What's missing in Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary is a key ingredient: Morgan Spurlock.
In Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope (* * ½ out of four, rated PG-13, expands Friday in select cities), Spurlock lets aficionados, collectors, wannabe artists and famous folks do all the talking instead of providing his trademark witty and affable on-screen involvement. The result is a repetitive tribute to the 'Con, an event that feels like home to some.
But how about some homeland analysis?
We get it: Fans love it, and it's a fun place to geek out en masse. Perhaps because he is essentially a fan, Spurlock doesn't give the subject his usual incisive treatment, as in his clever skewering of product placement in The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and the eye-opening, funny and sometimes horrifying Super Size Me. Here, he eschews his blend of self-deprecation and gentle parody to stay behind the scenes. The problem with this approach, filmed at the convention in 2010, is that few of the non-pros are as engaging as he is. And the professionals — writers, directors, actors and purveyors of the material showcased at the 'Con — have a clear stake in singing its praises.
A good portion of the documentary does capture the frenzied fun that is Comic-Con. And it clearly conveys the message that the San Diego-based convention is no longer a rarefied gathering of a few hundred fringe comic-book fans but is now a pop-culture barometer attracting 150,000 people of all ages. But that's hardly news. If only Spurlock had delved more deeply into how the shift happened. When did fanaticism become mainstream? Instead, we hear the obvious: that movie studios use the 'Con as a place to test the appeal of their upcoming blockbusters and build anticipation.
Rambling and scattershot, the film seems to be made expressly for the fans, not for a wider audience. Often funny, it's also occasionally tedious and marred by too many talking heads — even if the heads are wearing Storm Trooper helmets or bulbous animatronic masks. A mordant word or two would have been welcome.
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