The Meteor Man

Well, I'd be lying if I said that this could easily rival Spiderman or the Batman movies. Still, it was more appealing to me for it's moral value. I first bought the VHS when my son was about 2 years old and it immediately became his favorite. My wife and I are avid supporters of Robert Townsend and have been since he used credit cards to finance his first movie, "Hollywood Shuffle". True, he needs to take advantage of the talents and knowledge of technical advisors to make the films more believable, but his movies are still fun.

Meteor Man provides a hero with an Urban Contemporary feel. I always felt that, if there were superheroes, they wouldn't provide the same scenarios as depicted in the comics. Meteor Man is realistic hero with real problems: Car broken into, bad neighborhood, local drug-dealing gangs using children for distribution, etc. The scope of his mission stayed pretty much within the community.

What I found to be truly entertaining, outside of James Earl Jones' "young forever" performance, was how the neighborhood responded to his newly discovered powers. It wasn't long before they had a full agenda lined up for him, without his input, of course. It was hilarious to hear them offer to lend him out to other communities where their extended families lived.

Yes, the plot was weak, the movie was predictable, there was bad acting and continuity was rotten, but it ranks #1 with my kids. Robert Townsend works to bring movies "home" so to speak. I doubt he'll ever truly be recognized as the talented actor/producer/director he truly is, but there are and will always be, those that love him for his efforts.

One point to ponder about the film, which I find amusing: Throughout the entire battle with Simon, no one bothered to call the police???? Also, what mother and father do you know that will watch their son fight from a window? My mother would have been right there, scrapping by my side, toe-to-toe. Dad would be loading his pistol. lol

Rent it and check it out. It's worth seeing at least once and good for those of you that are fans of Sinbad, Luther Vandross, Bill Cosby, Big Daddy Kane, etc. Great job with the cameos Robert!

There's no plot.

There's a fine story about a man gaining superpowers to clean up the neighborhood, but his adventures seem rather random. His adversaries also seem to lack a larger plan. The combination of the two makes for a fairly decent film that lacks a couple of key elements to make it an increbidly good film.

The comedy is good, as is the overall story. The acting is also top notch, as the characters portrayed are fun and enjoyable (I'm at a real loss to understand why other reviewers panned the acting ... possibly because they don't understand what it is they didn't like about the movie). But again the characters seem to lack a plan for their actions.

The gags in the film are exceptional, as is the case with the supermajority of Townsend's material. However a dash more comedy could've served this film as the jokes are more sporatic than constant. Not a whole lot more but a few more comic bits and comical characters could've really helped the film, because, like I said, the film bounces between a light hearted adventured and comedy. And I think this too probably confounded the people who didn't like the film.

The one thing I liked a great deal was seeing a lot of familiar actors one normally doesn't see. Read that as "black actors." Regrettably it takes a man like Townsend to bring a black cast to life. And I suppose on one plane that is as it should be; for who better to bring to life a tale of a Black/African-American/person-of-color superhero than a Black/African-American/person-of-color writer-director-actor?

An enjoyable film that strives for an A, but just misses its mark. It's definately worth seeing, and is very enjoyable, but if you come away somewhat empty understand that it's essentially a one man show where the writing is concerned.

A note to Townsend; make a sequel. This film deserves one, but bring in other writers to help you out with the script. A few more gags/jokes, and more plot, and you have yourself one fine film.

I remember seeing this film about 5 years back and geez, did it make me laugh it is an extremely funny movie starring robert townsend with cameos from such greats as cypress hill's B-Real and comedic genius Sinbad and the Hilarious Eddie Griffin this film is a great. The Story basically is jeffery reid gains super powers and becomes a crime fighting super hero.

Like so many underated films, I stumbled across this one on television and was most surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The concept of a black superhero is obviously intriguing but what made this one stand out for me was it's strong heart of community justice and pride.

Unlike so many SuperHero films, the theme here was for the community to stop relying on someone else to solve their problems and to stop turning a blind (and scared) eye to the violence and crime that surrounded them until it knocked on their own door.

What was also so refreshing was that the film managed to convey this is a light comedy format, which was never preachy, over the top or too slap stick. Honours to the writer/director for such restraint not only in the telling of the drama but also in the refinement of the comedy which resisted over wrought juvenile comedy tactics like fart and sex jokes (a true breath of fresh air considering the bogmire of "naughty" comedy we have had to wade through this season.)

The only critiscism is that the final confrontation is a little too overplayed, but the final few scenes help to let the audience overlook this with a realistic and enjoyable ending.

Special mention for James Earl Jones in his rather off beat role as a "young" rap dude, which he plays with true humour and as the film progresses, beautiful pathos.

This film is worth seeing. For social commentary or just for a laugh - it delivers.

Meteor Man is a black Superman. But this super man story says more than the story of Superman. There are no aliens in this movie. There are no spaceships. This film is about people, and an ordinary man put under extraordinary circumstances. It's about everyday problems that are ignored in inner cities. It touches on the problem of gangs, violence, and drugs. But these are all battled through self-belief, family, friendship, and community.

Though this movie is not necessarily a Steven Spielberg film it does have attractive qualities to it, especially in its sense of humor. It is a very funny movie, and the story though fairly simple is well written, and entertaining. The film Meteor Man answers the question of, "What would Superman be like if he were black?"

Well worth a watch for lighthearted fun, and drama from an era that some have forgotten. This is the best black super-hero movie of the 1990s.