I’m a sucker for car racing movies. Some are Disney while others are deadly; some are comedies while others are merely laughable; some are wacky Wachowski one-offs while others are furiously approaching double digits.
The worst I’ve seen in the wake of the fabulously successful Fast and Furious franchise was undoubtedly the shoestring-budget direct-to-DVD production 200mph (2011). If any movie about a car wreck could be called a train wreck, that was it.
On the other hand, I didn’t expect to like Death Race, but it was great! The sequel was also pretty good, though the second sequel wasn’t.
Due to my hit-and-miss nature of my past experience with car movies, my expectations for this parody/spoof were extremely non-specific. I didn’t know Superfast! was, like Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Vampires Suck, et al., written and directed by the much derided team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. I had no interest in any of their other movies and didn’t see them.
All of which is to say that maybe I shouldn’t have enjoyed Superfast!, but I did, perhaps because the filmmakers’ humor was new to me, even if it’s stupid and old and tired to most everyone else.
Anyway, even if it was a bad movie, it wasn’t as bad as 200mph.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/superfast/id1229229788
See below for some links to reviews as well as a plot summary (with SPOILERS) in the form of a beat sheet in the style described in Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat.
My beat sheet for Superfast!
Opening Image
A street race takes place in LA.
Set up
Lucas White, an undercover cop, loses a street race but nevertheless manages to befriend a bald, Vin-Diesel lookalike named Vin. Vin’s team consists of his sister, his friend Curtis, and his girlfriend.
Catalyst
Lucas and Vin manage to impress local crime boss Juan Carlos with their dance skills, so he hires them to drive his supercar from point A to point B for some reason. When Lucas and Vin arrive, they are given a bomb instead of cash. In the aftermath of the ensuing gunfight, Lucas accidentally shoots and kills his police supervisor as he arrives on the scene. Now nobody knows he’s really a cop, and he’s on camera as a cop-killer.
Debate / Break into Two
The supercar contains information on Juan Carlos’ assets and activities. If Vin’s gang can steal his money, they can all retire. They’ve got a Dwayne Johnson lookalike on their tail, though. He’s got glistening muscles and no brains, but his assistant manages him like Penny and Brain manage the hapless Inspector Gadget.
B Story
Vin recruits some new team members, who don’t have real names because they only have token parts: Rapper Cameo, Cool Asian Guy (who is always eating something) and Model Turned Actress.
Fun and Games
After launching an assault on the wrong address, Vin and his team make plans to break into the Big Ass Taco restaurant where the cash is hidden.
Midpoint
Juan Carlos finds out that Vin’s team is targeting his assets and sets out to stop them.
Bad Guys Close In
Johnson and his assistant find the team’s plans in their garage.
All Is Lost / Dark Night of the Soul
After being consistently rejected by Vin, Curtis double-crosses Vin’s team, so when they arrive at the restaurant, Juan Carlos’s goons shoot at them. Curtis is hit and killed by a bullet meant for Vin.
Break into Three
Lucas and Vin attach their vehicles to the restaurant and pull the whole building down the street.
Finale
Juan Carlos and the cops chase the restaurant in their own vehicles. Juan Carlos bribes Detective Johnson to go away, and gets run over by a car after Vin’s girlfriend and Johnson’s assistant start making out in it. After being outed as a cop to Vin and his sister by Johnson, Lucas turns down further police work, deciding he prefers Vin, Vin’s sister, and their newfound riches.
Reviews
Even the most positive reviews are mostly negative, and there aren’t many reviews out there. Almost zero websites I’ve heard of bothered to publish words about this piece of entertainment.
- Variety: “Dwayne Johnson can earn more laughs with a few seconds of artful eyebrow arching than Friedberg and Seltzer manage throughout the entirety of their mercilessly protracted 99-minute comedy.”
- LA Times: “While fans can appreciate all the winks and nudges, the film is a wreck for the uninitiated.”
- Unreality Magazine: “[I]t must be said this movie – although definitely still not good – is a lot better than most of their other movies.”
- Oppositelock: “It’s corny, the jokes are often horrible, and the scripting is bad. However, it will make you laugh if you do not take it seriously.”
- Under The Gun Review: “I don’t know exactly what I expected when I first sat down to witness this mind-numbing cinematic debacle, but I certainly had hoped to find more than an absolute waste of time.”
