Why wasn’t “Iron Man” turned in to a movie or TV Series until five years ago? Watch “EXO Man” to see how horribly a live action Iron Man could have turned out back in the seventies. To make things worse, this is one of those low budget superhero films where it’s almost ninety minutes in length, and we don’t see the actual EXO Man until an hour in to the movie. “EXO Man” is one of the dozens of movie pilots that was aiming to be a superhero television series, and thankfully never developed beyond a movie.
“EXO Man” centers on Dr. Nicholas Conrad, a nice guy professor and scientist who is so heroic when a bank he’s in is robbed, he chases down the robber and holds him for the police. Little does he know the robber belongs to a mob organization, and now Nicholas has become target number one. Nicholas is not willing to be bullied, but keeps around police to keep him safe. They’re distracted long enough though for Nicholas to be attacked and crippled by a mafia strong man. So, Nick foils a robbery attempt by a major mobster, they threaten an assassination on him, and the worst they do is hit him very hard with a lead pipe on the back? Nick is crippled forever, and becomes an isolated hermit, angry about his confinement to his wheelchair. But when the mafia threatens to murder his wife if he testifies in court, he begins utilizing his top secret technology to help him become a superhero.
Using his super suit, and weaponry, he becomes EXO Man, a superhero encased in what looks like a molded plastic waste bin. For such a huge build up, EXO Man only shows up three times in the entire film. And even then, it’s comical. The first hour is nothing but Nick trying to cope with his life as a disabled man, learning to build his confidence again, and then building the suit. EXO man has no mobility, and zero peripheral vision. He also never walks as he does wobble in slow speeds like a toddler learning to walk, so it’s hysterical to see thugs running at top speed and never being able to lose him. Any able bodied person would be able to run ten miles ahead of EXO man, stop to have some lunch, and still have him lagging behind in his heavy suit.
That wouldn’t be so bad if EXO Man had some cool weapons. He doesn’t. He uses a wrist pad doohickey that helps him juice up his strength, but he does little else but wobble around, punch things, and wobble some more. There’s zero action, and no real revenge considering the writer builds this as a revenge movie. At one point the head mobster hides in a shelter, and EXO Man attempts to open it, breaking the knob off. Only then does he use both hands to smash through the door. I’m shocked it’s so difficult to beat EXO Man when it looks like you could just kick him over, and let him lie there, squirming like an overturned turtle. “EXO Man” is a failed attempt to pitch a respectable series, and makes me glad it took many more years for Iron Man to be developed for the big screen.
