What Would Lois Lane Do?
My Super Ex-Girlfriend Explores Super Break-Ups

Over the past several years, superhero films have become a common genre. Since the debut of X-Men in 2000, I don't think there is a serious moviegoer who hasn't seen at least one film inspired by a comic book. But questions linger. Non-fans ask impertinent questions like, "Why can't Lois Lane recognize that Clark Kent is Superman?" and "How can Superman have sex?" In My Super Ex-Girlfriend, director Ivan Reitman asks what happens when super-love goes sour.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Matt (Luke Wilson) finds out that the his new girlfriend is the famous hero G-Girl (Uma Thurman) in the comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend. (20th Century Fox, 2006)
Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Written by: Don Payne
Starring: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson, and Eddie Izzard

Rated PG-13 (for sexual content, crude humor, language and brief nudity)
Running time: 95 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 5 out of 10.

Matt (Luke Wilson) is an architect who is still reeling over his last disastrous relationship. His friend Vaughn (Rainn Wilson, from television's The Office) tells him to get out and begin a series of meaningless one-night stands. To that end, Matt strikes up a conversation with an unassuming woman (Uma Thurman) on the subway. When her purse is snatched, he takes off after the thief and manages to recover it. Jenny is impressed by Matt's chivalry and agrees to go on a date.

What Matt doesn't realize is that behind the mild-mannered exterior and glasses lurks the superhero G-Girl, a blonde goddess in high heels and a mini-skirt. His relationship with Jenny proceeds slowly, but soon he finds himself the target of her arch-nemesis, Professor Bedlam (Eddie Izzard).

When the relationship begins to go bad, Matt finds himself at a loss. He wants to break up with Jenny, but fears that she might hurt him or those he cares about. Of course, his worst fears are realized when Jenny turns out to be unwilling to let him go.

The comedy is outrageous, going beyond the bounds of normal psychotic behavior. G-Girl steals Matt's car and pops into it orbit. She burns an obscene word into his forehead with her laser vision. At one point, G-Girl finds Matt in bed with another woman and lobs a shark at him through the apartment window.

But Reitman also turns things around and examines the so-called villains as well. If the superheroes aren't all that super, maybe the villains aren't so vile. As we learn of G-Girl's origin, we also understand Professor Bedlam a little better. The result is a superhero romantic comedy that makes a crazy mix of relationships, lovers, and bitter enemies.

The key to My Super Ex-Girlfriend lies in establishing the genre. This is not a superhero film with a romantic interest. That's been done in films like Spider-Man and Superman Returns. Instead, Reitman gives us a comedy that uses superheroes as a gimmick, the way he used the supernatural in Ghostbusters. As in Ghostbusters, however, there are rules that have to be followed or it doesn't work. Reitman makes certain assumptions, putting the story in a world where superheroes are real, accepted, and admired. Superheroes have arch enemies. And, most importantly, superheroes are just normal people with extraordinary power.

The comedy in the film is uneven at times. While the dialogue is pretty bland, there are ocassional good lines. Most of the comedy is physical or crude, and not very inspired. The best moments come when Matt and Vaughn are together, talking about Matt's problems. Wilson, as Vaughn, steals every scene he is in.

The truth that comes out in My Super Ex-Girlfriend is that a world filled with superheroes would be a scary place. The comic books tend to mold heroes into saints while the villains are pure evil. The real world isn't so black and white. This movie makes it too easy to believe that ordinary people with real problems would eventually use their powers in some pretty unheroic ways. Of course, if they didn't, it wouldn't be a comedy.