2502. Superlópez (2018)

Starring: Dani Rovira, Alexandra Jiménez, Julián López

Director: Javier Ruiz Caldera

Running Time: 108 mins

Superlópez is a Spanish film about a man who, after having crash landed on Earth as a baby, grows up feeling different to everyone around him. However, when the time comes, he must take on the duty of becoming the quintessential Spanish superhero: Superlópez.

Superhero parodies have been around as long as the original, and there are few comic book stories that have been subject to as many parodies as Superman. As a result, Superlópez doesn’t necessarily stun when it comes to telling an original story, but it forgoes that need with hilarious humour and hugely entertaining performances throughout, making for an out-and-out brilliant comedy with a little bit of comic book spice.

Of course, ever since the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and every superhero film that has followed suit over the last decade, superheroes are more deeply ingrained in the public consciousness than ever, yet general audiences’ genuine interest in comic book lore can often be overstated.

That’s where films like Superlópez come in, telling a classic and well-known story that almost anyone can laugh along with, without resorting to comic book metahumour and references in the same vein as the likes of Deadpool, a brand of humour that’s become increasingly popular, but does still go over the heads of a lot of people (including myself at times).

Superlópez, while still having the odd nod to the world of superhero lore, is a far more simple parody on the genre, and that’s a welcome change of pace from the general trends of the moment. As a result, while it makes fun of a story that you’ve definitely seen before, it puts a lot of effort into making that as funny as possible, and it does a great job of that in the end.

Pretty much from start to finish, I had a great time with Superlópez, laughing and smiling at its brand of simplistic but still well-written and thoroughly hilarious humour. In fact, the film is far more on the side of a typical comedy, with all manner of genre tropes cropping up throughout, and it’s only on the surface that the movie really has any real relation to the superhero genre.

It is based on a Spanish comic strip (which I’ll say I have never heard of before), but the film’s style is more or less what you’d see in any other studio comedy, yet thanks to good writing, as well as a whole host of fun performances, it made me laugh throughout.

And those performances are the last thing I’ll touch on, because although the story itself doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the most intrigue (there’s not much character depth, and its over-reliance on obligatory action in the final act is rather dull), the leads all give hugely energetic and likable performances, transforming their relatively one-dimensional characters into properly enjoyable leads to support and will on all the way through.

Dani Rovira is a great laugh in the lead role as Superlópez, and nails the movie’s often self-deprecating sense of humour throughout, while Alexandra Jiménez stands out far more than is often the case for the love interest in either a comedy or superhero movie, and even Maribel Verdú has a bit of fun with a silly villain role that, while not hugely intimidating, adds to the film’s fun-loving atmosphere well.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Superlópez. While it certainly isn’t the world’s most original movie, and a lot more simplistic than the superhero parodies we may be used to in the modern day, it is a thoroughly likable watch throughout, and with energetic performances and properly funny humour from beginning to end, there’s not much you can do but smile and laugh all the way through, and that’s why I’m giving it a 7.7.