Color me rainbow… I mean, color me surprised. I had no idea that Surge of Power existed in the form of a 2004 movie, a 2017 web-series “Big City Chronicles,” and now a celebrity paced new installment – Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel. And while the franchise as a whole looks a little rough around the edges, I’m glad that the independent entertainment industry is embracing an out and proud gay superhero. An article from The Advocate lists 52 LGBT superheroes and super villains, but very few – if any – have been adapted to their full potential in mainstream movies and television. What’s great about Surge of Power, and the new sequel, is that the independent scene has once again broken a pop culture barrier and Surge is ours. He’s the gay superhero we needed; strong, witty and attractive without being over the top and objectifying others. With that said, I wasn’t expecting much from Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel. I was mostly here for the celebrity cameos. But, you know what? This one surprised me.
Produced under (or on top of) Surge of Power Enterprises, Salty Horror Productions and Lexerot Entertainment, Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel sees mega-villain Metal Master out of jail, teaming up with other crime lords, and attacking Las Vegas in search of mysterious crystals. With more drama and danger than ever before, Surge is in for his toughest battle yet. Vincent Roth, John T. Venturini, Linda Blair, Gil Gerard, Eric Miller, Sean Rogers, Mariann Gavelo, Michael Diamond and Shannon Farnon star in the sequel that follows Surge’s biggest, hardest quest for justice and love. Of course, Linda Blair is known for The Exorcist, Gil Gerard for “The Doctors,” Eric Roberts for The Dark Knight and Shannon Farnon for voicing Wonder Woman in the “Superfriends” series, but they’re not the only Hollywood stars appearing in Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel. Robert Picardo (“Star Trek: Voyager”), Bruce Vilanch (“Hollywood Squares”), Lou Ferrigno (“The Incredible Hulk”) and Nichelle Nichols (“Star Trek”) all have small roles and cameos in this baby as well as dozens of other celebrities compiled in the film’s closing credits.
Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel is written, directed and produced by Antonio Lexerot, with Vincent Roth providing additional support in each category. Victor Stone also served as producer with Mario DeAngelis as cinematographer, Christopher Todd Hall as production designer and Christopher Henderson as editor. With all the happy horseshit out of the way, let’s get down to business. Is Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel any good? Should you go see it when it hits select theaters starting January 5, 2017? Well, it has a lot of giving and taking, but overall it was marginally enjoyable. It feels like an independent crossover between characters from the Superman and X-Men universes, and that’s an extremely important factor in determining the success of a superhero movie. This one actually feels like one, and not a poor attempt at a mockbuster. Even the wise tactic of using classically drawn comic panels as fades and transitions made Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel a coherent, well rounded production that’ll hit the heartstrings of gay nerds around the country.
While it is self aware and successful in establishing its atmosphere, I have to say it is definitely in the realm of b-movie cheese. This mostly comes from the prop and design department; where costumes and gadgets ranged from impressive to something a fifth grader would make during elementary school art class. I know this production was on the lower end of the budgetary scale – and most of that was probably spent on the celebrity cameos – but the lack of a baseline for physically building this world diminished its overall effectiveness. Some of the acting performances were underwhelming, too. However, this is where my opinion splits. Personally, I enjoyed Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel, because I can appreciate a film for what it accomplished, not what I wanted to see. Still, there’s going to be a large portion of the film’s key demographic that are going to destroy it for being low budget. It’s easily equatable to the laugh worthy, bizarre and cheesy superhero television adaptions from the 60’s and 70’s. In the same token, this movie would have fit in perfectly as an entry in the line-up of a public access television horror host.
Jumping around the gamut again, the film’s camera work was much better in the feature than the clips pieced together in the trailer. Although, there were a few scenes that were too dark. The audio was great, but too loud in a couple spots. The CGI was used sparingly enough to avoid becoming a total blunder, but should have been avoided all together to keep in line with the low budget value. The action scenes were well placed and everyone in the film – literally everyone – was good looking, but strong pace and good looks weren’t enough to negate the fact that the film’s climax was uninspired, boring and left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, Linda Blair had a larger role than I expected and that was something I can cheer about. It may seem like I’m being overly critical of Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel, but in reality… I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s low budget and fails in several places, but it’s overwhelmingly charming and endearing and the superhero movie that gay men need to see. It’s got old school appeal, comedic wit and subtle sexuality… and fuck, I hope there’s a third one in the future. Keep a good thing going, Antonio and Vincent. Just make sure you work on wrapping it up for the climax.
Final Score: 7 out of 10. It is what it is!
