SPAGHETTIMAN. Absurdly funny superhero movie

The title says it all – if there’s “man,” there must be a superhero; if there’s “spaghetti,” then… pasta – Spaghettiman. However, Clark is not a priest of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (more likely Jack Sparrow); he rather resembles Spider-Man, except his wrists shoot out floury strings instead of webs. Of course, I mean Spider-Man according to Tobey Maguire; we know that the “real” one uses a launcher. Clark’s story is an extension of that stage in the mutated Peter Parker’s life, which usually gets no more than a quarter of an hour of screen time. It’s the story of a man whom many would likely become if gaining superpowers without deadly training were actually possible. It’s the story of a man who decided to monetize his abilities and didn’t even bother designing an impressive latex suit. Sneakers, jeans, a hoodie, and a paper bag on his head – that’s more than enough for him.

Spaghettiman looks as if collecting contributions from the cast was necessary for his creation, which for some viewers may be an insurmountable barrier. Some of you have proms or weddings recorded in very similar quality, and even today’s TV series accustomed us to a much higher standard. However, it’s worth overcoming this, as the script is filled with situational jokes and gags close to Matthew Vaughn‘s style in Kick-Ass or James Gunn’s in Super. Contrary to appearances, shooting an amateur horror or a low-budget action film is not as big a challenge as creating a budget comedy that can entertain a larger audience than just the filmmakers’ families (and probably only out of politeness). Spaghettiman had four people working on it – the director and the actors of the three key roles, so one can conclude that the story also developed on set, containing elements that the actors improvised right in front of the camera.

The biggest surprise is the choreography of fight scenes. Yes, there’s a lot of kitsch in them, but the kind that makes us love “bad movies,” and, in addition, there’s clearly an idea behind each duel. There’s no chaotic editing typical of most current Hollywood productions, and although none of the directed blows looks like enough force was put into them to cause harm, the ingredients of the barely hour-and-a-half monument of kitsch provide excellent entertainment. The best clash, of course, awaits us in the last minutes, and it alone makes it worthwhile to pay attention to the director Mark Potts. Who knows, maybe he’ll soon be behind the camera of one of the Marvel spectacles.

The hero seemingly appears to be another product of the trend for pop culture references. What recently amused and excited us today becomes secondary, unless it falls into the hands as skillful as all four belonging to the Duffer brothers. However, Spaghettiman is only such an undertaking in a very general outline. It is a superhero story that is not backed by comic canon, there are no “nerdy” disputes in it, and no one throws around “batmans” or “deadpools” left and right. Potts created, for pennies, an original, absurd comedy in a stiff convention (although it must be admitted that Taika Waititi did more or less the same thing in Thor: Ragnarok, but on a much larger scale) – a film that is worth writing about if only to ensure that this time more than fifteen enthusiasts will attend the screening. If you don’t know where to start your adventure with contemporary Class Z cinema, Spaghettiman will be an excellent choice.