The first half of Archenemy sucked me in and while the second half didn’t quite deliver, it wasn’t a total disappointment either.
When I first sat down to watch it, I had no clue that Archenemy was based on a comic book, but I almost immediately got comic book vibes. The first half of the movie completely sucked me in, but the second half almost lost me with too much dialogue and what seemed to be an all over the place plot. However, it didn’t completely ruin the movie for me.
Archenemy is the story of Hamster (Skylan Brooks) who wants to be an influencer creating viral videos — so of course, he is my favorite character because I can relate to him. His sister, Indigo (Zolee Griggs), is into some bad stuff, working for the local crime syndicate.
Hamster ends up meeting a homeless man, who claims to be a superhero from another dimension named Max Fist (Joe Manganiello). Max says he not only lost his powers when he was sucked through a portal to Earth, the trip also aged him. Hamster quickly realizes that this is what he has been looking for, and makes Max the subject of his videos.
The biggest issue with this movie is that it seems to be all over the place. With so much going on, it is hard to focus on which story is being told. It bounces around between story lines too much, but it does bring the action, which I love. Probably my favorite part about Archenemy is the animated “flashbacks” to Max’s time on his home planet. I thought it was a fun way to break up the film, and to tell these stories without just watching Max and Hamster talk.
Overall Thoughts
When Archenemy is bringing the dark and the gritty, and the insane action, it does great. But when it tried to overcomplicate things with a lot of dialogue, it starts to go off the rails. However, it is still a fun and bizarre superhero movie that gives us a nice change of pace. Certainly not perfect, but certainly not awful either. Falling somewhere in the middle, Archenemy is still worth a watch.
About Archenemy
A teen meets a mysterious man who claims he lost his superpowers after arriving from another dimension. Together, they take to the streets to wipe out a vicious crime boss and his local drug syndicate.
Archenemy comes to Premium Video On Demand on December 11th!
