Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Based on IMDb rating and on critics and reviews everywhere, I expected a horrible film, just one more of those awful spoof movies Hollywood produces dozens each year. Well, since its beginning, though, it showed that it would be quite a great surprise. It is campy and silly, off course, and that is not a problem as it is a well made comedy that knows what it does. It is a dark humor parody of famous superhero films and stories such as Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, and Fantastic Four. Most of the jokes are nice (how to say that a film with a "Tom Cruise" sketch like that is bad?!) and I could not avoid but to laugh a lot. Critics are unfair; much worse films (including "serious" superhero acclaimed pyrotechnical crap) receive more favorable opinions, what is hard to understand.

Superhero Movie (2008): Dir: Craig Mazin / Cast: Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Leslie Nielsen, Kevin Hart: Imaginative spoof of superhero movies. Drake Bell is bitten by a dragonfly thus infecting him with strange powers. Formula storyline has him using his powers against criminals while donning a green costume. Great setup with a knockout conclusion directed by Craig Mazin. Bell is perfectly cast as a nobody who suddenly becomes a somebody and doesn't know what to make of it. Supporting roles are not so fortunate. Sara Paxton's function here is to look good. She is the standard love interest in the tradition of Mary-Jane in Spider-Man but lacking any form of character. Christopher McDonald plays a lifeless villain Hourglass whose final scene has his face in the most embarrassing place any villain could end up. Perhaps the issue is that he travels the same ground as the villain in Spider-Man but becomes a joke as oppose to exploiting them. Leslie Nielsen plays Bell's uncle who doesn't quite die. He is the one supporting role that contains any interest and he side steps every predictable moment played out by Peter Parker's uncle in Spider-Man. Kevin Hart plays the flat best friend whose one funny scene has him assaulted with a nail gun. Although far from the best movie parody the superhero jokes work well in this colourful spectacle. Score: 6 / 10

I'll make this review rather simple and keep each point brief. Just like the film itself....Tired humour: After seeing a lot of spoof films, I believe this film sticks to the genres standard formula. Something that, if this film didn't follow it, may have done it more justice. I've thought for a while that this genre of film needs some breathing space; after releases of other terrible titles such as: Meet the Spartans and Epic Movie. The jokes have become overused and I found myself almost tutting more than laughing. Casting is TERRIBLE: I myself, don't believe that Drake Bell and Sara Paxton's acting skills stretch to outlandish and ridiculous humour of say the likes of Anna Faris from the original Scary Movie titles. Since you spend the majority of the film dealing with them, it ended up being rather disappointing. The good cast of the film make brief appearances: I don't think ANY of the characters were utilised well in the film really. The funniest of characters played, what I consider to be, minor roles. Leslie Nielson and Regina Hall in particular. In that respect, if you're a fan of previous films like Scary Movie and see from the promo posters online and on the DVD cover that Regina Hall makes an appearance, please take note that it's a 2 minute one and was probably one of the only funny moments from the film.All in all, I would say avoid this one. It will be a wasted 80 minutes and if it's laughs you're after - you'd be safer watching Scary Movie again. 3/10

Superhero Movie is another spoof movie that makes you really laugh. It's very dumb, and also very re-mindful of the past "Scary Movie"'s. Maybe because of Regina Hall, maybe because of the writer/director, but it works just as good as them.This film spoofed many internet things that spread not only in the USA, but all over the world. The youtube seek for success, the google domination and the myspace seek for fame are very well spoofed and I remember as it was yesterday when it came out. I saw it in the theaters, these jokes were very appropriated for that time. Unfortunately, many people that get to see this film now won't find it as funny as it was back when released, since they won't understand these jokes very precisely. That's what I mean when I say that "Superhero Movie" gets old so quickly.Moreover, I still have many laughs watching it and it's certainly a good time provider :)