Runtime:
1 hr. 25 min.
Rating:
PG-13 crude and sexual content, comic violence, drug references and language
Cast:
Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Pamela Anderson, Tracy Morgan,
Regina Hall
Director:
Craig Mazin
Genres:
Parody/Spoof, Comic-Book Superhero Film, Absurd Comedy, Comedy
So
let me get this straight - after three Spider-man movies, three X-Men films, Superman
Returns,
Batman Begins, two Fantastic Four movies, Daredevil, The Hulk the guys in Hollywood
finally decided now would be a good time to spoof them?
Don’t
get me wrong I’m not hating on the new Superhero Movie, but just questioning
its timing a little.
I
think it’s especially hard to spoof a good superhero feature these days when so
many films in the genre are so bad. Talk to me about Catwoman, Elecktra,
Ghost Rider.
When
you’re judging a film like Superhero Movie you can’t really go by the usual
parameters though. Things like plot, acting, dialogue go right out the door.
And are replaced by jokes.
Jokes
of all kinds. Verbal jokes. Physical jokes. Runing jokes. Crude jokes.
Especially the crude jokes!
In
that respect, Superhero Movie does deliver the goods. But since this is a
review, just for review’s sake I’ll briefly go over the plot. What little there
is.
After
being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, high school loser Rick
Riker (played by Drake and Josh’s
Drake Bell) develops superhuman abilities like incredible strength and armored
skin. Rick decides to use his new powers for good and becomes a costumed crime fighter
known as "The Dragonfly." However, standing in the way of his destiny
is the villainous Lou Landers. After an experiment gone wrong, Lou develops the
power to steal a person's life force and in a dastardly quest for immortality
becomes the super villain, "The Hourglass."
Beat
wise, this film follows the original Spider-man pretty much beat for
beat. And of course, Spider-man owes a lot to Richard Donner’s Superman.
All
of the actors are fine in this sort of piece. Drake is from the over-the-top school
from his TV series. And Pam Anderson’s breasts are on full display in a fun
send-up of the X-Men and Fantastic Four. And who can argue about seeing Pam’s
glorious boobage?
So
back to the jokes. Yes some are expected. The farting…oh the farting. Some did
catch me off guard and make me howl though. And some were completely
inappropriate for my daughters – small penis references, Drake’s dragonfly-like
hands sticking to a teacher’s breasts etc. But how can you fault a movie that has Leslie Nielson still
doing his Leslie Nielson antics. Good for you Methuselah!
Superhero
Movie
is not a must-see. It will never break my top ten or twenty for that matter,
but if you need a good laugh, you can be guaranteed to find some here.
Three
Ball Point Pens