Earthbound

I doubt anyone expects this to be in a league with Star Wars. Instead it is a nice romantic story that keeps you in suspense. Is Joe going to choose his heroic delusion, or a normal life with his true love? The movie did a good job of taking you back and forth over which it was.

Although the story about a superhero struggling with thinking he was delusional has been done a few times, this is still a cute story. A lot of that is thanks to Jenn Murray who plays the absolutely perfect love interest for a dreamer. She is no Marylin Monroe, but she is as sweet as pure sugar and just as lovable. Whatever Maria did, she was always in love with Joe.

Rafe Spall does a good job in Joe's totally naive acceptance of his dad's alien story and still manages to make fun of it just as the movie makes fun of itself and the space hero genre.

Humor is spread throughout the movie. The producers turn their low budget into a strength by using ray guns that look like toys and using other props in the same way. It's all part of the satire. Not to say there aren't a couple of decent special effects.