Zoom : L'Académie des super-héros

I have seen a number of movies from Revolution Studios, and with almost all of them I have found them to be souless "product" - movies put together with ingredients that seemed to guarantee a big hit, but lacking soul. With movies like this (a box office flop, partly due to the fact it was not screened for critics, a sign audiences know usually means a stinker), it's no wonder that Revolution Studios closed its doors a year later.

What went wrong with this movie? The main reasons the movie is a stinker can be traced to the script. We have four youths on the team Allen is leading, and we learn next to nothing about them. They are pretty interchangeable. The rest of the characters are poorly written as well. The bad guy of the movie doesn't appear until the last 15 minutes of the movie, leaving no time to develop him.

This poor writing of the characters may explain the awful performances from the adult members of the cast. I agree with the Leonard Maltin movie guide that Allen seems to be phoning it in. He seems to have a contempt for what he is surrounded by, making his character very unlikable. As for Chevy Chase, he doesn't even TRY to be funny.

The movie tries to inject emotion by playing popular pop songs on the soundtrack, but it doesn't work. The sets and various indoor and outdoor locations are okay, I guess. But the CGI used is third-rate, giving the movie a cheap look when it occurs. Kids may not mind that. But will they like the rest of the movie? If I saw this as a kid, I probably wouldn't have liked it - the movie lacks spirited characters and a sense of wonder and excitement. There may be some (very) young kinds who might like this movie, but I don't think it will be a movie that they will want to watch again and again.

"Zoom" is a fun movie for two audiences. It's a comedy sci-fi flick that was made for kids, with a far-out allusion to the super-heroes group from the age of comic books. The humor appeals a little bit to we older movie buffs. But of more interest and entertainment for the older movie crowd are the two characters, Dr. Grant and General Laraby.

Chevy Chase is a hoot as the government scientist, Dr. Grant, and Rip Torn is very funny in his frequent role as a cantankerous commander of some sort from films of the past. Tim Allen and the younger cast who play the super heroes are okay and should amuse the younger of the young crowd who follow the superheroes. Of course, once they reach about eight years of age, the kids are no longer dazzled by these more comical, kid-friendly characters. They're ready for the tougher, rougher, more daring super hero flicks. They want the "real thing" like the adults. You know, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Wolverine and Captain America.

My grandkids, the youngest ones anyway, get a kick out of flicks like this.

I actually watched this movie before I read any of the reviews or comments on this site which is rare for me; I tend to value the reviews and rankings of the other members. This is the first time I am left scratching my head wondering what exact movie did you people watch to give it such low reviews??!! This movie is what it is and a very good job of it. It is a movie that makes fun of super hero movies. Take a bitter misfit ex-superhero who can't be any less interested in training new recruits and make it funny. Zoom has his reasons to be bitter and they are CLEARLY explained, if people don't get the plot, they weren't really paying attention. The acting in this movie is very good by a well collected cast. Allen and Chase deliver slapstick one liners throughout the whole movie that are truly reminiscent of their comedic classic styles. If the one liner isn't enough to make you laugh, add the highly adorable factor from Ryan Newman as Cindy Collins is tops. The rest of the cast works very well together and even though there is a lot of predictability in the movie, it is still very funny and worth the watch. This is not a literary classic brought to life, so don't expect it to be. The negative comments about Allen are unjust, as his character wasn't' that far off from his style in the Santa Clause movies. This movie was enjoyable and I laughed out loud many times and I don't do that often with movies because they just aren't as funny in the same style. If you want to just relax and laugh at a silly movie, the Zoom on over to your video store and pick this one up.

I seriously had a bad feeling when I hurried to get out of the video store that I had to do a wise pick on a kiddie like movie. I thought when I first rented this movie it would be pretty good and funny since Tim Allen was acting in it. But what can I say when I started watching it, it was to do with four kid super heroes and their leader Zoom from a comic book came to life in such a crude humoured film! I mean I need to say they introduced the characters like the four kids which was a little six year old girl who could lift up to ten pounds of weight, a fat chubby boy who can make his body go even fatter and bigger and can squash anyone in his way, a teenage girl who has the power to stare and control any like object or thing with her eyes and a boy who could turn invisible and use his mind to see things from a far distance. The only thing I liked about this movie was just about the end of the film, where there was quite a impressive battle with Jack's evil brother Conner and he finally showed off his zooming power to plan on making his brother part of his family again. But trust me I'll warn any viewer if you really want to see this movie you likely only need to see it once or even half of it since it's like the worst movie ever created in the history of the universe! Period!

The people who rated this movie 1-star should get their heads out of their posteriors.

Too many movie-goers these days seem to only see movies as either being the best thing ever or the worst thing ever. The only way a movie should get 10 stars is if it would be difficult to improve upon and the only way a movie should get 1 star is if it was absolutely ineptly made on every level, and I assure you this movie doesn't come close to that. Even solely rating on personal taste and ignoring the technical filmmaking and how successfully the movie achieves the filmmakers' apparent intent, this movie could hardly be in the worst 10% of movies for anyone's taste.

This movie fails in many respects, but it has some redeeming moments and taken as a movie for small kids, it's not bad. The humor and acting both fall flat or miss the mark about as often as they're on target, but that is a sign of mediocrity, not atrocity.

Unfortunately at this point most of the IMDb users seem to think that if they enjoyed a movie they should give it a 10 and if it wasn't all they hoped for they should give it a 1. For instance the Lord of the Rings movies were entertaining, but have no business being rated higher than Citizen Kane or any of the countless classics relegated to lower ranks here. Similarly. Zoom has no business being rated lower than a piece of garbage like I Accuse My Parents which wasn't even watchable when it was skewered on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Remember folks most movies are mediocre. That means a low rating, not the bottom rating. Furthermore, just because a movie is exciting or satisfying doesn't make it a 10. For example, one can love the original Star Wars movies and still realize they have occasional flaws in acting, direction, pacing, or script.

Is Zoom a great movie? Absolutely not. Will some children, some parents, and even some adults without children enjoy it? Yes. Will it go down in history for being remarkable in any way? Probably not.