5 | / 10 |
Users | 2.3 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
After being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, high school loser Rick Riker develop 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 supervillain, "The Hourglass." With unimaginable strength, unbelievable speed and deeply uncomfortable tights, will the Dragonfly be able to stop the sands of The Hourglass and save the world? More importantly, will we stop laughing long enough to notice?
Starring: Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Leslie Nielsen, Kevin HartComedy | 100% |
Action | 24% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, German, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
You may fail or you may fly, all that matters is that you do it for the best of reasons.
Finally, there is a new parody film without the infamous influence of the writer/director
tandem of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, those responsible for the films that often find their
way onto the
Internet Movie Database's list of the 100 worst films as voted on by
the
users of that site. Nevertheless, Superhero Movie, written and directed by Craig Mazin
(who
does share a pair of writing credits with Friedberg and Seltzer for the last two Scary
Movie
films), shares many of the same angles, attributes, and absurdity as the most heinous of the
Friedberg/Seltzer specials, including the critically panned and practically universally loathed Meet the Spartans
and Disaster Movie. So,
how does Superhero Movie fare against the competition? Not too badly, thankfully.
Unfortunately for Superhero Movie, however, most anything looks good against the duds
heretofore named. Such a comparison is like judging a bad baseball team, say the Pittsburgh
Pirates, based on a single spring exhibition game after beating the living daylights out of Manatee
Community College. Things look bright for a brief period of time, but come July, the Pirates are
back in the cellar, looking way up at the big boys. No, Superhero Movie is a pretty
lackluster movie, but taken in the proper context, it's at least watchable and, most importantly,
pretty funny in many places.
Before 'Dragonfly,' Rick Riker was 'Drinking Fountain Man.'
Superhero Movie flexes its muscles on Blu-ray and showcases an impressive, but not at all memorable, 1080p high definition image, framed in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The film is colorful and bright, but the material never really pops off the screen. Detail is fairly high in foreground images, but the movie never looks all that film-like. Grain is a non-issue, present but barely visible from normal viewing distances. Flesh tones often veer towards the red end of the scale, and black levels are fine, neither truly dark and inky nor overly bright and gray. This is very average high definition material, looking nice at a glance, but never distinguishing itself at all from most other average discs. This is one that will be lost in the shuffle of high definition transfers, representing about the midline of what to expect out of Blu-ray, meaning it looks quite nice, a giant leap ahead of standard definition DVDs, but never really making any kind of visual impact to the beholder who has seen a fair share of Blu-ray transfers.
Much like the video transfer described above, Superhero Movie's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack is fine, but definitely not memorable. The track is at times robust and room-filling, certainly exciting and satisfying from the very beginning as listeners hear the film's rather cheesy but passable superhero theme that spills out of every corner of the listening area. The score, and the mix in general, are emphasized up front, but features a fair share of support from the back. Bass booms in several instances (perhaps most disturbingly during an extended flatulence sequence), rattling the chest cavity and adding a bit of flair to the experience. There are also a few decent directional effects to be found scattered about the entire soundstage. Dialogue reproduction is clean and precise, never muffled, and delivered crisply through the center channel. While the overall track rates as "good," nothing about it really delivers a memorable experience.
Superhero Movie comes to Blu-ray with a few bonus materials. First up is a commentary track with writer/director Craig Mazin and producers David Zucker and Robert K. Weiss. The track is far superior to the film, fun and breezy, offering plenty of background information on the film but in a friendly, easy-on-the-ears experience. It almost makes the movie worth watching a second time. Meet the Cast (480p, 11:14) showcases how the "inter-generational" cast came together, looking closely at the strengths each of the primaries brought to the film and the characters they portray therein. The Art of Spoofing (480p, 10:35) begins by looking back at the Spoof genre and moves into more specifics pertaining to what makes this particular film work. Also included is an alternate ending (480p, 5:15), 21 deleted scenes (480p, 10:42), and the film's theatrical trailer (480p, 2:08). Concluding the special features is BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) functionality. Currently, the BD-Live page features cast and crew profiles, a Superhero Movie photo gallery, movie clips, "The Superhero Movie Blu-ray Community," and trailers for additional Weinstein Blu-ray discs.
Thankfully, Superhero Movie rises above the dregs of the modern-day Parody genre, but that doesn't necessarily make it one of the best Parody films around. The movie exudes sheer brilliance compared to Meet the Spartans, but what doesn't? This is still slightly below average entertainment that often relies on lewd and crude humor for its laughs, but the smattering of several genuine moments of levity and smart takes on the Superhero genre do allow it to stand with its head held a bit higher than the average, well, Disaster Movie. Weinstein unleashes Superhero Movie onto Blu-ray as a decent technical package. While both the picture and sound qualities are on par with the average Blu-ray release, never do they distinguish themselves in the least. The studio has also seen fit to provide several supplements to round out the package. Superhero Movie makes for a solid one-time rental, particularly for fans of the Superhero genre.
Cataclysmic Edition Unrated
2008
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