Ford and cinematographer Simon Chapman (a long-time collaborator of Ford’s) clearly worked hard to create the world of Griff. The city looms over him oppressively as yet another thing pushing Griff down, crushing him under its dark weight. Nods to Gotham are very clear – an impressive feat when considering the light, open city that Sydney is. The screen is full of stark lines and angles: a handy way to reference a comic book look.
Colour also plays an important role in film: blue dominates the screen with flashes of red and yellow leaping out. The use of these most basic of colours serves to emphasise the comic-book feeling and to reflect the almost child-like innocence of Griff himself.
For me the naturalism of the script is another plus point. The characters in this world are awkward and relatable – they don’t know what to say, they struggle to really communicate. Handled poorly, this can be very annoying and seem ‘try-hard’ but Ford and his cast handle this challenge deftly. The comedy generally works well with scenes like Griff practising his ‘hero lines’ at home raising a smile – not something you’d think about usually but I bet it’s something you’d do!
Criticism of the film seems to focus around the thought that this idea has already been done, with people pointing to the likes of Super or Kick-Ass. Personally I disagree with that – sure Kick-Ass shows an average guy trying to be a hero but the idea is explored completely differently here. If anything, it shares a few similarities with Special, but again is just as different from it as Super and Kick-Ass.
My only criticism would be of the story-telling device used to kick-off Griff’s crisis of faith. Griff hearing just enough of a radioed conversation between Melody and Tim to get exactly the wrong idea feels somewhat clichéd despite the rest of the scene playing out well as Griff is slapped across the face by the fact that he’s a fake. I appreciate that something had to happen to drive the movie forwards to this point and I appreciate the difficulty there must be in coming up with a good way to do this but would like to have seen more of the originality that the rest of the film shows.
All in all, a pretty minor criticism of an imaginative film which I genuinely enjoyed. I was so ready to believe in Griff as a hero that I was surprised and saddened when the reveal came. As a viewer of course you want the hero to be real – you want to believe that the little strange guy could be more than anyone sees him as. A potentially downbeat ending is transformed by the remaining minutes of the film. Griff may not be a hero but he is a good-hearted man who eventually finds the one person who truly understands him, who doesn’t need him to change or fit in. This could be cheesy or saccharine but once again Ford’s lightness of touch saves it – there’s no Hollywood schmaltz here. Instead there are two individuals who are happy being different together.
And besides, Melody did fall through that door… didn’t she?
I fully recommend this film to anyone – superhero fan or not. After watching this I checked out Ford’s other films – all shorts – and was pleased to see more of the originality, humour, and heart that make this film so good. Ford should continue to go far as a writer and a director and I look forward to seeing whatever he comes up with next!
For more about Griff and his creator, take a look at our interview with Leon Ford coming later today! And to find out more about the film, take a look at the website here.
