Worth seeing: | if you want an enjoyable but inconsequential blend of super-hero movie and romcom, with some revenge thrown in for depth |
Director: | Ivan Reitman |
Featuring: | Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman, Amanda Saphire Billingham, Andrea Bertola, Anna Faris, Clem Cheung, Eddie Izzard, Fallon Brooking, Greg Connolly, Greg D'Agostino, Ilona Alexandra, Jaclynn Tiffany Brown, Marcus Collins, Mark Consuelos, Richard Brevard |
Length: | 96 minutes |
Certificate: | 12A |
Country: | US |
Released: | 4th August 2006 |
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
After a brief but exciting courtship, Matt (Luke Wilson) decides that his girlfriend Jenny (Uma Thurman) is a little too neurotic, demanding and jealous for his liking, so he decides to end it.
He should have known better – Jenny had only recently revealed to him her secret identity – just by removing her glasses and stripping down to her body-hugging leather underclothes, she revealed that beneath a frumpy exterior lay G-Girl – an all conquering super-hero of Kryptonite proportions.
If you’ve ever feared a woman scorned, imagine how a superwoman scorned might react – particularly when you start falling for the next woman in line.
She’ll stop at nothing to make your life even more miserable without her than it was with her.
As a last resort, Matt concludes that the only way he can move on with his life is by colluding with G-Girl’s nemesis – the über-baddie Professor Bedlam (Izzard) – who already has a plan in hand to bring her back to earth.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
So, is it a super-hero movie or a romantic comedy? Well, it’s kind of both – a super-hero movie lite and on the darker side of romcoms – laced with many elements of a revenge film.
It works in both genres, successfully mixing the two, blending wry humour with satirical side-swipes at both types of film.
It has love rivals, flying humans – and sharks, and in Eddie Izzard’s Professor Bedlam, a bad guy who’d be equally at home in a Bond film, with his camp, ingenuity and desperation.
The super hero scenes are visually as impressive – if, understandably less ambitious – than those delivered in the recent Superman film – and they’re considerably more fun all round.
The emotional storyline certainly wipes the floor with the Man of Steel’s latest dalliance with Lois Lane.
It’s a tremendously good natured and knowing romp through cliché after cliché, with tongue firmly planted in cheek. As a result, any silliness and incoherence can be excused.
Ultimately though, it’ll be as enjoyable as it’ll be forgettable and it’s certainly inconsequential with a moral no more profound than a Looney Tunes cartoon.
But it’s not a film asking to be taken seriously. Just pop on your leotard, put your feet up and let Ivan Reitman take you for a ride.
Interestingly, one of the silliest and most lighthearted films of the year comes from the father of the man who brought us one of the most intelligent and thoughtful films of the year, Thank You For Smoking.