SCI FI PI

Starring Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Leslie Neilsen, Christopher McDonald, Brent Spiner, Marion Ross
Director Craig Mazin
Rated M
Released April 10





One man's meat is another man's poison. One man's humour is another man's lifeless chunk of wasted time. Watching this film is a deeply personal exploration. There's no shame in laughing at it, or even with it. Whether it's funny or not is up to you. Is it a good movie? No. Will you enjoy it? That's really up to you.

First off, as far as the recent crop of spoof movies go, this is the best. That says more about the quality of Meet The Spartans, Epic Movie et al, than Superhero Movie, but at least you have some guide to what we're dealing with here. The first thing that sets it apart - it's not a 'skit' movie, per se, it has its own (reasonably) coherent plotline, with gags thrown in, rather than a fruit salad gagarama.

The story is a blend of Spiderman and X-Men, with young Rick Riker (Drake Bell) taking the Tobey Maguire role of young man with a destiny he's not yet ready to come to grips with. In this film, he's the Dragonfly, and won't feel fulfilled until he gains the ability to fly. To do that, he must prove that he is a hero. Which is hard when the actor playing the hero has the power and presence of a hole in the air.

He is up against The Hourglass, who is, in fact, the scientist/millionaire Lou Landers (played by Christopher McDonald). The Hourglass can obtain superhuman strength and vitality, but only by draining the lifeforce of others. Given enough deaths, he will achieve immortality. He is unwillingly aided by his hapless scientist employee, Dr Strom (Brent Spiner) whose labs also provided the genetically modified Dragonfly that kicked off Rick Riker's powers.





The story takes us from suburban Spidermanville to Xavier's school 'for gifted non-asians' where Rick struggles to learn the true nature of heroism. Of course, it is his love for Jill Johnson, the girl next door (Sara Paxton) that allows him to fulfill his destiny. As you can see, the one initial fatal flaw of a parody movie is that we know what's going to happen from the get go, because we saw the original plot in the film that's being parodied. The only thing that can save it is a twist in the story, and some excellent gags. Fans of Flying High (Airplane!) will tell you how it's supposed to be done.

Weirdly, Superhero Movie has much in common with the Zucker Brothers' movies (Flying Highs, Naked Guns), being similar in tone and with many similar (or, to be honest, exactly the same) gags. Jeffrey Tambor pops in as a doctor, doing a reasonable Leslie Neilsen impression (which is more than can be said for Leslie Neilsen) and Marion Ross appears as a flatulent aunt to finally destroy any lingering happy memories you may once have had of Happy Days.

There are gags that are funny in here, though, but for most of us, they're a little too infrequent. Tom Cruise impersonations, funeral gags, horny animals and scientists with girlish screams work well, but are islands of humour in an ocean of dreck. If you're a person who enjoys broader humour, loves a good fart joke (a long long long long fart joke) and don't get out to the cinema much, you may find this passably entertaining. The rest of us will grudgingly pick this up in a discount DVD bin several years from now.