Real disaster movies have more laughs
The title is something of a misnomer. Disaster Movie, from the people who helped to concoct Scary Movie, Date Movie and Meet the Spartans, sounds as if it is going to send up such opuses as The Poseidon Adventure and Earthquake.
Although there is a calamity (never clearly defined) threatening Earth in Disaster Movie, the film from writer-directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer doesn't pay much attention to all the hoary tropes of the world-in-jeopardy genre.
Most of the gags actually are directed at such recent non-disaster movies such as No Country for Old Men, Juno and Sex and the City, with swipes at such pop stars as Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. The movie might more aptly be titled Forbidden Hollywood. If only it had the sass of the Forbidden Broadway musicals that helped to inspire Friedberg and Seltzer.
No one expects sophisticated wit from this movie, but would it be too much to ask for more than a chuckle every 10 minutes? The film will eke out a little money at the cinemas and will probably be forgotten the next day.
Our hero, Will, played by Matt Lanter, wakes up from a nightmare predicting the end of the world.
At his 16th birthday party, which he is holding even though he's 25, his dream begins to come true as a massive earthquake shakes the hall. Soon he and his pals are dodging meteors and flying cows, while tripping over inept plot developments and lame dialogue.
In all fairness, the cast is game. Lanter is likable and seems as if he might have a future beyond grade-Z movies. Stand-up comic Gary "G-Thang" Johnson also supplies energy as Will's buddy. The girls – Vanessa Minnillo, Nicole Parker and Kim Kardashian – have the requisite physical attributes but fewer discernible acting skills. Any wonder? A plethora of inappropriate gags strain the PG-13 rating. As in other movies aimed at teens, there is a lot of adult humour. Special effects are fairly primitive, though the end credits go on almost as long as those for The Dark Knight. One wonders how so many people could have toiled to produce so little.
The numbers
$20m: Production budget of Disaster Movie
$5.8m: Amount collected during its opening weekend in the United States
$18.7m: Worldwide box office collections since its August 29 release
$157m: The amount 2000's Scary Movie – Hollywood's most successful spoof film – has made in comparison
Source: boxofficemojo.com