'Superhero' fails to soar to new heights

Like most future superheroes, Rick Riker does not have the smoothest childhood. His rich parents are gunned down in front of him in a dark alley. With his last breath, Rick's father tells him to "invest heavily in Enron." After this traumatic experience, Rick becomes a nerdy, introverted teen infatuated with the prettiest girl in his class, Jill Johnson. Rick's life changes, however, on a class trip to a genetic facility, when a radioactive dragonfly bites him on the neck. The quiet teen turns into the strapping hero Dragonfly and faces the super villain, the Hourglass. As he battles the evil mad scientist, Dragonfly wins the girl's heart, discovering the truth behind his Uncle Albert's guiding principal, "With great power comes hot bitches."

Eagle-eyed moviegoers no doubt see hints of Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker in Rick's story. Though the film's close adherence to the traditional superhero narrative is charming, it is ultimately the chief failure of the movie. Superhero junkies will easily get gags like the renaming of Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Students to Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Non-Asian Students. Besides a few well-placed jokes here and there, however, the filmmakers seem far too focused on recreating iconic moments from movies, like Spider-Man stealing a rain-soaked kiss from Mary Jane Watson, and don't concentrate enough on challenging these cinematic tropes as any good spoof should. Sadly, straight parody is not really all that funny.

Just as the glaringly negative elements of the plot weigh down the positive ones, abysmal performances from certain members of the cast detract from the successful performances. Thankfully, the stalwart of spoof, Leslie Nielson, plays a substantial role as the clueless Uncle Albert. Decades after the "Naked Gun" series, the veteran's inimitable delivery - deadpan with a dash of the absurd - is hilarious as ever. While lecturing Rick on the experience of puberty, he casually hands him a beer and remarks, "Ah, the rituals of manhood. You drink your first beer, and then you're circumcised." Only Nielson could say this line so naturally with such quiet ease.

A surprisingly bright spot is the relatively unknown Sara Paxton as heartthrob Jill Johnson. Paxton imitates Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson from the Spider-Man movies perfectly. Everything from Paxton's mannerisms to her eerily chipper voice rings true and exposes how shallow and vapid Dunst's damsel-in-distress performance actually is.

Unfortunately, these charming actors are counterbalanced by Drake Bell as Rick Riker. The actor tries to conjure Tobey Maguire and his angst-ridden Peter Parker, but he fails to capture the essence of Maguire's performance. For all his happy-go-lucky cheer, Bell forgets to incorporate the pathetic edge that Maguire brought to his superhero alter ego. Because of his middling imitation, Bell ensures that the superhero of "Superhero Movie" is one of the dullest aspects of the film.

Director Craig Mazin occasionally punches up his less-than-stellar movie with a few picture-perfect sight gags. One of the finest occurs when Rick remarks that he thought his dad would live forever. After this nostalgic comment, the camera pans to Rick's dad swimming with the sharks and playing Russian roulette. Brief but effective moments like these illustrate Mazin's knack for clever visuals. Unfortunately, the director jam-packs the movie with toilet humor. The most egregious scene is a 10-minute sequence dealing with an old woman's flatulence, In truth, the two 10 year olds in the audience could not stop laughing, but for viewers past the 'tween years and looking for more intelligent humor, much of Mazin's movie will likely disappoint.

One of the greatest mysteries about "Superhero Movie" is that the filmmakers have placed nearly 10 minutes of cut material after the credits. Here the toilet-obsessed humor is replaced with more biting riffs on the superhero genre itself. These final scenes, which likely play to empty theaters, hint at how charming and hilarious the film could have been. By brushing greatness, this comedy seems all the more mediocre thanks to an inexperienced director who transforms a potential "Airplane!" into another forgettable and cloying spoof. My advice? Avoid "Superhero Movie" like Superman avoids kryptonite.

2 out of 5 paws