Epic Movie

Like its awful predecessor Date Movie, Jason Friedberg's Epic Movie is just a string of sketches lampooning big Hollywood releases from the last few years, loosely tied together by an inane plot and marked by the sort of sophomoric foolishness that might be considered the forte of randy 13-year-olds. The orgy of slapstick violence, fart gags, sexual sniggering, and cheesy special effects begins with nods to The Da Vinci Code, Nacho Libre, Snakes on a Plane, and X-Men, before veering off to tackle Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Superman Returns, the Harry Potter franchise, and The Chronicles of Narnia (by far its major inspiration). It's all terrible—puerile, vulgar, and unfunny—reaching its nadir with a Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest takeoff with a surprisingly irritating imitation of Johnny Depp by Darrell Hammond, as well as a “music video” so dreadful it may make viewers retch (something else that occurs regularly onscreen). Unfortunately, once you label that as the movie's low point, you'll likely regret not choosing the reference to Borat which pops up at the close, or the song performed to accompany scenes of human body parts being hacked off in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sequence (in which Crispin Glover actually out-creeps Depp's original). Not recommended. [Note: Available in either PG-13 or unrated versions, DVD extras on the unrated version include a gag audio commentary by filmmakers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, a “Breaking Wind: An Epic Journey into the Sounds of Epic Movie” audio track that adds rude sound effects throughout the film, a “How Gratuitous” viewing option with pop-up icons linked to bonus footage, a “Making-the-Video: Lazy Pirate Day” featurette (10 min.), the Fox Movie Channel presentations “In Character with Fred Willard” (9 min.) and “Making a Spoof” (7 min.), four minutes of outtakes, “Everyone Loves Beavers: Epic Hook-Ups” (4 min.), an interview with costar Kevin Hart (3 min.), the short film “Die Libre” from the Epic Movie viral video contest (3 min.), “Epic Porn: What Would Your Porno Movie Be Called?” (3 min.), “Hot or Not: Character Turn Ons and Turn Offs” (2 min.), an alternate ending (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a dud comedy.] (F. Swietek)