This is How Movies Should Be Made

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

If you have watched "Superhero Movie" and "The Specials" side by side, "Superhero Movie" would look like a blockbuster movie. Did I like this yes, why would I admit this but give it such a low rating? Because I respect James Gunn and for the fact that the movie also introduces in her most earliest of roles; one of my more favorite actresses, Melissa Joan Heart. James Gunn gave us a purposely bad movie to show us how not to do a superhero movie, such as not getting Rob Lowe, but it might as well of been Kevin Smith directing the movie. It was funny it is and was meant to be. At the same time it slaps writers in the time period in the face. Had it been a little more serious than it was we could have probably had the superhero craze at least 5 years earlier and may of had a better script for such movies like "Daredevil", the first "X- Men" and "Superman Returns" just to list a few. But the movies' existence may have stopped some writers in writing these better scripts for fear of "This is what the masses will expect." We may never know but its just my theory. Any way if you want a semi funny farce superhero movie then this is the movie for you if you want serious funny then watch "Superhero Movie".

The Specials, the sixth or seventh greatest superhero group in the world, count the geeks and the oddballs among their fans. They don't have the prestige or the money that a group like the Crusaders has. But they've found their niche as the Ringo Starr of superhero teams. There's the Weevil (Rob Lowe), the most popular member and the one pursued by other teams; the blue-skinned, foul-mouthed Amok; Minute (My-noot) Man, who is sensitive about his oft-mispronounced name; the ever-sneering Deadly Girl; the naive and boyish U.S. Bill; the Strobe, the leader of the team; the Strobe's wife, Ms. Indestructible, who is having an affair with the Weevil; the irritatingly perky Power Chick; the green-skinned weirdo, Alien Orphan; the fat and pompous Mr. Smart; and Eight, who has eight different bodies. The new member is a longtime fan who calls herself Nightbird. Unfortunately, she joins just when Cosgrove Toys creates a new line of action figures based on the Specials. The company's disastrous press conference could mean the end to this cut-rate super-group."The Specials" is a comedy about superheroes that, thanks to a tiny budget, has no special effects and no scenes where the heroes demonstrate their powers (until the very end). For the filmmakers to have gotten away with this deficiency, they would have needed smart writing and fascinating characters. They had neither. The plot involves a possible dissolution of the super-team, but because everyone is contemptuous of one another, and because no one is especially likable anyway, we're not exactly heartbroken at the idea. The writer, James Gunn (who also plays Minute Man), made no attempt to create believable human beings, even though 82 minutes is too long to spend with shallow parodies of comic book drawings. The gags are paramount, and the gags aren't even funny.The movie earns a certain perverse admiration from us for studiously avoiding the inevitable; and then it ruins even that with a brief, godawful special effects scene at the end that isn't even enjoyably cheesy; it's just bad. Kudos to the makeup department for their striking work on the blue-skinned, purple-lipped, red-eyed Amok (Jamie Kennedy). Otherwise, the film is worthless.

Maybe it's just me, but personally, I think that "The Specials" could have been SO much better!! One of the things that worked against it was the fact that the film was full of unsavoury, obnoxious, detestable, self-centred characters (with the exception of a few of them). I could see the irony the makers of this film were trying to get across, but it could have done with having just a little bit more super-hero action injected into the proceedings.As a biting satire on the super-hero/comic book industry, the "Mystery Men" movie was far more entertaining, and had far more action. Its appeal was far more wide-reaching.

This Film is a great example of the fact that you don't need a budget to be a great movie. solid cast performance and a brilliantly funny script show just how easy it is to be successful. while the film leans more towards the fans of the comic book genre with humor more in tune with that vein, which is why it was so good, it wasn't trying to be a movie for everyone... people who don't read comics wont enjoy this half as much as people who do, unless they like their humor dark. mystery men is the closest comparison i can think of, but mystery men tried to hard and lacked the small charm and witty profanity ridden dialogue of the specials, and while mystery men had its moments, it just seemed to rely on visual humor which i found works more for kids like it says in the Specials... "the specials don't exist for the pretty people...they exist for the geek, the outcast" yadda yadda pick this up and laugh...if you don't, well...what are you? dead?