I Am a Hero (2015): Fresh Meat #28

I have expanded my Fresh Meat articles to include films of the past 10 years, since they could be considered relatively “new.” And this one just happens to be in my favorite genre: zombies! I Am a Hero is not a horror film I ever hear talked about, and it passed by my periphery, perhaps due to another 2016 Asian zombie film you might have heard of, Train to Busan 

However, this one is based on a Japanese manga by Kengo Hanazawa. This particular manga is apparently incredibly popular, having around 4 million copies in circulation while running for 22 volumes, 8 years, and having numerous spinoffs, until ending in 2017. It was also ranked the number one zombie manga of all time by Anime News Network. 

Synopsis: 

A manga artist assistant is surprised by a zombie apocalypse. 

IMDb: 6.7 

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 

Hiromi and Hideo’s friendship starts off a lot like Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, but it becomes its own thing about halfway through the film. I don’t want to spoil too much here, but suffice to say, there are some unexpected twists and turns that happen along the way.  

I am thinking the title comes from the fact that this poor guy, who is seemingly a failure, or at the very least a disappointment to others due to his lack of success, must step up in the dying days of humanity and become a hero. He fantasizes about it a few times, especially with using the gun, and this seems to be how he is going to grow throughout the film.   

The film is incredibly violent, bloody, gory, and nearly all practical with just a few CGI blood squirts. The effects are pretty good, if not a tad bit cheesy and over the top, though. I can totally appreciate them though. I tend to like fast moving zombies more than slow shambling ones, but if done properly, I can totally get behind a good shambler. These zombies turn quick, as well. Once they get bitten, it takes no time for those veins to start appearing, black in their color, and spread to their eyes which turn red and bloodshot. And you know what’s going to happen next. It’s biting time! 

The music is electronic and synthy which I always enjoy. When there is action, it’s a very energetic score, adding to the pulse pounding action that is appearing on screen. The action itself is pretty intense as well, as there are car crashes, explosions, and airplanes and helicopters are everywhere in large numbers. It’s a seemingly big budget film, since the overall scope of the film is pretty huge. There are also some pretty good scares and chases as well as some funny moments.  

The film does slow to a snail’s pace somewhere around the 1:15 mark, and it could have stood to lose 15 or 20 minutes off the runtime, but the finale made up for the movie’s excess. 

I am a sucker for zombie movies, and I am always on the hunt for something new. This was fantastic in every way, but it doesn’t compare to the similar Train to Busan. Train felt heavy, full of distraught characters and a sense of dread. I Am A Hero feels more lighthearted and fun. These two will always be compared to each other due to the proximity of their release times, as well as their Asian origins. I’ll take Train 6 days of the week, but on Sunday Funday, I’ll take Hero. 

8.0/10 Stab Wounds 

About RetRo(n) 84 Articles
I like the 80s, slasher films, Italian directors, Evil Ed, Trash and Nancy, Ripley and Private First Class Hudson, retro crap but not SyFy crap, old school skin, Freddy and Savini, Spinell and Coscarelli, Andre Toulon, and last, but not least, Linda Blair.