The Meteor Man (1993)

"The Meteor Man" is one of those movies that they crank out that advertises itself as "cute". Maybe it looks good at first, but in retrospect seems boring. Director-star Robert Townsend plays a schoolteacher who gets hit by a meteor and becomes a superhero in Washington, DC, fighting a local gang. Cool once, but not again. I much preferred Townsend's appearances in "Cooley High" (a nostalgia piece with a Motown soundtrack) and "The Mighty Quinn" (starring Denzel Washington as a cop investigating a murder in Jamaica, it also functions as a look a culture that we don't often get to see). My advice is to avoid this one.Also starring Marla Gibbs, Robert Guillaume, Eddie Griffin, James Earl Jones, Don Cheadle, Bill Cosby, Frank Gorshin, Sinbad, Nancy Wilson, Luther Vandross, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, LaWanda Page (Aunt Esther on "Sanford and Son") and Chris Tucker.

I think the previous commentor missed the point of the movie. This movie is intended to be silly fun, not a serious superhero movie. Granted, Townsend's comedy is not always ROFLMBAO hilarious, but the movie has a good message about coming together to fight evil and the showdown at the end, where both antagonists use the powers gained from various books to fight each other, almost makes the movie worth the price of admission. Its a "I've got nothing better to do and some time to kill" matinee movie, but still worth watching once.

Like so many underated films, I stumbled across this one on television and was most surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The concept of a black superhero is obviously intriguing but what made this one stand out for me was it's strong heart of community justice and pride.Unlike so many SuperHero films, the theme here was for the community to stop relying on someone else to solve their problems and to stop turning a blind (and scared) eye to the violence and crime that surrounded them until it knocked on their own door.What was also so refreshing was that the film managed to convey this is a light comedy format, which was never preachy, over the top or too slap stick. Honours to the writer/director for such restraint not only in the telling of the drama but also in the refinement of the comedy which resisted over wrought juvenile comedy tactics like fart and sex jokes (a true breath of fresh air considering the bogmire of "naughty" comedy we have had to wade through this season.)The only critiscism is that the final confrontation is a little too overplayed, but the final few scenes help to let the audience overlook this with a realistic and enjoyable ending.Special mention for James Earl Jones in his rather off beat role as a "young" rap dude, which he plays with true humour and as the film progresses, beautiful pathos. This film is worth seeing. For social commentary or just for a laugh - it delivers.

Superhero movies pretty much always suck, and this is no exception. Its only redeeming quality is the fact the movie COULD have been even worse. I would put 'Batman & Robin' and 'Steel' above this movie, so yes it is that bad...If your looking for a black superhero, check out 'Blankman' its not a "serious" superhero movie but at least its entertaining.