The A.V. Club has agreed to sponsor 10 days of programming in Crackle.com’s Summer Drive-In Series. We’re providing a preview of each day’s movie (or movies) here.
Up today: Blankman
Was Damon Wayans simply ahead of his time? Wayans co-wrote and starred in the superhero parody Blankman, which found its way into theaters at the sleepy end of August in 1994. It didn’t draw much of an audience at the time, maybe because there weren’t so many superhero movies to parody. Of course, the main joke here has less to do with sending up Batman than Wayans’ attempts to become a low-budget superhero using junk and homemade garbage. Is it a funny joke? Well, judge for yourself. Our Wayans tolerance has worn a bit thin after White Chicks and Little Man, though this comes from an earlier, less-jaded era of Wayanstainment, when fresh off In Living Color they seemed poised to conquer the world alongside breakout star Jim Carrey. Fellow In Living Color alum David Alan Grier is on hand as Wayans’ brother. And, yes, that is Jason Alexander as the shouty, wheelchair-bound editor of a sleazy news show.
Watch it here (and feel free to discuss it in the comments section below.)