Superhero Movie – Extended Edition (2008/Genius/Dimension DVD) + 305 (“300”
Spoof/Allumination DVD)
Picture:
C+/C Sound: C+/C Extras: C- Film: C-/D
If the
atrocious Meet The Spartans was not
bad enough, more obvious spoof films have arrived and they are barely
better. The latest two entries are Craig
Mazin’s Superhero Movie – Extended
Edition (2008) which was originally boycotted for being issued shorter in
theaters by the genre fans and The Holechek Brothers’ 305, a one-note send-up of the hit 300 that is only going to work if you are one of the original
film’s biggest fans.
Like a
poor later Mel Brooks film (Dracula –
Dead & Loving It) or other bad recent spoof films that are dumb of dumb
of dumb, 305 takes a skit success
(even if it is from the Internet) and like too many bad Saturday Night Live films, stretches it so very, very, very thin
that there is no point after a few minutes as you get all the so-called jokes.
The sad
thing about Superhero Movie is the
total lack of energy, ambition and so many missed opportunities that you can
tell the makers really do not like, love, enjoy or understand the success of
the current wave of Superhero Genre films, so those fans who were upset about
alternate cuts are wasting their energy.
Too bad they could not have passed it on to the makers, including the
once prolific David Zucker. Despite a
cast that includes Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher McDonald, Leslie Nielsen. Keith
David, Brent Spiner, Robert Hays, Nicole Sullivan, Regina Hall, Craig Bierko, Dan
Castellaneta, Pamela Anderson, Charlene Tilton and a scene-stealing Marion
Ross, all this talent, ideas and remaining cast is wasted beyond belief. Unlike 305,
it has no excuses for failing.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is a bit soft in Movie, but is really more so in 305, where its need to imitate the style of 300 backfires more than it should.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has a weak soundfield on Movie, while dialogue is usually recorded well. The Dolby 2.0 Stereo on 305 is weaker and sometimes more compressed or with some background
noise or echo than should be there. Extras
on Movie include an alternate ending, deleted scenes, trailer, two featurettes
and a commentary track, while 305 has the original short that inspired the
project, four featurettes, commentary tracks and deleted scenes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
