HOW I BECAME A SUPERHERO

France, 2020, 97 minutes, Colour.

Pio Marmai Leila Bekhti. Benoit Poelvoorde, Vimla Pons, Swann Arlaud, Clovis Cornillac.

Directed by Douglas Attal.

This is something of a small version, variation on the X-Men themes. The story presupposes that some humans have special powers which they exercise for good or for evil but that they live alongside ordinary humans in ordinary society.

It is based on a French novel but there have been similar stories from the United States, especially Powers.

There is an eccentric group of upholders of the law with special powers, the Pack Royal. However, one of their members is killed in action, another develops Parkinson’s, and a third goes into athletic training. There is some comedy as well as action in the characters, especially veteran actor, Benoit Poelvoorde, as Henri, Monte Carlo, who lives in retirement.

However, the main character is Moreau, a police officer, seemingly slack, 10 years of not living up to expectations, called into a case by his superior officers. He is slack, arrives late, intervenes in cases, can find solutions – but is made to have a partner, Schaltzmann, Vimla Pons, who is efficient but has much to learn from Moreau.

The basic situation is that there is an arch criminal who has a squad stealing the special powers and the agencies that they use – especially for throwing flames, for arson. Later in the film his back story is revealed, his parents concerned about him and his powers, his being deprived and treated by a psychologist, his wanting his powers back, assembling a group of thugs who go around accosting, destroying, but especially abducting the daughter of one of the Pack Royal, keeping her in his power, wanting to gain her powers.

So, quite a lot of police routines even in this exotic situation.

Ultimately, it is revealed that Moreau himself has the special powers, blames himself for the death of the Pack Royal action man who was killed, but now decides to become active to get his daughter back. Which means then a mixture of police action and detection, along with all kinds of flames and superpower activity.

Compared with such extravaganzas as the X-Men films, this is a rather more subdued Parisien action story.