Mirageman (2006)

Mirageman (2006) Full Recap

A man named Maco begins an intense training session in his bunker. As he keeps punching different things, he thinks about the trauma he experienced a few years ago, and this makes him punch harder. When Maco was younger, his parents were killed by some assassins who also assaulted him and his younger brother. Since then, Maco has been training hard so he can stand up for himself if the need arises.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite well for his brother, Tito, and he got sent to a hospital after suffering from the trauma. After he's done with his indoor training for the day, Maco heads outside for a late-night run. During his run, he hears a lady screaming just as an armed robber starts loading a van with some things he stole from a nearby house. Maco realizes that the people in the house are in danger, and he beats up the masked robber.

He then takes his mask and enters the house to beat up the robbers before saving a lady named Carol. Before she can thank him for what he did, Maco runs out of the house and eventually takes off the mask. Later that night, he arrives late for his work as a bouncer at a club. His boss doesn't look happy about this, and he insults Maco.

He also says he doesn't get why Maco is learning karate even though he doesn't need it at the club. He adds that Maco can just bring out his gun to scare anyone who tries to attack him. Maco remains silent and continues listening to his boss as he talks about how his training is useless. He also warns Maco to stop spending more time at the gym and getting late to work.

As Maco still doesn't respond to him, the man tells him that there's vomit in the bathroom that needs to be cleaned. Maco looks confused because he's a bouncer at the club, but his boss insists that he wants him to clean it. Maco doesn't look happy about this, but he leaves to do as he's told. Shortly after, he returns home and continues punching things as part of his training.

The next morning, Maco leaves the house and takes a bus to the city to check on his brother at the hospital where he's being treated. As he gets there, he gives Tito a present and tells him to open it. After Tito does this, he sees that Maco got him some new pencils, but he doesn't say anything. Maco then looks around his brother's room, which has several traumatizing drawings of what they experienced on the night that their parents were killed.

Shortly after, Maco leaves the room and heads over to meet a doctor named Sartori, who mentions that Tito hasn't made any progress in a while. He adds that Tito hasn't left his room in three years, and he doesn't allow just anyone to enter the room too. Maco looks disappointed, and Sartori mentions that the only way to help Tito might be to administer a new medication that he already talked about in the past. Maco doesn't sound sure about this, and he heads home after he leaves the hospital.

While he's training, he puts on the TV to listen to the news. He then hears about a girl who recently went missing in what is believed to be a kidnapping case related to a gangster network in the city. The girl's father also talks on the news and says that his daughter was last seen entering a strange car before she went missing. After his interview, the reporter moves on to another story about a vigilante who saved her colleague, Carol, from some armed robbers.

Maco is shocked to hear this, and as Carol takes charge of this segment, she mentions that she was saved by a brave masked hero. She also praises him and says that he risked his life just to save her. Carol continues to talk quite well about Maco, but he still looks shocked. Carol then ends the report by talking about how she would like to thank the masked hero in person because he made her realize that there are still people who are brave enough to stand up for others.

Maco doesn't know how to feel about this because he didn't think what happened would be covered on the news. He eventually goes to sleep, and a while later, Sartori calls him. In the morning, Maco heads to the hospital and sees Tito wearing a mask and trying some karate moves. Sartori says it all started the previous day when the news about the masked hero came up on the TV in the hallway just across his room.

He adds that they tried to get Tito to leave his room, but he still didn't want to go out. As Sartori says it's quite incredible that Tito made a small progress just by seeing the hero on the TV, Maco thinks about the possibility of doing it again. Shortly after, Maco returns to his bunker and continues his training. He then leaves the house and heads to the top of a building to think about how he could help Tito by becoming a hero.

He also writes a list of things he'll need for his costume, and after a while, he heads out to get it. When he returns home, he tries different costume options but can't seem to select one. He eventually gets tired and sleeps off while trying to choose a superhero name for himself. The next morning, Maco finally settles on a costume and wears it under his normal clothes.

He then prints a paper with a note for people to contact him through an email if they have a problem. Following this, Maco heads out to the city and waits around to see if someone will commit a crime. After waiting for a while, someone steals a woman's bag, and Maco runs after the person. The thief eventually hides in a corner and meets his colleagues.

Maco sees this and immediately steps back to change into his costume. He struggles to take off his clothes very fast, but after he's through, he goes to the corner to confront the men. There happens to be four of them, and they make fun of Maco for dressing strangely. Despite this, he beats up the first three men easily, but the last guy turns out to be stronger, and he lands a few blows on Maco.

After a while, Maco gets the upper hand and knocks out his opponent. He then leaves his printed note on a window next to where he beat the men. As he heads back to take his clothes, he sees that it's already missing, and he's left with no choice but to go home like that. Later that night, Maco watches the news and sees Carol talking about the hero who beat up the thieves.

She also talks about the note he left and tells the viewers the email address they can use to contact him. After this, she encourages the viewers to contact the hero because he's surely someone who can help them. Shortly after, the main reporter then mentions that if the hero wants to continue fighting crime, he needs to get a better costume that won't make criminals laugh at him. Maco looks sad to hear this, and he starts designing a new costume.

The next day, when he goes to the hospital, Tito gives him a drawing of a hero like the one he saw on TV. As Maco sees it, he likes the design of the costume and decides to go with it. When he gets home, he pastes the drawing on the wall and starts sewing some materials together to make his mask and gloves. After he's done, Maco checks his email and sees a number of messages.

While some of them are from people who either insult or praise him, Maco sees one from a person named Pseudo Robin, who says he wants to be Maco's sidekick. Maco ignores this and sees another message from a woman who begs him to destroy a gang in Bilbao because they're known to commit several crimes including beating up innocent people. Maco then responds to the message and tells the woman that he's going to help her. He also calls himself Mirageman in the message, and it turns out that he has finally settled on a superhero name for himself.

Shortly after, Maco takes a bus to Bilbao and sneaks into the gang's base. He then changes into his costume and goes to confront them. The gang members are shocked to see that he came, and their leader mentions that the email was only used to lure him to Bilbao. He adds that he wants to see what Maco is really made of.

As he selects his men to fight the vigilante one after the other, Maco ends up knocking them out. Before the others pounce on him at once, Maco runs away but they still follow him. He then stays back to beat every last one of them before he changes back into his normal clothes and heads home. Later that day, the news station reports what happened and interviews a few people on the streets to hear what they think about Mirageman.

Most of them believe he's a clown who should leave the cops to do their job in dealing with bad guys. They also warn him that things won't end well for him if he continues trying to be a superhero. On the other hand, a few people commend Mirageman for his efforts in dealing with criminals. Interestingly, Pseudo Robin reveals his identity on the news and announces that he'd like to be Mirageman's sidekick.

He also mentions that he had to talk about it on the news because his emails haven't been getting any responses. He adds that he has two motorcycles which they can use to fight crime together. The next day, Maco heads to different parts of the city and stops a few petty crimes happening there. Much later, he goes to see Tito, who is now interested in some karate moves.

Maco likes the fact that his brother is now more lively than he used to be, and he teaches him some moves while Tito wears a mask. Later that night, when Maco arrives home, he gets a message from Carol requesting an interview so that the public will get to know him. Maco thinks about it for a while, and he decides to do it. The next day, Carol sets up the interview, and Maco is allowed to do it with his mask on.

Carol then asks what his motivation is, and Mirageman mentions that he didn't really think about becoming a vigilante full-time until he heard the nice things she said about him when he saved her. Carol also asks if he's not bothered by the negative remarks he receives from the media and other people in the city. Even though he looks bothered, Mirageman says he doesn't really care. After a few more questions, the interview ends, and Mirageman heads home.

When he gets there, Maco takes a look at several magazine articles about Carol. He also sees one where she talks about how she can do anything just to get high ratings. While this gets him curious, a part of him is already attracted to her, so he ignores it. He then checks his email and sees a message from a detective named Juan Moli.

Juan mentions that he works for the police, and that he has information that can be used to find the missing girl who was kidnapped by the gangster network. He adds that the investigative department hasn't been able to find proof on the gangster network, and that it's why they can’t invade the building where the girl is being held. He also says Mirageman is the best person for the job, and that he'll leave him a bag with important information in an alley. The email finally ends with words of praise for Mirageman, and Maco leaves the house to get the bag without being seen.

When he gets home, he sees that the bag contains a map of the network's building as well as a new jacket and bulletproof vest. Maco tries it on, and after he gets a good grasp of the map, he leaves his bunker and heads to the building. After changing into his costume, Maco sneaks in and gets past one of the guards. Unfortunately, the guard eventually sees him, and as Maco sneaks into the room where the girl is being held, he gets shot.

Luckily, his bulletproof vest prevents it from being a fatal shot, but he still looks scared as he's being dragged into a room with more gangsters. As they see him, they beat him up badly, but Maco still sees the missing girl inside a small room. After the men stop hitting him, their leader enters the room. They then take off Maco's mask, and since he has been beaten quite well already, the gang's leader tells his men to throw Maco into the river.

Following this, two of the men carry Maco near a river. While one of them ties him up, the other one shoots his colleague. Maco is shocked by this, and as he turns back, the man tells him to run away before he then shoots himself. With this, Maco heads home and cleans his wounds. He also looks quite pissed at himself for how the mission went.

A few days later, Mirageman is not seen on the streets, and a news reporter mentions that he has likely given up because he was never really good. Maco turns off the TV as he hears this, and it turns out that he has already quit being Mirageman after almost getting killed. The next day, when he goes to the hospital, Maco sees that Tito is back to being silent again. Sartori then mentions that Tito has stopped making any progress.

He says that he and the nurses were about to get Tito to leave his room, but he changed his mind when he heard the news that the vigilante had likely quit. Maco looks dejected because he really wants Tito to get better, and the doctor consoles him. Later that night, Maco heads to his job as a bouncer, but he gets disrespected by a drunk customer at the club. The man continuously slaps him and spits on his face, but Maco resists the urge to beat him.

The next morning, Maco sits on the roof of a building and thinks about what happened the night before. Much later, he watches the news and sees that Pseudo Robin stopped some bad guys from stealing a car stereo. As he gets interviewed, Pseudo Robin says he just wants to keep fighting bad guys because Mirageman has been away for a while. However, he mentions that he still wants to team up with Mirageman and be his sidekick.

The reporter then asks how he expects to work with Mirageman when his fighting skills aren't good enough. Pseudo Robin feels offended by this, and he says that the main point of what he did was to get the car stereo back. He adds that even though he lost the fight and got beaten by the criminals, he was able to stop them from going away with the stereo. Later that night, Maco watches the news again and hears that Carol has been kidnapped by some bad guys who want him to come and save her before she's killed.

Maco looks shocked by this, but as he learns that they've already sent him an email, he checks it and finds their address. Even though he has been away for a while, Maco becomes Mirageman again. He then heads to the gang's hideout with Pseudo Robin who has provided him with a bike. As they get there, they see some of the bad guys already waiting for him, and Pseudo Robin says he can take them on by himself.

Unfortunately, when he goes close to them, they beat him up, and he passes out immediately. Mirageman then goes after them and beats them one after the other. After this, he enters the compound and realizes that there are a lot of bad guys in the building. He also comes up against some really good professional fighters, and even though he struggles for a while, he eventually beats them up.

Shortly after, he finds his way into the building and beats everyone up before saving Carol. As he then takes her home, she asks if he wants to come in, and he says he doesn't mind. While they're inside, Carol offers to help Mirageman clean the wound on his face. As she tries to take off his mask, he stops her.

Mirageman then notices a camera in the living room, but before he realizes what's going on, Carol tricks him and takes off his mask. Maco quickly covers his face, and Carol sits in front of him and tells him to look straight into her eyes so she can see who he is. She also mentions that she has blocked the camera, so Maco puts his head up and stares into her eyes before taking his mask and heading out. When he gets home, Maco feels betrayed by Carol, but he can't help but stare at her picture in one of the magazines he bought.

Shortly after, Maco watches the news and hears the reporter announce that there'll be an upcoming documentary that will reveal Mirageman's identity. She also mentions that her news station faked Carol's kidnap and hired the best fighters in the city to come up against Mirageman. She adds that after the fight, Mirageman followed Carol home, and his identity was uncovered there. Maco looks extremely shocked by this, and he kicks things around his room and eventually cries because he knows he'll become a target for every bad guy in the city when his picture is revealed to the public.

The next day, Maco goes to the hospital, and immediately Tito sees him, he hugs his brother. It then turns out that the news of Mirageman's identity getting exposed has triggered him and made him feel unsafe. Maco feels sad about this, and after a while, he leaves the hospital. He then goes to the top of a building and thinks about jumping off.

Before he does this, Juan appears behind him and convinces him not to kill himself. He also mentions that he has manipulated the news station's footage to ensure that Maco's picture won't be released to the public. He then says he wants Maco to know that he believes in him. He adds that if Maco works with him, he'll ensure no one ever finds out who Mirageman is.

He says he knows that it can be hard for Maco to hear the media attacking him, but that it was a possibility he had to have thought about before. He also mentions that he can get Maco access to quality information and be like a guardian angel to him. Maco doesn't know what to say, but Juan tells him that for the first time in a while, he saw people overcome fear when Mirageman appeared. He adds that he doesn't want them to lose that feeling, and he would love for Maco to show them that he's real and there to stay.

He also mentions that he has made a lot of progress on the missing girl's case, and he wants Maco to continue being Mirageman so that they'll save the girl and get her returned to her parents. Maco still doesn't say anything, but Juan continues to praise him and call him the bravest person he knows. He also begs Maco not to give up because the missing girl needs them. Following this, Maco thinks about Tito and decides to become Mirageman again.

As he gets home, he spends some time modifying his costume and making new weapons for himself. When he's done, he heads to the kidnapping gang's building and sneaks in again. This time, he kills the first guard he sees, but before he moves on, he gets shot by another guard. As the man comes to check on him, Maco tricks him and beats him up.

It then turns out that the bullet hit Maco's bulletproof vest, and as he walks away, the man stands up again. Mirageman then finally kills him before facing some more bad guys. As he's about to enter the room the little girl is being held, the gang leader shows up and starts shooting Mirageman. He's able to block some of the bullets with his new shield, but the man keeps shooting him until he runs out of bullets.

The gang leader notices that Mirageman is no longer moving, but as he goes close to him, Maco brings out a knife and cuts off his head. While he's injured, he then goes to save the little girl. Since he can't leave through the front entrance, Maco takes another exit, but one of the guards sees him and starts shooting at him. Unfortunately, Maco gets hit, and he falls into a nearby river.

The man continues shooting at him until blood finally appears on the surface of the river. The man is not sure that Mirageman is dead, but before he continues shooting, Juan shows up and kills him. He then looks inside the water, but Maco is nowhere to be found. A while later, the news reporter announces that Mirageman has been killed after saving the missing girl.

She calls him a national hero and says that what he did was quite heroic. She then passes the segment to Carol, who is at the scene where Mirageman was killed. Carol explains what happened and mentions that while Mirageman is believed to be dead, his body hasn't been found. She adds that even though Mirageman started off as a joke to the public, he has proven everyone wrong by doing something that everyone will surely remember.

Carol then says she still remembers her interview with him and how he said she inspired him to become Mirageman. Following this, she takes off her headphones and mentions that she wishes she had an opportunity to say sorry to Mirageman for being part of the setup that was meant to reveal his identity. She says she only did it because she thought it was her job, but she now regrets it. She adds that she knows it's probably too late, but she wants everyone to know that she tried to find him.

Mirageman (2006) Ending Explained

She also says she sent him several emails, but it seems he never saw them. She then asks for his forgiveness for dishonoring his image. She adds that she's grateful to him for letting her be the only one to see his face. After this, she swears to keep it a secret and says he was a very noble man who fought for justice.

The TV report finally ends, and the public doesn't take it well because the news station took extreme measures to uncover the identity of a man who helped people. Carol is also fired from her job at the news station. As people still wonder whether Mirageman is alive or dead, newspapers start a campaign to honor his image. His fans around the country also organize a fan walk in his name, though some of them still believe he's alive.

Much later, Pseudo Robin gets interviewed, and he mentions that he just wants Mirageman to tell him where to find his bike because the real owners are already asking for it. He says he knows they did some really good work in the past, but that he would appreciate it if Mirageman could call him because he needs the bike back. Elsewhere, a nurse calls Sartori to come and check on Tito, who is now standing outside the hospital. Sartori looks happy because Tito has finally left his room for the first time in years.

As they watch him, Tito starts displaying some of the moves Maco taught him. After a while, he looks at the top of a building and sees Mirageman staring at him. Tito looks happy about this, but as he smiles, Mirageman suddenly disappears. Maco's initial motivation to become Mirageman was because he wanted to help his brother get better.

In the process, it ended up being a really serious thing that saw him help a few other people. Even though he didn't have to continue being Mirageman, he risked his life for a second time to save the missing girl. This eventually led to his death, and at that point, people who once called him a clown began to recognize him as a true hero. They also realized that his actions had made a real difference, not only because he saved the girl, but because he helped dismantle the gangster network to ensure they never kidnap kids again.

Like Maco, a true hero’s worth is not measured by how others see him, but by the lasting impact he has on his community.