Disaster Movie (2008)

Directed by: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer | 90 minutes | comedy | Actors: Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, G. Thang, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, Kimberly Kardashian, Ike Barinholtz, Carmen Electra

The makers of ‘Scary Movie’ thought after ‘Scary Movie 2′ and ‘Scary Movie 3′, ‘Date Movie’ and ‘Epic Movie’, that the public would need another weak comedy in which several successful films of a certain genre are razed to the ground. Whether that is the case is doubtful, but if it is, then the need to see these kinds of films has completely disappeared after ‘Disaster Movie’. The title is well chosen, however, because it is a real disaster.

Disaster films are, of course, extremely suitable for ridicule and they are cleverly used. For variety, movies like ‘Juno’, ‘Enchanted’, ‘Superbad’, ‘Sex and the City’, ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘High School Musical’ are also included. And to be able to beat the record of ridiculing as many people and films as possible, the teenage stars of this time are also included. Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson and Amy Winehouse, for example, show themselves.

In the absence of inspiration for something that should resemble a storyline, as many lame jokes and imitations as possible are stuck together in the hope that some kind of logical whole arises. So this is not the case. When disaster strikes a group of teens at a party, Will, Calvin, Juney and Lisa set out to rescue Amy. Along the way, they meet the Enchanted Princess, the murderous Alvin and the Chipmunks, and a not-so-friendly Beowulf and Kung Fu Panda.

Some actors play some double roles. For example, Hannah Montana is also Juno and Javier Bardem is also Prince Caspian and Batman. This shouldn’t be very complicated for the actors, after all, the roles are not very different from each other and they don’t have to think about deepening characters at all.

For all viewers who haven’t given up after Amy Winehouse’s huge, and certainly not funny, burp at the beginning of the film, there are still a few funny moments. So it is special to see that the Sex and the City ladies are imitated very nicely. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t leave it at the rise of the ladies, sipping on their Cosmopolitan. The ensuing fight between Carrie and Juno is arguably the worst moment of the entire movie. When the High School Musical dancers come on the scene, a small smile appears, and when Will’s ass crack is shown, there is even a short laugh. But in general there is little to laugh about with this film. Even the biggest ‘Scary-movie’ fan will not appreciate this film. At first it was funny to see a parody of a certain genre of films, it has now been completely milked out and ‘Disaster Movie’ takes the cake. It just has to come to an end now.