes every moment he is in better, but he also gives an astounding performance.

In essence, Mandulbaum plays a pivotal role in the entire film, and his character has the ability to make the greatest difference. He is, in a sense, a lower-class version of Charles Xavier; a deeply flawed self-important philanthropist, who attempts to help the world, and has a plethora of expense accounts, but has never found himself emotionally willing to engage in even the simplest conflict.

Rounding out the cast are Keli Price (Side Effects, Infamous Six), Sal Lopez (Diff’rent Strokes, Melrose Place, Westworld), and Tanner Buchanan as Apollo from Cobra Kai, a character who is sadly miscast and underused in one of the many errors this film makes.

The Hyperions was never going to be able to afford even a fraction of what a standard MCU film could afford to set it up with, so it has got a modest budget, but Jon McDonald actually turns that into a positive. By avoiding a ton of budget-busting fight scenes, he gets intelligent with the narrative and relies on characters something that does not have to be experienced.

Where The Hyperions excels, is the fact that no one actor in this movie has a leading role. Rather, all of them serve as a component of a massive wheel that rotates the story from various angles. The underlying theme in the film is that family matters regardless of how imperfect that family is.

Because of this, the film may be viewed by the whole family, as long as the children are old enough to handle one or two mildly cartoonishly violent scenes. For all intents and purposes, the film carries an R label as it does omit the use of crude words, violence, and meanness as the gentle perspective is preferred. We believe that The Hyperions almost crosses the line into PG-13 territory.

While the original trailer attempted to appeal to the side-splitting humor in the film, The Hyperions is more of a laughing drama, or dramedy rather. The movie is bound to receive a few pausing laughs, but not enough to choke on your drink.

In spite of that, it would have been preferable if the film went for the punchline more often, particularly in the initial two acts. The type of humor in the movie is reasonably passable, but it could have gone for more laughter from the audience before changing things in the third act. Every time the film does manage to get one of the viewers to burst into a belly laugh, it never seems to be able to capitalize on that momentum in the long run.

It is a miss, but certainly not terrible. Jon McDonald makes up for this with his dynamic camera movements, brisk editing pace, and genteel characters. All of these help the story move along and keep it on a positive vibe.

The heartstrings are pulled in the third and final act in a huge way, and it is done in a manner that together with the rest of the movie is quite the feel of a classical Disney cartoon or a family movie classic like It’s A Wonderful Life. It has been a while since a film managed to capture that period of (quite) innocence, without the tragedy and nihilism and replaced it with happy tears and smiles.

It’s difficult to imagine The Hyperions as a completely developed superhero franchise but there is so much potential to move in that direction. Some may suggest that it is better off as a stand-alone film, but this writer would for sure like to witness the introduced characters get more defined in the upcoming sequels.

A lot of room is available to build on the cumbersomely entertaining Mandelbaum family dynamics. In addition, characters in the Hyperions team can be set against some amusingly intelligent villains, which gives a chance to tell more stories. Are you listening, Jon McDonald?

No matter if a sequel is made or not, The Hyperions must be regarded as a film that accomplished so much with so little, and in contrast to what Woke Modern Hollywood seeks, it “subverted expectations” in all the desirable ways. This is how a movie should be made.

The Hyperions managed to stay engaging, thanks to its family-friendly theme. The show leads the audience through a narrative that gets more restricted as time goes on. By the end, viewers are filled with comforting feelings, due to the splendidly charming tales presented during the show.

However, it is entirely possible that it could have gone in the other direction. To be blunt, the storyline is nothing special or out of the box so to speak. Jon McDonald’s efficacious shooting style in combination with phenomenal cast performances manages to redeem the show. One could even say it is a success, even if there is an absence of complex action sequences and over-the-top CGI.

The Hyperions should not be the selection of choice for those who are looking for an action-packed movie filled with sarcastic and aggressive comedy. Instead, one should watch Deadpool, as there are plenty of movies available that focus on these harsh themes. There is a severe lack of aura that The Hyperions wants to create. In a number of ways, this show is the antithesis of The Boys among other shows, and is based on much kinder source material.

Using golden tones, pleasant vintage illustrations, and even 60s-inspired music along with traditional hand-drawn animations, The Hyperions is attempting to perform magic on the screen. A large portion of the audience may not agree on whether the movie was successful in achieving that particular goal, but it’s a fact that no one can look past its grappling conceit, earnestness, and heart.

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