The Masked Saint (2016)

Brett Granstaff plays Chris who is an ex Professional and masked wrestler. He retires to become a Pastor in a parish that is on the wrong side of the tracks. Once there he sees the crime and violence and a church in the grip of a megalomaniac and a congregation that is dwindling beyond the point where the church could be economically viable.So he resurrects his old job to help his new community. This film is based on the true life of such a Pastor – so is the film any good? Well yes and no, it is watchable in a very basic way. The good guys wear white and the bad guys black. There is no subtlety here at all of ambiguity that would help to give the plot any kind of authenticity.The acting and dialogue is terrible in places and the direction is almost missable. It is though the story that lacks credibility and the idea of marrying a Christian story with the violence of 'wrestling' seems a bit incongruous – and it is. It is funny – when it is not meant to be and cringe worthy when it tries. If you like a guilty pleasure of a film though this sort of works. I found it to be watchable but no one was preparing an Oscar acceptance speech whilst this was in production.

El Santo this guy AIN'T. As much as I hate to say it, THE MASKED SAINT plays out not unlike my own RATMAN series done decades ago for Public Access (with the notable exception of the religious angle). THE MASKED SAINT is the kind of clichéd storytelling normally the stock and trade of Television producers (where everything used to be as "comforting" to the mindless masses who suckled nightly as was humanly possible; this made the hawking of snake oil more palatable). In a world where a hundred people can be gunned down in a single night by a lone gunman, it behooves anyone who wants to make a masked hero movie to dig a bit deeper than this.

The Masked Saint (2016) is a laughably bad faith-based film. Was I expecting a good film? Hell no. The film had terrible performances, cringe-worthy dialogue and bland direction. However, I didn't hate myself while watching this movie. The wrestling scenes were so laughably bad,that I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat laughing. Over-the-top is the best way to describe them. The film is unfunny when it is trying to be funny, and funny when it isn't trying to be funny. Faith-based films are generally terrible, but I found some enjoyment in this one. When grading this film, I can't ignore how truly atrocious it is on a film-making level. 'The Masked Saint' is heinous, but absurdly fun. It is on the level of a "so bad it's good" film.

This is an awesome family movie. It is packed with action. It has unexpected humor. It has a main character that fights for what is right. He stands up to the bullies and defends the defenseless. He admits when he is wrong and asks for forgiveness. He does the right thing. It is a story of good wining over evil. No it isn't a story of sex and violence. It is not a story laced with foul language. It is a story you don't have to worry about your kids seeing and hearing. It is a story with a moral. It is a story with a hero that little boys should want to be like when they grow up. America needs to embrace this movie. Our country needs more movies like this one.