Rating: 7/10

Starring: Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Leslie Nielsen

The plot: Rick Riker (Bell) gains superpowers and learns to harness them while trying to woo schoolmate Jill (Paxton) and combating the effortlessly named superhero, Hourglass (McDonald).

The good: Writer and director Craig Mazin thankfully avoids the sloppy spoofing of recent Hollywood send-ups like “Meet the Spartans” and “Epic Movie.” Instead, he leans toward a “Naked Gun”/”Spy Hard” feel. Rather than relying entirely on shallow pop culture references, “Superhero Movie” races at breakneck speed through schtick after schtick, filling voids with the timeless fart joke.

The bad: The expectations for acting are never great in low-brow comedies like “Superhero Movie,” yet most of the cast still manages to disappoint. McDonald is particularly unenthusiastic. One would imagine the antagonist would be the easiest role to play, but McDonald just phones it in.

The lowdown: “Superhero Movie” lands somewhere between “Date Movie” and “Spaceballs.” Surprisingly original at moments, it’s a welcome change from the recent entries to the spoof movie franchise. But it’s still frantic and self-conscious, like a nervous stand-up comedian delivering his routine too quickly.

The flick tries to cram as many jokes as possible into the runtime in the hopes that some will succeed, as opposed to pacing itself with fewer well-crafted gags. The rapid-fire result is a blessing and a curse – a bad joke is quickly forgotten, but there’s little time to savor the gems.

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.