Unfortunately, the film has nothing remotely interesting or satirical to say about the genre it is spoofing, so there is little to hold your attention between the gags, which do not arrive at the rapid-fire clip necessary to sustain the laughter ...
Superhero Movie! (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 45
Fresh: 6
Rotten:39
Average Rating: 3.6/10
Consensus: Superhero Movie is not the worst of the spoof genre, but relies on tired gags and lame pop culture references all the same.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual content, comic violence, drug references and language.
Runtime: 85 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release: Mar 28, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $25,815,447
Synopsis: In this spoof of Hollywood blockbusters, director and screenwriter Craig Mazin (THE SPECIALS) tackles the age-old story of a regular guy who suddenly finds that he possesses super powers. Ricky Riker (Drake Bell) is a typical teenager,... In this spoof of Hollywood blockbusters, director and screenwriter Craig Mazin (THE SPECIALS) tackles the age-old story of a regular guy who suddenly finds that he possesses super powers. Ricky Riker (Drake Bell) is a typical teenager, except that his luck is worse then most. Basically, he's a loser. He's been in love with beautiful Jill (Sara Paxton) for years, but is sure she doesn't know he exists. Even his techie best friend, Trey (Kevin Hart), is willing to throw him over for another clique. But Rick's life changes dramatically when a genetically enhanced dragonfly bites him during a school field trip. In a flash, he becomes the Dragonfly. He can scale buildings, and has immense strength--though he's still a klutz. Rick isn't sure he has what it takes to be a superhero, but it's up to him to save the city from the villainous Hourglass (Christopher McDonald), who literally sucks the life out of people, and threatens to harm those dearest to Rick. Mazin, who was one of the screenwriters for both SCARY MOVIE 3 and SCARY MOVIE 4, spoofs a gamut of superheroes, including Batman, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. Marion Ross and Leslie Nielsen appear as Rick's Aunt Lucille and Uncle Albert, and a multitude of stars appear onscreen, albeit briefly, including Tracy Morgan, Regina Hall, Simon Rex, Craig Bierko, Pamela Anderson, Robert Hays, and Nicole Sullivan. Miles Fisher is particularly amusing as Tom Cruise, and Brent Spiner plays Hourglass's sidekick. Stick around after the credits start rolling for some additional footage. [More]
Starring: Drake Bell, Leslie Nielsen, Leslie Paxton, Christopher McDonald
Starring: Drake Bell, Leslie Nielsen, Leslie Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Marion Ross, Brent Spiner
Director: Craig Mazin
Producer: David Zucker
Director: Craig Mazin
Studio: Weinstein Company
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Reviews for Superhero Movie!
Even though the movie made me laugh hard during some scenes, it's wildly uneven!
This parody film plagiarizes Spider-Man to virtually laughless effect.
The stench is still thick on the corpse of Meet The Spartans, but apparently filmgoers can’t get enough of lame-duck lampoons from Scary Movie alumni.
This year's Superhero Movie isn't as epically bad as last year's Epic Movie, but it does provide more evidence that the spoof genre is tapped out.
Superhero Movie should be taken as a well-meaning but ultimately uneven lesson in how to handle future parodies.
There are a few lively bits, and one joke with an edge: a slap at Stephen Hawking and his computer-drone voice. Mostly, though, this is super-lame.
Superhero Movie is the living definition of "hit or miss." Parts of it admittedly made me laugh out loud, but for every joke that scored, there were two that didn't.
Essentially a retread of every bad grade-school joke you're happy to have forgotten.
With jokes packed as tightly together as sliced cheese, the flick's comedy axiom seems to be: Never give the audience a pause to second-guess their laughter
While by no means a masterpiece, when Craig Mazin riffs on the "Spider-Man" trilogy, "Superhero Movie" is cause for some occasional chuckles...
It's a bit late in the game for Superhero Movie, which was never going to fly, and barely crawls.
Despite a few amusing moments, this underwhelming spoof is strictly direct-to-video material.
It looks for all the world as if writer/director Craig Mazin took the screenplay for Spider-Man, propped it up next to his MacBook, and just went through it, inserting fart gags, pratfalls and the lamest of jokes.
The very act of writing critically about Superhero inspires something of an existential crisis -- no one likely to turn out for it is reading this review, and anybody reading this review is probably not inclined to see it under any circumstances.
Puerile and idiotic it may be, but Superhero Movie is nonetheless smarter than most of its lowbrow brethren in the Hollywood sub-sub-category known as the spoof movie.
Latest News for Superhero Movie!
July 31, 2008:
EW Lists 14 Franchises That Should Stop Already ![]()
Hollywood loves a sequel, but eventually, the time comes for every franchise to end -- and Entertainment Weekly has helpfully compiled a list of fourteen series that don't need... More...
July 07, 2008:
RT on DVD: Dark Knight, Mummy 3 Sneak Peeks
This week, we dispense with the news and cut to the chase to bring you two huge new gift sets timed perfectly for this summer's Bat-mania. What will earn you more geek cred:... More...
June 12, 2008:
UK Box Office Breakdown: Trio Fail to Break Top Two
The unlikely triumvirate of Prom Night, Gone Baby Gone and Superhero Movie all failed to make much of an impression in a market place still dominated by sex, cities, whips and... More...
April 03, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Leatherheads Has its Ups and Downs; Nim's Island is Stranded; Guess The Ruins' Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got pigskin pratfalls (Leatherheads, starring George Clooney and Renée Zellweger), isle imagination (Nim's Island, starring Jodie Foster and... More...
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