My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
Also known as "Super Ex"
He broke her heart. She broke his everything.
Starring: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Stelio Savante, Mike Iorio, Mark Consuelos, Wanda Sykes, Margaret Anne Florence, Catherine Reitman, Tara Thompson, Kevin Townley, Eva Veronika, Lawrence Feeney
Director: Ivan Reitman
Running Time: 95 minutes
US MPAA rating: PG-13UK BBFC rating: 12A
Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller
There are some movies that are just like train wrecks, utterly horrific, yet when the ordinary person is confronted with it, it's impossible not to watch. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" is a train wreck movie, which is a huge shame, because the concept could actually have been quite a good one.
Matt Sanders (Luke Wilson) is a gutless, whining guy, (this is not Luke Wilson's fault he did the best he could with the script he had) who secretly likes Hannah Lewis (Anna Faris) but she has a boyfriend, so he instead ends up taking out shy, quiet Jenny Johnson. After the first few dates Jenny begins to get more and more possessive and frankly insane. This would not normally be a problem Matt could just dump her, but it turns out that Jenny is the alter-ego for the superhero G-Girl (never did find out what the G stood for). G-Girl became a superhero when she came into contact with a meteor as a teenager, she can fly, has laser vision and is super strong and she is also totally psychotic. When Matt does finally get up the courage to dump her and go out with Hannah, G-Girl starts a campaign of terror against him, she throws a live shark through his bedroom window while he is in bed with Hannah, pretty much destroys his apartment, loses him his job and puts his car into orbit. Matt is approached by G-Girls arch nemesis Professor Bedlam (an interesting turn by Eddie Izzard), to help him get close to G-Girl and drain her powers. It first Matt is against this, but as G-Girls violence escalates his worries about Hannah's safety push him into helping Professor Bedlam with his plan.
There are a lot of problems with this movie. The plot is very silly (but this may have been intentional). As no time is taken to place G-Girl in a fantasy world, like Gotham or Metropolis, we are expected to see G-Girl in our reality and it grates. Eddie Izzard, while always entertaining is a pathetic arch nemesis but at least his motivations are honest. Uma Thurman is very good, (and thus earns this movie it's one star) the character is just not likeable in any way, in fact throughout the entire movie my sympathies (when the film bothered to shake them) were firmly with Luke Wilson's character, yes he was pathetic and irritating, but he really didn't deserve what was done to him and it seemed mean and petty for a superhero to think he does. This is my biggest problem with this movie the extent to which G-Girls "mania" is allowed to go, I'm all for superheroes having flaws, they can have doubts, failures and issues with commitment, but petty and mean? That just doesn't sit right with me. If this movie was aiming for a satirical twist on the Superhero genre it failed utterly, if it was aiming for "rom-com" status it likewise failed, in fact don't watch it, there are better films to see out there.
It's Got: All the charm and entertainment value of a train wreck.
It Needs: A qualified psychiatrist and a serious "time-out".
Alternatives: Mystery Men, Fatal Attraction
Summary: Soulless hokum that should be avoided at all costs.
Review by Sara Burgess
Review Date: 5th October 2007
External Links
Official Web Site
My Super Ex-Girlfriend at the IMDB
