What with the slew of superhero movies coming out these days, I guess it's no surprise that eventually someone, somewhere, would think to themselves "How can I make a comedy out of this?" My Super Ex-Girlfriend looks to be one of the first entries into the superhero-comedy genre and I'm sad to report, the genre's going to need some more help in the future if it wants a permanent place on the shelf. This fantastical concoction isn't as impressive as it should've been, after all it had popular stars Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman and even funny-man Eddie Izzard. I mean, honestly, this movie should've been amazing. And yet, I found myself gazing at the screen with only a few laughs here and there. They found a few spots of superhero satire, but for the most part, they missed a lot of potential material.
Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) is just your average guy, an architect actually, who's somewhat afraid to get back out into the romantic waters and have another try at the breast stroke (dirty pun intended). His ridiculously horny and sex-crazed comrade Vaughn (Rainn Wilson) is constantly pushing him to date and even helps him scope out girls on the subway that might possibly put-out. And whaddya know, but this approach leads them to Jenny Johnson (Thurman), she's just sitting there honestly on the subway when Matt decides to ask her out. It's no surprise that with Matt's sheepish approach she shoots him down. As she's getting off the subway a man steals her purse and Matt, spying an opportunity to play hero and win the fair maiden's heart, chases off after him. He succeeds with a little (or maybe more) help from Jenny. This triggers her to give him that date he wanted and so their relationship begins.
During a date we learn that Jenny Johnson is none other than G-Girl, the city's fearless crime fighting superwoman!! As if Matt wouldn't have realized it by himself (what with all the strange behavior) but she eventually reveals her secret identity to him, and for awhile things are good. Unfortunately, after awhile, Matt notices the relationship is fairly unhealthy for the both of them, and on top of that he still has crush on Hannah Lewis (Faris) his partner from work. So Matt breaks off the relationship only to find its one of the worst decisions he's ever made: Jenny/G-Girl begins to terrorize him at home, work, and anywhere else. About this time the story really starts to take off with Professor Bedlam (Izzard), G-girl's arch nemesis, approaching Matt with a plan to end G-Girl's reign of terror over his love life once and for all.
The concept of this movie, is great, I love the idea of lovelorn superheroes. Unfortunately, I feel the script was weak and pulled off in such a way that it distilled the fun that could have been had. The special effects were weak, I actually winced at the CGI used for the shark, yes, the shark, that gets thrown at Matt. Poor guy. Finally, while I'm not going to reveal the ending, I have to say I was more than disappointed at the relative cheesiness that it closes on.
As far as acting goes, it's all anyone really expects out of superhero-oriented flicks. The acting was good but it's apparent that the script brings down any performances the performers could have given.
Luke Wilson plays the exasperated ex-boyfriend perfectly and he seems to have perfected the facial expressions of "oh boy, what have I gotten myself into" and "you've gotta be kidding me". Uma Thurman plays a desperate woman lacking majorly in the self-confidence department very well. It gives G-Girl a nice third dimension to her but it's not enough. Anna Faris casts off a little bit of her typical clueless demeanor that we've come to expect from her Scary Movie roles, but once again, it's not enough. Finally, Eddie Izzard, of whom I'm a huge fan, is funny, but his lines are formulaic and consequently break down his effectiveness to be a good villain.
This is a good concept ruined by poor effects, poor scriptwriting, but supplemented by okay acting and amusing stars.
"My Super Ex-Girlfriend" opens July 21, 2006 and is rated PG13. Action, Comedy. Directed by Ivan Reitman. Written by Don Payne. Starring Anna Faris, Eddie Izzard, Luke Wilson, Rainn Wilson, Uma Thurman.
