Man of Steel XXX (2013) – Review

It’s not what you were expecting, I promise!

OK, mostly it is what you were expecting, but of a much higher quality. The parodies of the 70s through the early 2000s are what most people are familiar with. The low quality campy productions with costumes that even the most casual cosplayer could outdo–but things have improved a thousandfold, mostly as a result of the comic book revolution.  The dawn of Marvel’s Hollywood dominance meets modern erotica.

Vivid studios, a longstanding giant in the porn universe, created Vivid Superhero in 2010, a studio that focuses on nothing but high quality XXX adaptations of comic books.

“Comic books?” the figurative reader may think. “I thought you said they were formed because of the Hollywood revolution? And this was titled Man of Steel, which was totally a movie!”

Well, it takes a lot of work and marketing to get noticed, so Axel Braun and Vivid Superheroes named this (and almost all of their other productions) after Hollywood movies, but the plots are taken from the pages of comic books, ignoring their Hollywood namesakes in most ways. Where they really tend to stay true is in the costumes; in this particular movie, Man of Steel, they create the textured Superman costume in stunning detail. The costume for Silver Banshee is really well done, including all of the requisite face paint and makeup, and Lex Luthor is rendered in classy detail befitting the President of the United States.

 

I’ve seen worse in much higher budget films.

Fans who arrived here simply to follow the Hollywood movie are actually in for a primer in many of Superman’s nearly unknown or much less well known enemies and allies, and will be introduced to plot lines that even the animated DC universe have barely touched.

What’s a Doctor Fate?

You’re probably expecting terrible acting too, but I’m here to (sort of) disappoint that expectation as Ryan Driller (obviously an alias) does a perfect Clark Kent, stiff enough (eheheh) in his attempts at human emotion that you don’t fully believe he is human, but close enough that you don’t believe that Clark is played by a robot. The acting is more human than Channing Tatum’s role in Jupiter Ascending, to make a direct comparison. Is that a high bar? No, but it’s higher than you were expecting, isn’t it?

There is an attention to detail on display here, as well–you can really tell the production crew on this film actually cares about the source material. They are not jaded producers, they are fans of the comics (and of porn, obviously), but the recreations are done in a way that really shows an appreciation for the genre.

They even took the time to put in contacts!

There are lots of nods to many plot lines, canon, and just general strokes (eheheh) to the nerd culture. Talia al’Ghul makes an appearance, as does Batman in a short crossover arc related to Superman’s decisions in the film (Trying so hard to remain spoiler free).

Some of the villains are little more than cameos, but the primary antagonists are Lex Luthor (obviously) and a much darker version of Bizarro than you may remember if you grew up watching Super Friends. Bizarro is played by Billy Glide, and if this is your first foray into the parodyverse you will learn quickly that women fear him for… Reasons. That being said, he looks the part of a dark, evil, monstrous Superman. Again the costume and makeup department of this film deserve all the praise you would give to any big budget Hollywood department, and I wish there were more mainstream recognition for their work.

Seriously, that is some high end cosplayer grade stuff going on there.

As far as writing goes, it isn’t as awful as you might imagine. There are your lines ripped almost directly from canon, and there are other lines that show some genre savviness, as well as high levels of sarcasm. The line “Drill me,” is not as common in porn as you might think, but when you are working with Ryan Driller it just gains a new level of humor.

Don’t get me wrong, this movie isn’t all about humor–like any Hollywood movie, there are layers. One does not simply go Full Batman, but it knows how to be both light and dark, no matter how heavily it leans dark. There is a dream sequence that is both excellently written (well, maybe not excellently, but definitely worth watching) and that shows Superman’s emotions better than almost any Hollywood adaptation.

Plenty dark enough at times, but maybe they took it a little too literally?

I can say with some honesty that the universe of XXX parodies has entered its golden age, and it does not appear to be stopping. The most recent string of movies are adaptations of Disney films such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. If you want to stick with comic books, Spider-Man has a series dedicated to him, and the adaptations of The Avengers films are great to watch (and feature Chyna. The Chyna. WWE Chyna. She plays She-Hulk!).

There is a series of horror parodies that are of such high quality they rival their Hollywood namesakes for production values, the only real difference being that while it’s still the young couple having sex who dies first, everything happens more on screen than off.

There are parodies of game shows, TV shows, Hollywood films, and of course much more in the comic universes of both DC and Marvel. If you are interested in the genre, I write much more sarcastically about it (and much more graphically) over on my own site, Almost Pop Movies. I wouldn’t call what I do over there professional grade writing, but if the genre is up your alley I think you’ll find something to like. If nothing else, you can find out what kinds of parodies are out there, and I review a new parody once per week.