Make no mistake, Stan Lee is one of the greatest storytellers that has ever lived. He helped create some of the most iconic comic book characters in pop culture with his trust colleagues Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. The Condor, sadly, is NOT one of those iconic characters. Co-written by fellow comic book writer Marv Wolfman and directed by Steve E. Gordon (who's no stranger to superhero projects as he worked on X-Men: Evolution), this film came out in 2007 and was released under Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment label.
Conceptually, there's potential for the character of the Condor to be a great superhero in his own right. Tony Valdez is a Latino skateboarder who get's has to learn how to walk again while also stopping crooks and dastardly villains. Sounds interesting, but where the film ultimately falters is in the characters.
Tony Valdez isn't a very relatable or even likable character. He's a skateboarder who cares about his cousin...and that's it. Tony isn't given much of a personality and try as Wilmer Valderrama might (and believe me, he tries), Tony just sounds so disinterested in everything. I get he's supposed to be laid back, but he still has to emote and have some energy to him.
Valeria is first introduced walking up to Tony and kissing him, much to his surprise. Umm, excuse me? First of all, they just met and second of all Tony just accepts it? It also doesn't help that her only personality trait is she's the sexy girlfriend. Then it's revealed that she's the masked villain Taipan who wears body armor, has a voice modulator, is skilled in martial arts and has shows mord personality than she does without the suit. I almost want to believe Taipan and Valeria were two separate characters until the writers realized the villain needed a personal connection to the hero (as most of Stan Lee's most iconic villains do). The thing is though, the solution was right there in front of them in the form of Tony's cousin: Reuben.
The most egregious sin this movie commits is not making the central theme of this movie about family. Sure, the topic is no stranger to Stan Lee, but it could've been handled so well here had they made the villain Reuben and not Taipan. Throughout the film, Reuben is bullied and threatened by the dangerous gang in his neighborhood and because of Tony's obliviousness, Reuben becomes a full time member. This film could've tapped into that and Reuben could've been the embodiment of Tony's pride amplified by the technology Nigel (the generic British business man) manufactured. Instead Reuben is sidelined and his subplot is completely superfluous to the main plot. Reuben and Tony's last encounter even ends anticlimacticly as Reuben rejects Tony's help.
I will say this, the rest of the voice acting is pretty good. I like how Scott McNeil portrayed Dogg, making him sound almost like Michael Clark Duncan (who would've instantly bumped the rating up by 1). I also like the animation; it's a nest Western anime style I always appreciate. The action scenes are pretty well handled too, but I would've liked to have seen more of that.
Overall, The Condor is a film I wish was bettee than it was. It's got nice animation, solid voice work (for the most part), alright action scenes and some pretty cool ideas, but it's bogged down by weak characters, a predictable script and really slow pacing. It's watchable, but not worth watching I'm afraid :/
