The Condor seems to be a mix of Night Thrasher and Iron Man, with a Latino twist. The main character, Tony Valdez, is on his way to the big-time as a Professional Skater, having no interest in his parents' biotechnic robotic research corporation. While having a character named Tony become a superhero calling himself The Condor may remind you of another Pro Skater (Tony Hawk, perhaps?), the character seems to be more akin to a different Tony - Tony Stark, as he uses technology to enable him to regain normal mobility (and then some) after he suffers serious injuries from an incident involving a skateboard. Much like what happened with Tony Stark and Iron Man, the bad guys assume that The Condor must be Tony Valdez's bodyguard. Much like the Night Thrasher, The Condor is a superhero who dons a suit and a gadget-y skateboard to fight crime.
I found that Tony Valdez was not a very likable character through the first part of the movie, although I don't know if that is the intention or if it's more of a cultural thing that I just don't get. This may have been intended as part of the character development, but it seemed that the lack of likeability led to a lack of empathy; for a while it was hard to really care what happened. My wife lost interest in the movie entirely around the middle (but she loved Mosaic, mind you - another "Stan Lee Presents".
Perhaps this could all be chalked up to character development, however, as the ending leaves the story wide open for further development such as a sequel or even an animated television series. Considered in and of itself, The Condor is not the best animated movie I've seen, but the story could continue from where the movie leaves off. Origin stories are often not the most entertaining stories, because of the required character development; events have to occur that set the stage, and watching someone set a stage isn't necessarily always entertaining.
The story is a bit more racy than I would have expected, with sexual innuendo, an oversexed temptress who has curves in all the right places and one scene where a pro skater is signing autographs and is offered a bare chest by a hottie who was at a loss for paper. Nothing is actually shown, but it falls in the "adult situations" category, I would think. This didn't make it a bad flick, but something that might not be appropriate for the kiddies.
As for the overall production quality, the animation wasn't top notch; I was especially disappointed in the depiction of skateboarding. The moves that were shown looked very unrealistic - not in an amazing over-the-top way, but in a not-really-impressive-but-the-crowd-is-still-applauding way, with physics that simply aren't right. This surprised me, as the skateboarding is a primary ability of the main character. The depiction of the skateboarders who are "hyped-up" by nanotechnology has them vibrating and moving fast and hitting hard, but shows them racing down the highway on skateboards at inhuman speeds, without using their feet to speed up, i.e. pushing or Tick-Tacking. I am only a casual skateboarder, and that seriously disturbed me. I can't help but think that this would alienate skaters.
I would watch The Condor again, probably, but I would have to do it alone, as my wife and my friend who watched it with me wouldn't. And, truthfully, if I did watch it again, it would be to try to pick up anything I missed or to further scrutinize where this movie went wrong. I fear that everything The Condor strives to be: a Latino hero and a skater story, will simply serve to alienate both groups. Even if you're a big comic book and Stan Lee fan, I would have to suggest renting it first.
