Robert Townsend’s new movie Meteor Man may be silly, but it does lend a new voice to the superhero mix. And it’s a voice that says children of all colors can be heroes.
In the PG-rated Meteor Man, Townsend plays Jefferson Reed, a timid teacher living with his parents in a crime-infested, inner-city community in Washington, D.C. When he is hit by a magical emerald meteor, he finds himself imbued with superpowers.
He can fly. He can see through walls. He even has supernatural strength.
But that’s where Townsend departs from the Superman script.
The Meteor Man is from the ‘hood and he is African-American. In fact, he is the first black superhero in movie history.
Meteor Man has an added power: he’s funny. Townsend’s humor shines through when Reed, who is afraid of heights, flies only four feet from the ground. And his super costume is a homemade number stitched together by his mother, played by Marla Gibbs. He’s a reluctant superhero, not wishing to tangle with the Golden Lords, a gang of drug dealers working to take over the city.
But his mother has high hopes for his superpowers. She figures his superpowers can be put to good use clearing out crack houses, driving the Golden Lords from the community, and — who knows — maybe even helping the struggle in South Africa.
So against his will, the meek school teacher, who encourages his students to run from bullies, is forced to become a real community hero by his parents, friends, even his dog.
As he battles criminals with names like Uzi, Zeuss and Goldilocks, he learns that his greatest power is not a superhuman one; it’s helping the community to learn to help itself.
It’s a truly corny comedy, definitely for kids, and you’ll hear the children laughing at all Townsend’s jokes. Still, the film is full of gun-toting gangsters and flying bullets. But it’s mock-violence, couched and muted.
The star-stocked cast includes Townsend, Gibbs, James Earl Jones, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume and Roy Fagan, with cameos by Bill Cosby, Sinbad, Nancy Wilson, Luther Vandross, Beverly Johnson. Rappers Another Bad Creation, Naughty By Nature, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and Cypress Hill are here as actors, but the soundtrack is Motown and light rap.
Townsend made a name for himself with Hollywood Shuffle, a hilarious satire examining the trials of African-American actors in Hollywood, and with The Five Heartbeats, a look at the downside of the music industry. With Meteor Man, he continues to demonstrate his versatility, by reaching out to children with a project that mixes fantasy with ’90s-style reality.
