Leon Ford (director)
Matchbox Films (studio)
15 (certificate)
90 min. (length)
16 April 2012 (released)
17 April 2012
This oddball Aussie production is the movie equivalent of Marmite – you either love it or hate it!
Griff is a new superhero for the indie generation, though in his adventures he finds himself confronted more by ordinary idiots rather than super villains.
Griff (Ryan Kwanten) is a shy and socially inept office worker by day – forever the butt of all jokes and bullied by his co-workers. It’s a different story by night though, for that’s when Griff turns into a masked wannabe superhero/vigilante, fighting Sydney’s lowlife and general injustice. And, just like in any other superhero flick, Griff meets his pretty woman. Here, it is barmy and obsessive scientist Melody (Maeve Dermody), who has discovered a way of walking through walls, and generally rambles on about parallel universes and how cats inhabit nine of them during their nine lifetimes.
Sounds ok so far, the problem is that too much time is wasted portraying Griff’s more socially inept side, which makes the overall story go nowhere. The office scenes (and matching colour code) are as dull as Griff’s brother Tim (Patrick Brammall) who feels that Griff’s lack of social life and general social ineptitude will turn him into an even bigger recluse – unaware of his dual side.
The night scenes, admittedly, are entertaining and quirky but too scattered. They also are somewhat misleading, for Griff uses his superhero alter-ego to fight his personal demons more than other villains, or so it would seem.
It’s not the acting that is flawed; in fact, the main cast are doing just great here. The flaw lies with the editing and the fact that the scenes often feel disconnected when they really should connect the story. Likewise, the flow of the film (it is the debut of director Ford) suffers from an uneven pace – a deadly sin to commit in any superhero movie, no matter how offbeat!
Griff The Invisible has great potential wasted, with an interesting concept that, unfortunately, hasn’t been used to maximum effect. It probably would fare better as a weekly cartoon strip.
