BEFORE: Day 2 in Massachusetts - I bought comic books at The Outer Limits in Waltham, since I'm away from my regular haunt (Cosmic Comics in Manhattan), followed by pizza next door with Andy + Dave, where we debated various superhero films, and the validity of my numerical ratings system.
Well, the Spirit was a mystery man fighting crime in an urban environment, so that leads me to this film.
THE PLOT: A simpleton inventor becomes a superhero with a bulletproof costume and a low budget.
AFTER: Well, this was difficult for me to slog through - a true test of my endurance. I'm not usually into the comedy of the Wayans Brothers, and again I've got a problem with the tone. Once again, it's a superhero movie that doesn't know whether to play it straight, or go for the laughs. You just can't do both successfully, you've got to pick one or the other.
Damon Wayans plays Darryl Walker, who's even geekier than Clark Kent - he doesn't even have superpowers, just homemade gadgets and a bulletproof costume made of a fabric he accidentally invented. After his grandmother gets killed by mobsters while volunteering for a mayoral candidate, he puts the suit and the gadgets together, and adopts his new identity as the crime-fighting Blankman.
I get where they were going with this - what if Superman or Batman grew up in the Chicago slums? Or...every man has the ability within him to stand up for what's right, blah blah blah. But throw in too much bathroom humor, and too many dick jokes, and your message can sort of get lost.
I also found that one too many times, whenever there was a tight situation, Blankman had already invented the perfect mechanical solution to a problem that he never could have anticipated. I get the references to Batman's utility belt, but come on...
Also starring David Alan Grier, Robin Givens (as the Lois Lane-type reporter/love interest), Christopher Lawford (son of Peter), Jason Alexander (as a wheelchair-bound tabloid TV producer), Lynne Thigpen, with cameos from Jon Polito (Hollywood's go-to character actor for funny mobsters), Arsenio Hall, Greg Kinnear and John Moschitta Jr. (the guy who used to talk really fast in those FedEx commercials in the 80's).
RATING: 3 out of 10 stinkbombs
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