Electra Woman and Dyna Girl

YouTube comedy stars Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart head up the cast of this tongue-in-cheek feature-length revival/spoof of the superhero series produced for Saturday morning TV by Sid and Marty Krofft in the 1970s. Our heroes are childhood best friends with homemade costumes who keep their hometown of Akron, OH, safe between trips to the convenience store. When YouTube footage of their takedown of a couple of robbers goes viral, the top agent of Creative Masked Management invites them out to Los Angeles. In a world where supervillains have all been vanquished, it's now all about endorsement deals, so the tale becomes a classic story of success breaking up the band: Electra Woman (Helbig) is elevated to star status and grows addicted to celebrity, while Dyna Girl (Hart) resists the lure to sell out—until the arrival of a new supervillain reminds them of why they became heroes in the first place. Inexpensively produced, this looks and plays like an ambitious YouTube skit with a bigger budget and longer running time. The conventional tale serves as a framework on which to hang commentary on comic book superhero clichés and web celebrity, delivered with a mix of campy situations and dry, deadpan delivery. Unfortunately, there is not enough narrative momentum here to sustain a full movie, although there may be interest from fans of the YouTube celebrities. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by costars Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart, a San Diego Comic Con featurette (13 min.), a “making-of” featurette (5 min.), the behind-the-scenes segments “Inside Creative Masked Management” (3 min.), “Making the Movie Poster” (3 min.), “Electra Car for Sale” (2 min.), “CMM: The Super Hero Agency,” “Dan Dixon: CMM Super Agent,” “Megaline: The Source for Celebrity News,” “Everybody Loves Plant Man,” and “There's No Sidekick Here,” and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so low-budget spoof.] (S. Axmaker)