Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

PG-13

Released Apr 5, 2012

1 hr. 26 min.

Documentary

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82%

57 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Interviews with Joss Whedon, Stan Lee and others are included in filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's journey into the pop-culture fan mecca known as Comic-Con.

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Vinnie G

An amazing documentary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/27/24

Full Review

Audience Member

my favorite movie the story's where very motivational

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Audience Member

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, the latest documentary from Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock, opens with the titular convention's founder expressing hope that 500 or so will attend the inaugural event. Cut to hordes of costumed men and women frantically descending on San Diego. The entire history of Comic-Con would have made for a fascinating documentary. Spurlock, instead, covers this ground in about 30 seconds and focuses instead on a half-dozen or so convention-goers in 2010. It's a move that could have resulted in something limp, or worse, mean-spirited. Thankfully, Spurlock treats his subjects with reverence, and they're diverse enough that we feel invested in these very micro-level problems. If you're reading this, you are probably at least a little bit interested in comics, comic-book movies, or the "geek" culture. But odds are you've probably never constructed a giant animatronic Grunt from the Mass Effect games. Those are the individuals featured in this film. There are "The Geek" and "The Soldier" who are aspiring comic illustrators hoping to catch their big break at the convention. "The Designer" is an amateur costumer with her sights set on winning the Comic-Con Masquerade. "The Lovers", meanwhile, met at the previous year's convention, and the male is nervously working up the nerve to pop the question during a Kevin Smith panel. Whatever you think of these people is almost irrelevant. Their stories, though heavily steeped in comics and video games, are universal. You can feel the pressure facing those hoping to make a big career move at this convention, not to mention the anxiety facing a young man about the propose marriage. There's another storyline about a man who fights through a brutal crowd to nab a collectable action figure. Though you may not have ever wanted an 18-inch Galactus as much as this guy, everyone has at some point in his or her life, been him and wanted something-a toy, a concert ticket, whatever-that badly. There's one final storyline, probably the film's lengthiest and most successful, that harkens back to what Comic-Con used to be all about-comics. "The Survivor" operates Mile High Comics, one of the country's largest comic book retailers. But annual visits to San Diego aren't nearly as profitable as they used to be. People there just aren't that interested in actual comic books, so he's elected to sell a book-Red Raven #1-that he thought he'd carry to his grave. The scenes with The Survivor are surprisingly somber. They'll make you feel a little guilty for following all the Hall H hoopla so closely. This used to be a weekend for him and others like him. Now, it belongs to whatever studio most needs to drum up buzz for its embarrassingly expensive blockbuster. Watching The Survivor and his colleagues sit around waiting for business to pick up brings this film down to earth and gives it more of a human element than you might expect. Spurlock belongs to the Michael Moore school of "docu-tainment"-those who prefer being witty to being hit-hitting, and as a result, they ultimately inject themselves (and sometimes, their large egos) into their films. Spurlock is thankfully absent from the screen in "A Fan's Hope". His style, however, is not. He uses comic-style animations to transition between scenes, and he gives famous friends of his-Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, Seth Rogen-ample time to wax poetic on their favorite Con-related childhood memories. These talking heads take away a little from the film's rhythm, but their inclusion at least adds to the film's ultimate message: Go ahead and obsess over comics, action figures, superheroes, and video games. You're in good company. http://www.johnlikesmovies.com/comic-con-episode-iv-a-fans-hope/

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This film made me want to go to Comic-Con even more than I already did.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

An ode to comic-con made by fans for fans. Nothing wrong with that, but Morgan Spurlock's name will draw "outsiders" like me into the audience, and for us this might seem like a boring collage of footage of fans and unnecessary celebrity cameos.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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Audience Member

a cool take on the (so-called) comic con from san diego and how people react to it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Rene Rodriguez

Miami Herald

You don't need to collect or even care about comic books to enjoy this funny, affection valentine to nerd culture.

Rated: 3/4

May 10, 2012

Full Review

Stephen Cole

Globe and Mail

A surprisingly tender look at San Diego Comic-Con...

Rated: 3/4

Apr 20, 2012

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

It's a lot to squeeze into 86 minutes, and Spurlock pulls it all together with infectious brio, making us realize that geeks are people, too, who maybe just dream harder than the rest of us.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 19, 2012

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Though the documentary admits the Con has “gone Hollywood” in a significant and unfortunate way, it emphasizes the spirit of community surging through rooms filled to the brim with social outcasts who, surrounded by their own, feel at home.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 20, 2022

Full Review

Jim Ross

TAKE ONE Magazine

Although it's amiably diverting, it also represents the less impactful aspects of Morgan Spurlock's filmmaking - it's an easy, humorous watch with little to no insight.

Feb 13, 2020

Full Review

Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

The best takeaway from this surprisingly heartwarming and all-embracing film is that there is something - and someone - for everyone on this planet.

Jan 16, 2020

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Synopsis

Interviews with Joss Whedon, Stan Lee and others are included in filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's journey into the pop-culture fan mecca known as Comic-Con.

Director: Morgan Spurlock
Executive Producer: Gil Champion, Harry Jay Knowles, Stan Lee, Jack Selby, Benjamin Statler, Joss Whedon
Screenwriter: Morgan Spurlock, Jeremy Chilnick
Distributor: Wrekin Hill Ent.
Production Co: Mutant Enemy, Warrior Poets, Thomas Tull Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sex and Drug References|Language|Brief Horror Images)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 5, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 7, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.7K

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