Parody | Geekscape

Horror Movie Night – Episode 25: The Final Girls (2015)

by SaintmortJanuary 1, 2016

Are you ready to relive the murders of everything you love? You are? Well then you’re ready to give a long, hard listen to our somewhat spoiler-free discussion of 2015’s killer camp homage flick “The Final Girls!” What started as a short episode (due to the aforementioned lack of spoilers) took more turns into strange territory than a couple of horny counselors looking to bump uglies. Leave your smartphone at home, so as to not confuse the 80s characters, cuz we’re heading to Camp Bloodbath on this episode of Horror Movie Night!

Movie Spoilers from 17:15 – 20:50

Feel free to join in discussion at on our Facebook Group or in the comments below.

Do you have a movie suggestion for us or just want to tell us stories about your experiences with the movies we’ve watched? Send them to us at HMNPodcast@gmail.com

Also subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud and iTunes

Relive The Fight Of The Century Courtesy Of ‘Floyd Mayweather’s Punch Out’

by Josh JacksonMay 6, 2015

Unless you haven’t had any kind of human interaction over the last month or so, you were surely aware of the so-called “Fight of the Century,” between two of the biggest names in their field.

But enough about Iron Man vs. The Hulk. For everyone else, the much talked about Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight came and went, leaving many a viewer wondering why they just dropped $100 on what many perceived to be a lackluster fight. Some coped in different ways, like shouting into the infinite black hole of social media or putting their photoshop skills to good use with countless memes. Some even crossed the line of decency, like this Shojo style take that will likely be the strangest thing you see today.

Even with so many web shennanigans to choose from, none of them beat out this Punch Out!!! parody, which consists of constant hugging, and an instant game over for refusing to meet Money’s absurd list of demands that skew the fight in his favor beforehand. So in other words, the most accurate sim in the history of gaming.

Check it out below and tell us what you thought of the fight!

Geekscape Games Reviews ‘Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation’

by Josh JacksonJanuary 23, 2015

Gamindustri is on the brink of collapse. The four goddesses that serve as this land’s protectors have been defeated by the ASIC, an evil organization that has grown in power by securing their shares using pirated gaming software. The last CPU standing to face this threat is powerless to stop them, forcing her to flee as her sister and friends remain captured for the next three years. Pretty dark, huh? It’s probably the last thing you would expect from the sequel to one of the surprise highlights of 2014, primarily because of its cheery, often silly take on the video game industry. Yet, in many ways, Hyperdimension Neptunia: Re;Birth 2 creates a completely different tone, sacrificing some of this over the top humor for a more serious take on these characters that took me by surprise last year. With so much of the original’s charm relying on its unique premise and script though, can the world of Neptunia thrive without it?

IF and Nepgear going nowhere.

Re;Birth 2 places gamers in the very capable knee socks of Nepgear, the little sister of the original’s hyperactive protagonist. In comparison, Ge-Ge is much more mature, (despite being the “little” sister,) taking her duties as a CPU Candidate, (or the next Goddess in line to rule her home of Planeptune,) very seriously. Even still, her insecurities shine through most of the story, often worrying about escaping her sister’s shadow, while regaining the confidence it will take to save the goddesses that were so soundly defeated. With familiar faces such as IF and Compa from the original lending a hand, a huge cast of party members both new and old, and the addition of the other three CPU Candidates in the form of Lastation’s Uni and Lowee’s Rom and Ram fighting to save their siblings however, and the fight for Gamindustri’s future seems a lot less hopeless.

Rom takes the spotlight in her HDD Form.

Or at least, that’s until you start playing, because the opening hours of Re;Birth 2 can be absolutely brutal. Making a complete 180 compared to its predecessor, which eased us into its fights before spiking about half way through, the sequel doesn’t play around. I came this close to losing the first tutorial boss fight, having to actually use strategy, items and stat boosts to eek out a win. Who would have thought!? Oddly enough, experience points start rising through the roof while fights get easier as the game progresses, making the experience more of a breeze as you push through the hazing of the early moments. You have to prove you really want it!

Either way, it becomes less of an issue when battles are not only a blast to play, but when the game can be customized to fit your play style! In our review of the original, we went into detail about the real time battle system and the Remake System, which allowed players to customize their game play experience if they had the items needed to unlock them, (give it a read, here!) In short, each character, weapon and attack has a certain attack range and a radius in which they can be moved. Every enemy that falls into that range can be hit with one of four types of attacks, which include special attacks, power attacks, break attacks, (that lower enemy shields,) and rush attacks, (multi hit attacks that build up the EX Meter, which adds bonus and signature abilities.)What makes battle even more fun this time around, (aside from the increase from three party members on the field to four,) is that more of the team wields a wider variety of attack types, namely Uni, Rom and Ram being able to attack at long range. To top it off, when late game abilities become available, these jaw dropping sequences range from badass action sequences, to some exciting attacks that reference some of our favorite niche games. It’s just too bad that the game can’t often keep up with this much awesome, causing the framerate to drop to a crawl when things get especially hectic.

Cave’s EX Attack drops jaws as fast as the framerate.

If using these abilities makes the game too easy, or if that newest boss is just too hard to beat. Remaking the game can adjust the difficulty, unlock new items, dungeons and weapons, or even change mechanics like reducing the amount of time it takes to build up the EX Meter. As a far cry from the PS3 version that this title is based on, both mechanics are what holds the core of the game together, helping game stay addicting throughout its 25 hour plus story on a first run.

Still, even though all of these features are great, they’re way too familiar. Oddly enough, it seems like Nepgear’s primary flaw is trying to be too much like her sister! Re;Birth 2‘s biggest sin is the absurdly large amount of reused content it took from the first game. Enemies, some music, whole environments and many of the voice clips are completely ripped from the first title, (with some dungeons even being duplicates from THIS game,) oftentimes making the latest in the series feel more like an expansion than a sequel. The point and click map is mostly unchanged, complete with NPCs who you choose to talk to on a menu. While often serving as humorous takes on popular game characters, (Snake Hayter, Maryo and Monobear come to mind,) talking to them on a map screen isn’t the same as meeting them in a full fledged environment. While I appreciated the streamlined nature of these interactions originally, I’ve fallen in love with Gamindustri so much, that I wish I could delve into it outside of the various dungeons.

Guess what game this girl is based on? (Hint: pick your eyes up.)

In the end though, what I thought would be this game’s biggest weakness became my absolute favorite part of it. Yes, Neptune is a fantastic protagonist, so much so that I named her the number 2 waifu of 2014 thanks to her off the wall, self aware, airhead personality. When I saw Nepgear as such a serious straight shooter, I expected the game to be less enjoyable because of it. As the game went on however, I became really attached to the little sisters, making their journey from scared, lonely sidekicks, to powerful, confident and heroic goddesses. Be warned, the slapstick and fan service is kept to a bare minimum, (the latter of which was more overbearing and unnecessary than anything else if you ask me,) but what what we got in its place was an exhilarating story to experience, introducing a level of character development that was nearly non-existent when Neptune took the lead. Now, I have trouble imagining another game without Nepgear in the lead. Sadly, I’m fully aware that this will likely be the case going forward. Still, for every serious moment, you have characters like Broccoli healing her team by vomiting a smiling pile from her eyes, so there’s that.

Stay out of the splash zone.

I can talk all day about everything that I love about Hyperdimension Neptunia: Re;Birth 2, but we only have so much bandwidth. What I will say, is that this sequel expands on the hilarious, yet mostly shallow narrative of the first game, creating a much deeper story that tackles themes such as coming of age, finding one’s own identity, and even video game piracy in a fun, lighthearted way. Features like the Stella Dungeon, where you send the titular character out to explore areas in real time in order to uncover special items, over a half a dozen endings, a new game plus feature and a variety of secret characters put the title over the top, and by all accounts, is a superior game to the original. Sadly, the technical issues and the overabundance of recycled content hurt the final impression, but not enough to keep Re;Birth 2 from being the best game of 2015 so far. Sure, it’s the first game I’ve played in 2015, but forget semantics, because Nepgear and the girls are starting the year off strong.

tl;dr

+ The CPU Candidates take center stage in a bigger way, with more party members, teammates on the field, and a huge amount of post game content.

+ Combat is as addicting as ever, with jaw dropping abilities that will keep you coming back.

+ A game that can be catered to your needs, thanks to the flexible Remake System.

+ A much more in depth story that sacrifices some humor for character development while still staying lighthearted, most of which is voiced in dual audio.

– Way too much of the content is ripped straight from its prequel, some of which is repeated multiple times within THIS game.

– Technical issues range in severity, from lips not moving during dialogue sections to massive slowdown during huge sequences.

– While more streamlined, it’s about time we replace the point and click map with a fully explorable Gamindustri.

Final Score: 4.25/5

This Episode Of ‘Sailor Moon’ Was Reanimated By Over 250 Different Artists; The Results Are Hilarious!

by Josh JacksonJuly 23, 2014

It’s no secret that thanks to its recent revival, Sailor Moon is a hot topic amongst geeks the world over. So when you’re a a talented artist or animator, what’s the best way to celebrate the series coming back into the limelight? Naturally, you recreate one of the original series’ most interesting episodes with over 200 different animation styles, right?

That’s what Moon Animate Make Up set out to do in late 2013, and the result is fantastic. Throughout the 23 minute episode, we’re treated to Western style animation, Japanese anime style animation that fits closely to the original, we get crude art that looks like it was taken from an episode of Ren and Stimpy. We got puppets, people. Puppets! They even animated the Sailor Says segment at the end! Bonus points for using one of my favorite episodes as the subject.

You just have to watch the video for yourself if you have a half hour to spare. And if you don’t, make one. You’ll thank us later.

I Want You Back: Top 10 Greatest Boy Band Parodies

by DJAJSantiniAugust 20, 2013

Everyone’s been talking about this supposed *NSYNC reunion for the VMAs, and I’m all over here like, “When is 2Ge+her getting back together?”

From the Jackson 5 to New Edition, The Monkees to New Kids on the Block, O-Town to The Wanted, boy bands have been a staple of the pop music scene cyclically every decade. Then their testicles drop, the girls want guys with beards and they fade away, only to emerge again on some tri-billed reunion tour or combination act (NKOTBSB?) to make all the soccer moms scream like daggers are being inserted into the fleshy part of the feet, this time around fueled not by hormones, but large, overpriced foo-foo drinks at Corporate Sponsorship Arena downtown.

Keeping this in mind (and I’m not shitting on boy bands here, because many times they do make decent pop records that fulfill their purpose of lowest-common denominator entertainment for people who want a vapidly message-free dance-floor-filled evening), I’ve compiled a list of the Top Ten Boy Band Parodies. Does anyone else remember these gems?

10. The Avengers “Avenge You”

This is actually pretty terrible, but Black Widow kinda makes up for it. Also, this is Geekscape, so, as much as I appreciate the Avengers movies (minus the Shane Black directed self-idea-ripping Lethal Weapon remake entitled “Iron Man 3”) this should be a little more up the alley of some of the non-musically inclined readers.

9. Dudez-A-Plenti

Back in the millennial heyday of boy bands, Conan O’Brien created and managed his own boy band called Dudez-A-Plenti. This is possibly one of his greatest bits on television.

8. The Key of Awesome! “One Song”

You know you’ve caught yourself singing a boy band song at some point (whether it’s just too infectious or you’ve heard it so many times it becomes a muscular reflex to mouth the words) and The Key of Awesome! did a great parody of the new generation’s boy band, One Direction (who had their own 3D movie and complete brick and mortar stores now that sell nothing but 1D merchandise and Future Mrs. Whoever-the*#&^ t-shirts for the hormonal tweens).

7. 7 Degrees Celsius “AOL”

Maybe I just yearn for the simpler days of dial-up modems, chat rooms romances and my mom yelling, “Sign off the computer, A.J. I need to call your Aunt Mary in Massachusetts!” But this old SNL sketch with Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, etc. cracks me up. Look at those A: drive necklace pendants – priceless. This should be the theme song to “Catfish.”

6. “Weird Al” Yankovic “The White Stuff”

Sure, he did a Backstreet Boys parody of “I Want It That Way,” but this NKOTB send-up is much more ridiculous, and therefore more worthy of praise. It also happens to be my favorite cookie and so I tend to sing this not only when dunking OREOs in milk, but when the actual song comes on as well.

Tie: 5. 2Ge+her “U+Me=Us (Calculus)”

MTV decided to parody the boy bands they were so dependent upon in their TRL years with a full-length feature called “2Ge+her.” which actually had some decent songs and scenes. Personally, I liked their rivals, Whoa!, better, but we’ll get to them in a second. There were rumors of a 2Ge+her reunion in early 2012, but I don’t think anything came of it. It was probably just a jokey response to the NKOTBSB tour that was happening at the time.

Tie: 5. Whoa! “Rub One Out”

This is self-explanatory.

4. South Park “Fingerbang”

Cartman usually wants to eliminate an entire race of gingers or get Family Guy off the air, so sometimes the more simpler episodes can be even funnier. Since Matt Stone and Trey Parker are clearly the greatest satirists of this generation, Fingerbang had to be included. The entire episode is classic, but just the idea of the kids singing these lyrics in a mall is beyond the pale.

3. blink-182 “All the Small Things”

Surely, the song is not a parody, but the video takes great shots at everyone who was dominating MTV after school afternoons under the direction of a Mr. Carson Daly. While blink’s live show has basically just a bunch of dick, fart and “I fucked your mom” jokes climaxing with an incredible drum solo circa pop-punk’s Tommy Lee – Travis Barker, this song still gets everyone in a crowded room to scream, “work sucks, I know!”

2. DuJour “Backdoor Lover”

Created as a commentary on the possibility of the corporately-conscious and unknowingly-about-to-implode music industry of the late ‘90s, early ‘00s hiding subliminal messages in pop music to make young adults with allowances and no responsibility buy products they didn’t need to keep the economy afloat (how genius is that?) for the “Josie and the Pussycats” movie, DuJour gets the number two spot not necessarily on the strength of their song or parody, but more for the brilliance of the script Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan put together for the film they appear in. The only reason I saw this movie was the fact that they were the creative team behind “Can’t Hardly Wait,” so if you’re like me, also be sure to check out Saint Mort’s chat with writer/director Harry Elfont here on Geekscape.

1. LFO “Summer Girls”

They can’t rap, sing, dance or do anything a boy band should do… they just looked like the Abercrombie & Fitch models they were supposedly chasing after. It was years before I realized these guy were serious. It’s so bad, it’s amazingly great. So, this is the best parody by default… Or by accident. Or maybe because I feel bad about Rich Cronin passing away from leukemia. Either way, that’s your list. (Editors Note: Check out Rich Cronin’s incredible 50 minute interview on Howard Stern. He was also in a hilarious comedy hip-hop group Loose Cannons most known because of The Kidd Chris Show)

If you can think of any others, leave the links in comment section.

A.J. Santini has been an audiophile since pre-natal care. Having 15+ years DJ experience, a brief stint in terrestrial radio and an extensively diverse collection of books, vinyl, cassettes, VHSs CDs, DVDs and MP3s (plus one Led Zeppelin 8-track) qualifies him to rant nonsensically and wax poetically about popular culture. He also hosts QUIZZO trivia nights to feel superior to the masses of the population. Check out some of his DJ mixes.

Amazing: Watch The ‘LEGO Breaking Bad’ Video Game Parody!

by Derek KraneveldtMay 2, 2013

This is insanely impressive, and something that really, really deserves to be seen.

A guy named Brian Anderson just published his first video to YouTube (at least on this channel). It’s an original work that takes the world of Breaking Bad… and combines it with the Traveller’s Tales developed line of LEGO video games. Need I say more?

There are spoilers abound (for seasons 1 through 4), so if you haven’t seen the show (and are planning to), I would hold off on this one. Everyone else, go to town, and let us know what you think!

Amazing, right?

Don’t Watch The Trailer For ‘Scary Movie 5’

by Derek KraneveldtDecember 22, 2012

Do you remember 2007’s Epic Movie? How about Superhero Movie or Disaster Movie in 2008? The only reason I’m mentioning those abysmal ‘films’ is because they look like award winners in comparison to the upcoming Scary Movie 5.

Watch the trailer below, if you dare (I warned you):

“The plot involves Three dancers — one veteran performer and two upstarts who are also best friends — vie for the lead in a new production from a snooty, aloof, imperious, and oversexed director.” The “reboot” will spoof Black Swan, Paranormal Activity, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and 127 Hours.

Scary Movie 5 will find itself in theatres on April 19th, 2013.

Watch The Exclusive Safe For Work Trailer For ‘Superman Vs. Spider-Man XXX’!

by Derek KraneveldtOctober 4, 2012

Longtime Geekscape friend Axel Braun today sent us word of his latest project, and it’s sure to please comic fans a porn viewers alike!

Superman Vs Spider-Man XXX is Axel’s follow up to This Ain’t The Expendables XXX, and is a parody of the gigantic 1976 crossover event of the same title (minus the XXX of course).

The trailer is hilarious, so check it out below! Remember it IS SAFE FOR WORK, so be sure to show all your colleagues and clients! The full feature is scheduled for release next month.

Thanks for the exclusive Axel!

Guilty Pleasures: Scary Movie 3

by SaintmortJuly 23, 2012

There are two films that are typically looked at as the perfection of the “Parody Film”. 1974’s Young Frankenstein and 1980’s Airplane. Mel Brooks had always been a satirist in his comedy. The Producers and Blazing Saddles are praised as some of the finest comedies ever made and while they both have elements of parody in them Young Frankenstein is where he made a direct parody to some pre-existing source material (Universal’s Frankenstein films).

The direct parody became what Brooks was known for (with High Anxiety, Spaceballs and various other films). Meanwhile Airplane! presented absurdist over the top and crazy comedy. In ways never before seen. Absurdist comedies continued to be part of the Zuckers and Abraham filmography but rarely did they come close the quality of Airplane!

This brings us to the dark days of Parodies. They started with Scary Movie. From we started getting films like Date Movie, Meet the Spartans and various other pieces of garbage. Trapped in the middle was Scary Movie 3.

I’m not going to say Scary Movie 3 is a perfect film. It’s not, it’s not a great comedy, it’s not even a great parody, I can admit that. What Scary Movie 3 is though is a huge improvement on the previous films. The Wayans brothers are gone and replaced with David Zucker. Unlike the films that would later come out the film does the simple task of focusing on a plot… sorta.

The parody combines plot elements of The Ring and Signs to tell a really alien/ghost story. Sure there’s also elements of Sixth Sense, 8 Mile and The Matrix scattered throughout but they genuinely try to stick with those two main movies. I appreciate that since this was the time that movies like Disaster Movie were coming out basing the script on movie trailers instead of watching the films they were parodying.

The film definitely has things at are terrible. The opening credits sequence with Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson, awful and dated parodies of commercials that I forget existed until I re-watched this movie and plenty of moments that feel like they would be better suited in Scary Movie 1 or 2. This film is more light-hearted and feels like a Zucker film (absurd, sex jokes, Leslie Nelson), those are the elements that keep the film entertaining.

Here’s what works in the film: Simon Rex and Charlie Sheen are casted well. Sheen has proven his comedy chops in Hot Shots and if you’re a fan of those films you’ll find just as much to enjoy in his performance here. Simon Rex meanwhile, has done the Horror Parody genre previously with ‘Shriek if You Know What I did Last Friday the 13th‘. The biggest laughs however come from comedy veteran Leslie Nelson and (at the time) new comers Anthony Anderson and Kevin Hart.

Zucker’s eye for a good sex joke or quality sight gag are still there. The parody of the actual Ring video is packed with humorous sight gags. The film also contained rewrites by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (the men behind Harold And Kumar). This film could be better obviously… but it could have been much much worse.

Writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Epic Movie) wanted to parody Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings (yet still call it Scary movie 3). What I’m trying to say I guess is Fuck Friedberg/Seltzer.

Scary Movie 3 won’t ever be better than the classic parody and spoof films of the 70’s and 80’s but it’s still a massive improvement on the other parody films that we’ve been exposed too since the Wayans brothers gave us Scary Movie in 2000.

Guilty Pleasures: Comic Book The Movie

by SaintmortApril 29, 2012

This weekend we will see the release of The Avengers. It’s a great time to be a geek right now. Just ten years ago no one would have guessed we’d live in a world where superhero films were acceptable to the point that not only was there an Avengers film but Thor, Iron Man and discussions on Dr. Strange and Antman.

Bizarrely enough, Mark Hamill predicted these changes back in 2004. In his direct-to-DVD mockumentry Comic Book: The Movie Mark plays Donald Swan, a history teacher/comic shop owner and in charge of the official fan club for Commander Courage. Due to the popularity of the Spider-Man movie a major studio is making a film on Commander Courage (inspired obviously by Captain America) and have hired Donald as a creative consultant.

However since September 11th they’ve decided to update Commander Courage from a Nazi fighting patriot into a Terrorist killing soldier named Codename Courage. Donald hates this change where they’ve made Courage more modern, edgy, took away his secret Identity and changed his sidekick Liberty Lad into the sexy Liberty Lass.

The studio gives Donald an opportunity to film a documentary about the Codename: Commander announcement at Comic Con, while Donald tries to use this opportunity to prove to the studio that they should make a Commander Courage film that’s a period piece with him fighting nazis.

The film is amusing enough to kill an hour and a half but what’s far more impressive is how Hamill nailed the future of Comic Con before it occurred. The movie executive going with Donald to the Con could careless about the comics or the fans of the character. He just wants to show up, make an announcement and leave.

Mark also takes this opportunity to write a true love letter to fandom. He captures the entire comic con experience with plenty of cos-players, screaming Troma characters, lots of free stuff and the parents keeping their kids awake to ensure they don’t miss any panels. Donald gives a passionate speech about how his favorite aspect of fandom is the passionate arguments between trivial things like “How’s better Gray or Green Hulk”.

The film doesn’t always hit but it does have it’s moments. The cast is basically made up of voice actors and celebrity cameos (including Stan Lee, Hugh Hefner and Kevin Smith). Kevin Smith parodies his infamous Superman Script incident discussing how his first draft of Commander Courage the studio demanded a Giant Mechanical Spider and also has the line “Nazis are better than terrorists, they have an easier to make fun of accent”.

Donald Swan even discusses how much better Pearl Harbor would be had it been a Commander Courage film. But the funniest character in the film and scene stealer is Ricky the Camera Guy played by Jess Harnell (Animaniacs). Ricky is a rocker/stoner who just wants to meet the Hulk while at comic con. Donald takes him under his wing to try to teach him how beautiful the world of Comic Con truly is.

The film didn’t get much critical review due to being a Direct-To-DVD film, however the fan ratings on rottentomatoes averaged out to a pitiful 38%. The fact is the film is made for a very specific person (a comic book fan), you need to understand this world to appreciate this world. With that in mind, watch this before seeing the Avengers.

Comic Book: The Movie is currently available on Netflix Instant Watch

When he’s not watching straight to DVD movies Matt can be found tweeting, writing in his blog Pure Mattitude and hosting is podcast The Saint Mort Show.

Superhero Movie Out on DVD! (Oh Come On, We Weren’t Going to See This In Theatres)

by GilmoreJuly 15, 2008

Superhero Movie was everything it was supposed to be. It seems a moot point to try and review a film like this. What service does it provide to anyone to tear apart a film that nobody expects to be good? I mean, there is always the chance that we get one of those bonus movies – “wow, I had no idea that it was going to be like this…that was actually really good…”. Superhero movie was not surprisingly good. Nor was it surprisingly bad. It actually had a tight story that was told in a concise fashion so that this film, with dismal comedy in it, did not even feel too long. Now, this did not provide it with any merit because it was a direct clone of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film. You can thank him for the story. Or Stan Lee. So to be fair to the genre of over-the-top silly comedies, I’ll judge it based on those parameters.

From 2 the people who brought us Scary movie 3-5 (5 is in the works), comes Superhero Movie. Rick Rykers is your everyday high school nerd who is obsessed with the girl of his dreams – who happens to be completely out of his league. On a field trip to a research lab, he is bitten by a radioactive dragonfly and begins developing the powers of (what other than a) dragonfly. He becomes a crimefighter known as Dragonfly. He fashions his costume too quickly for any novice to realistically do so, he confronts the school bully in a ridiculous fashion yet nobody suspects him of having any extraordinary powers, and his aunt has some horrible jokes coupled with even poorer delivery – it is a direct parody of Spider-Man. As a huge fan of Spider-Man, I’m able to appreciate the jokes that poke fun at how easily things seem to come to new superheroes in the campier comic book movies. This movie has a blast doing that. It essentially points out everything your dad, or skeptical best friend didn’t like about all the superhero movies that you do like. It did that very well. What it didn’t do was provide us with good jokes about those movies.

The villain, played by Christopher McDonald, is a spoof on Dock Ock and Green Goblin. He’s a scientist-turned-bad-guy after one of his experiments goes wrong. He starts sucking the life force from other people and begins a quest for immortality…only Dragonfly can stop him. This character would have been completely unfunny had it not been for Christopher McDonald. Something about watching him be disgusted, disappointed, or appaled always makes me laugh.

The “Mary Jane” of the story is played by AquaMarine‘s Sara Paxton (-who actually once snubbed me a friendly wave on set while I was an extra, so…wait, no, that’s fine, that’s totally – yeah, I guess that makes sense). She plays the character exactly as she was supposed to – hot as hell, sweet, and oblivious. She did a fine job, but seemed to exert all the acting power that she could, as Gilmore Girls’ Alex Bledel seems to be taking all the good roles she could have (kind of like how Joseph Gordon Levitt made it so that Edward Furlong fell off the map by being a “good actor”).

Here’s what got to me: if handled differently, this movie could have been a very apt and necessary poke at the barrage of superhero movies that are coming out lately. It was not a satire, or even an intellgent parody, though. It was laden with TMZ-style jokes and sight gags that were nothing short of predictable.

The parody, to a certain extent, is always bringing the original content into the ridiculous or the absurd. The higher brow way might be to go to the absurd, but it is hard to make a parody without being over-the-top silly. Look at Weird Al. He’s been around for twenty years now and is still making up his own lyrics to songs we all know and making them about ridiculous subjects. Admittedly – I loved Weird Al in grade school and his Trapped in the Closet parody is actually really funny. So what’s stopped this movie, and all the other spoof movies coming out, from reaching a point of cleverness, intelligence, or apt humor? Maybe it’s that the same people keep making them. These people keep thinking of them, making them, then putting them out and turning quite a profit off of them despite dismal reviews. As always, I blame America. With “Disaster Movie” on the horizon, the terrorists have already won. No pun intended.

Maybe what we need is a new team of fresh minds to do these spoof movies if they need to keep coming out. People who will rely more on universal humor that is timeless, like Top Secret!, Airplane, or Naked Gun. Humor that you can watch without any prior knowledge of the films being spoofed, or the time in which they were produced, while still laughing your ass off. I can watch any of the previously mentioned films and still think they are funny – and more importantly so can someone 10 years younger than me. Nobody will look back on Epic Movie, Date Movie, Meet the Spartans, or any other spoof films by this team and laugh. Paris Hilton jokes are dated even now, imagine how irrelevant they will be in 10 years. The first two Scary Movies had it right. They just took that concept way too far and ran out of jokes. This movie is another example of that. We need some new people on these movies. They will continue to come out in all of our lifetimes in some way, shape or form. Since I have been around, they have been a fact of life, like taxes, death, or your parents calling at inconvenient times – we might as well demand better ones.

Now, when it comes to the post-Scary-Movie spoofs for this team, Superhero Movie is definitely their best. I’ve been unfortunate enough to have watched all of them. This film has a cohesive (although carbon-copied) story that maintains its focus until the end. It makes a lot of keen obsevations, but in ways that are horrible. It squeezes in character cameos (Xavier, Johnny Storm) as much as it can, with absolutely no reason or logic (or real funny moments) behind them. It has two running gags that get old, but are essentially funny at first(Stephen Hawking is one of the most recurring characters and always gets the shit end of the stick).

I wouldn’t recommend going out and actively buying this film, nor would I recommend renting it – unless you enjoy this sort of thing, of course. If it’s on TV or if someone you know is watching it, though, it could be kind of fun to sit (…or put yourself?) through. Just make sure you’re not the one staring blankly and sadly at your wallet after it’s over.