Stalking Super Surprises
My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006): 7 out of 10: Director Ivan Reitman hasn’t had a great film since Ghostbusters. In fact, for such a big name in Hollywood he has had only two great films (Ghostbusters and Stripes both over twenty years ago), one decent film (Dave), some quite mediocre films (Legal Eagles, Six Days Seven Nights, Junior, Kindergarten Cop, and Evolution) and some very serious flops (Fathers’ Day , Ghostbusters II).
So needless to say, with that track record, I expected a high concept comedy such as My Super Ex-Girlfriend to be mediocre at best. Instead, it hung in tight at decent.
The film had two personal aces in its corner with me. I like Uma Thurman and I just saw Superman Returns.
The fact I had recently sat through two-and-a-half hours of Superman stalking Lois Lane admittedly greatly added to the humor of this film. The principal character seems to enjoy her super powers, and this movie ironically is one of the more realistic demonstrations of how a mortal given superpowers would act. (Compare to the whining Jessica Alba lays on in Fantastic Four or the angst the X-Men feel about not fitting in. If I could fly and shoot fireballs, I assure you I would fit in. Hell, I would be the center of bloody attention.)
Some superheroes are designed to be dour types (Batman, and the Punisher come to mind) but most come across like whining athletes (A trope Amazon’s The Boys perfectly captures). Thurman is clearly enjoying herself. Uma Thurman fits the role to a tee. In fact, all the actors do a great job with special kudos to Anna Faris as the other woman.
Sure, some gags are juvenile and My Super Ex-Girlfriend really could have used an R-rating, but when I get to see a super heroine throw a great white shark into the apartment of her rival, I feel nothing but pure joy.
It beats some male model in a superman cape moping outside of Lois’s house spying with his x-ray vision pretending to be Jesus.