Superhero Movie

After spoofing disaster films in Airplane!, police shows in The Naked Gun, and Hollywood horrors in Scary Movie 3 and 4, producer David Zucker sets his satirical sights on the superhero genre with this anarchic comedy lampooning everything from Spider-Man to X-Men and Superman Returns. Shortly after ...more

Despite the fact that spoofs recycle and reinterpret previously existing material, they must exert a lot of effort to be funny and smart. They must also have at least a modicum of respect for the subject, or subjects, it’s riffing on. Superhero Movie is largely a send up of Spider-Man, yet it mixes the alter-ego histories of Peter Parker, Clark Kent, and Bruce Wayne in an attempt to show off its superhero savvy. It also features cast members who’ve enjoyed success in the genre, namely Leslie ...more

The shotgun-satire approach to comedy that David Zucker helped pioneer in Airplane! is a shadow of its former self in this dismal, laugh-free attempt at a satire of superhero flicks. Superhero Movie has a solid enough storyline to hang its gags on, using Spider Man's premise as a basis for its pseudo-hero and layering in elements from The X-Men, The Fantastic Four and other postmodern comic book flicks. Unfortunately, writer/director Craig Mazin weighs the film down with an endless string of ...more