Review of Superhero Movie (2008) by Patrick S — 27 Feb 2010

What's the first thing you think of when you see a movie called Superhero Movie? It's probably going to be OH GOD NOT ANOTHER SELTZER AND FRIEDBERG MOVIE!

*Jumps out of a window*.

But it's not, it was named Superhero Movie to cash in on the inexplicable successes of Date Movie and Epic Movie but this is from David Zucker, kind of. He just produced this, the real man behind the movie is Craig Mazin and I don't know who he is either. And the last time a Zucker protege made a movie was Pat Proft who made the horrible Wrongfully Accused but that's not important. What is important is that people need to be not be afraid of this movie just cause it has a similar title to those movies. What you do need to be afraid of is if this movie sucks so does it?

This is supposed to be a spoof on the superhero genre but by superhero movies they obviously mean just Spider-man. Rick Riker is some nerd who everybody hates except his token black friend. On a class field trip to some place whose name is complicated and forgettable but it started with an A...but the name isn't important. What is important is that due to some WACKY HIJINKS with a genetically altered dragonfly bite, Rick gets the powers of a dragonfly....without the ability to fly so he becomes The Dragonfly! But the CEO of that place tries to cure his deadly terminal illness with some magic chair but it just gives him the power to steal the lifeforce of people so he may live and so he becomes The Hourglass!

Well, color me shocked and unafraid this movie is actually kind of funny at times. By funny I don't mean gut-busting laughs, not by any means. I mean there's chuckles and they come in at a regular enough pace so boredom doesn't come in. But of course, like any modern comedy there's horrible bits that suck like "Hey, let's make Stephen Hawking curse, love weed and pray for death!" or a romantic scene which is being interrupted by the Aunt's horrible, horrible inability to control her farts...cause she's old. But those don't come all that often so be thankful!

However, what's even more shocking is how well the guys in the movie actually do. I know of Drake Bell since I know of Drake and Josh since I still watch Fairly Odd Parents and Spongebob so I saw commercials for that but that's not important. What is important is that Bell is actually pretty good in this. He pretty much sells the character and setting never looking out of place. Maybe I should give his other movies a try but I doubt it. Christopher McDonald as The Hourglass is just flat-out awesome and over-the-top like any good comic-book villain should be. If it wasn't for these two, the movie wouldn't be as funny or as good as it is. Everyone else is alright but that's a huge upswing for Leslie Nielsen who I haven't really liked since Naked Gun 33 1/3.

So this movie is kind of funny but the main I can actually almost like this this is The Hourglass. There's something awesome about a super-villain who steals the life-forces of others to get immortality. Some movies are redeemed by a great idea and this comes close to being redeemed by The Hourglass. Aside from that, the acting is better than it has any right to be and some jokes are cute. It's a good time waster since it's only 75 minutes long so it goes by pretty quick.