Superhero MovieMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Superhero Movie."

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Avg. Critic Score: 33 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 58
    The Onion A.V. Club | Nathan Rabin

    Undiscriminating comedy fans hungering for the High School High of superhero parodies need look no further. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times |

    The very act of writing critically about Superhero Movie inspires something of an existential crisis -- no one likely to turn out for it is reading this review, and anybody reading this review is probably not inclined to see it under any circumstances. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    How can you tell the target age for Superhero Movie is exactly 13 1/2 years? Because most of the jokes are Internet-related. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    Given the abysmal quality of recent spoof pics, it's saying something that Superhero Movie provides a fairly steady stream of midsized laughs -- and even the 40% or so of gags that just lie there aren't actively painful. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Seems to have been given the comedy equivalent of blood thinner. It has the blazing satirical boldness to skewer the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man -- and, amazingly, not much else. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    By-the-numbers screen parody fails to resurrect an increasingly tired genre. Read full review

  • 30
    L.A. Weekly |

    Predictable, flat, full of name-dropping, tragically unhip, and likely to make a decent amount of cash. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    No real mockery is intended by this harmless, mindless grab bag of slightly used gags, which lampoons some of the conventions of recent comic-book epics and adds the expected staples of juvenile humor: urine, vomit and intestinal gas. Read full review

  • 20
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    It's a tonally confused comedy which, for once, doesn't go far enough comedically. Read full review

  • 0
    TV Guide | Ken Fox

    This abysmal "Spider-Man" satire has more in common with the lamentable spate of "Epic" and "Date Movies" than Zucker and Nielsen's truly funny "Naked Gun" series. Read full review

View more reviews for Superhero Movie on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Tiresome, generic spoof is all about crude humor.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this broad spoof (which was written and directed by the writer of two of the Scary Movie comedies) features crude sexual humor, repeated pee and fart jokes, and violent slapstick. Sexual allusions focus on women's breasts, adolescent male lust, and bodily functions. The effects of the movie's violence are minimal and meant to be funny, though viewers do see bloody injuries and bodies being broken, wood-chipped, and burned. Language includes one use of "f--k," plus other profanity (primarily "s--t"), and there are visual or verbal mentions of hash, vodka, and a bong.
  • Families can talk about the "typical" superhero story elements that the movie mocks. What characters and plots twists do you recognized from other, "real" superhero movies? Why do you think these elements are repeated in so many superhero movies, comic books, and TV shows? Why do superhero stories have such lasting appeal? Families can also discuss how the movie uses girls and women as objects of humor. Is that kind of thing OK when it's being played for laughs? Why or why not?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Pointedly stupid characters make pointedly wrong decisions; villain and hero are equally vulgar. Stereotypes are repeatedly played up for laughs. Rick's dead father appears in a photo wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Various fights involve punching, kicking, bruising, slamming bodies into/through walls and glass, and banging heads against surfaces (walls, bars). Rick is slammed by a bus stop sign; an old woman is tossed into a chipper (legs visible, no blood). Weapons include titanium stars, automatic weapons, and handguns (in a flashback, young Rick accidentally shoots his parents multiple times). References to suicide. "Barry Bonds," demonstrating steroids' effects, appears monstrous, with red laser eyes. "Tom Cruise" is killed when he attempts to fly (photo of corpse in news report). Blinking bomb attached to crotch. Flying hero hit by helicopter.
  • sex false3 Sex: Jill shows cleavage repeatedly; Pamela Anderson shows major cleavage. Rick watches as Jill appears in her window, removing one bra and showing another beneath, then donning a literal string for a thong (not shown). Jokes about computer porn (goats, questionnaires), sex with animals (Rick is "jumped" by lab animals). In two scenes, men appear to be having sex with corpses. Woman tells her husband he has a "tiny penis." Uncle tells Rick that in puberty, "You may bleed from your vagina" (then realizes he's reading from the "wrong book"). Mention of circumcision. "Medical" Web site asks Rick if he's a virgin. "Stephen Hawking" tells students he thinks about sex, describes his "lesbian" nurse. Reference to Hooters. In a rainstorm, both Jill and Rick's nipples appear beneath their wet costumes. Aunt stuffs turkey with items that simulate sex. "Dalai Lama" stripped to diaper.
  • language false3 Language: Language includes one use of "f--k," plus other profanity, "s--t" (one with "dip-"), "son of a bitch," "hell," "damn," "ass" (with "dumb-"), "c--k," and "p---ies." Repeated use of the term "douche-bag" (in lyrics and speech).
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: "Stephen Hawking" offers high school students hashish. A doctor injects himself with painkiller (he faints). Aunt puts vodka in Thanksgiving turkey. Rick uses a bong to inhale cake frosting.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

0.5

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Go if you like … people being bonked on the head Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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Superhero Movie Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

So-so 8,647 fan reviews

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