Superhero Movie

Rick Riker (Drake Bell), an underdog student at Empire High School, trudges through life with little fanfare. He's stuck between being ignored by his crush, Jill Johnson (Sara Paxton), who's smitten with the school's resident bully, Lance Landers (Ryan Hansen), and befriending his sole confidant, Trey (Kevin Hart). Rick's world is turned upside down when he meets Lou Landers (Christopher McDonald) at an animal research lab during a field trip. The terminally ill Lou's coughing fits are a stark reminder of the fragility of life.

As Rick returns home from the excursion, his neck begins to swell in response to a mysterious dragonfly bite he sustained at the lab. His eccentric Uncle Albert (Leslie Nielsen) and Aunt Lucille (Marion Ross) try to make sense of their nephew's bizarre behavior, but Rick's descent into illness is more pronounced than they realize.

Five days later, Rick awakens with a newfound appreciation for the internet. A cryptic message from an unknown sender piques his curiosity, leading him down a rabbit hole of online interactions and eventually adding him as a Facebook friend. Meanwhile, Lou Landers' ill-fated experiment at the lab has an unexpected outcome: he's transformed into Hourglass, a malevolent force that can drain the life energy from others.

As Rick navigates the challenges of his newfound abilities – including his tendency to stick to surfaces and exhibit superhuman strength – he struggles to come to terms with his new reality. During a chaotic science fair at school, attended by the cantankerous Stephen Hawking (Robert Joy), Rick's powers are put to the test. After a series of mishaps, he discovers that he can walk on walls and possesses incredible strength.

In a heart-stopping moment, Rick uses his abilities to save an elderly woman and her dog from a runaway truck, only to watch in horror as they're crushed by the vehicle. Despite the chaos, passers-by congratulate him on his heroism, but Rick's introspection is marked by a sense of unease, knowing that he was powerless to prevent the tragic outcome for the innocent bystanders.

As Rick's secret is finally bared to his uncle and Trey, the latter offers to join forces as a sidekick, but Rick steadfastly declines. This rebuff sparks a heated disagreement with Uncle Albert, which in turn sets off a flashback sequence that whisks viewers back to a pivotal moment in Rick's past. In this nostalgic episode, a youthful Rick and his parents (Robert Hays and Nicole Sullivan) are brutalized in an alleyway, only to meet their untimely demise in a sidesplitting sendup of the Batman Begins' opening scene. As his father takes his final breaths, he implores Rick to liquidate all his Google shares and plow the profits into Enron - a bizarre bequest that would haunt Rick for years to come.

Following this emotional rollercoaster, Rick becomes fixated on acquiring a sleek set of wheels after witnessing Lance's Porsche Cayman cruising away with Jill. Undeterred by his initial rejection at the bank, Rick seeks alternative financing, only to have his hopes dashed once more. The chaos is momentarily interrupted by the sudden appearance of a bank robber, who holds up the institution and leaves Uncle Albert gravely injured - a sobering reminder of the fragility of life.

Meanwhile, Landers inadvertently sucks the life force out of his secretary, sending her to an untimely grave. As Rick visits Jill at the hospital, seeking solace in her compassionate embrace, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of superhero activity. At Xavier's School for Mutants, Rick is introduced to a motley crew of X-Men-inspired characters - Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, the Invisible Woman, and Mrs. Xavier herself. Tasked with crafting his very own costume by the enigmatic matriarch, Rick dons the persona of the Dragonfly, only to discover that an early prototype leaves him blind, breathless, and utterly disoriented.

After a series of awkward adjustments, Rick finally emerges as a sleek, high-tech vigilante - albeit one who still struggles to take flight like his Human Torch counterpart. As Dragonfly's legend grows, so too does his infamy, earning the enmity of Hourglass, who deploys her formidable powers to steal a valuable canister of Cerillium and leave the hero reeling.

In a heartwarming coda, Jill finds herself in dire straits as muggers converge on her location. With Dragonfly arriving just in time to save the day, Jill expresses her gratitude with a tender kiss - only for Rick to slide away at the last moment, leaving him gazing longingly down Jill's shirt.

As Jill's attempts to revive him prove futile, the hapless hero is left lying lifelessly on the ground. In a bizarre turn of events, Dragonfly (Rick) makes another failed attempt to win Jill over, this time opting for a battle against crime rather than romance. Meanwhile, Landers becomes increasingly consumed by his sinister plans, determined to construct a machine capable of siphoning the life force from 42,000 unsuspecting individuals, thereby granting him immortality.

As the Rikers family gathers for their annual Thanksgiving feast, Landers sees an opportunity to uncover Dragonfly's secret identity. Just as Rick and Jill are about to share a tender moment, the Hourglass strikes again, brutally murdering Aunt Lucille in a senseless act of violence. In the aftermath, Uncle Albert recovers from his ordeal, and after a funeral that is equal parts somber and comedic, Rick decides to hang up his superhero cape for good.

However, Trey and Uncle Albert refuse to let Rick's heroism go quietly into the night, urging him to track down the Hourglass and put an end to its reign of terror. As fate would have it, Landers finds himself honored with a dubious award at a ceremony celebrating achievements in feminine hygiene - a dubious distinction that earns him the title of Douchebag Of The Year.

In a bizarre twist, Landers convinces Rick that the Dalai Lama is actually the Hourglass, leading to a chaotic brawl that draws in an array of unlikely combatants, including Buddhist monks, the Pope, and Stephen Hawking. Amidst the mayhem, Jill discovers Landers' true identity as the diabolical Hourglass.

As tensions come to a head at a nearby superhero convention, where a revolutionary flying machine awaits its master, Rick and Landers engage in an epic battle. In a desperate bid to stop Hourglass, Jill intervenes, only to find herself critically injured. As Hourglass activates his life-force-stealing device on the rooftop, he makes off with the energy of all the attendees at both the ceremony and the convention.

Stephen Hawking's impassioned plea to Rick not to give up serves as a poignant reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope. Emboldened by this newfound resolve, Dragonfly dons his suit once more and launches a daring assault on Hourglass.

In a daring display of acrobatic prowess, Dragonfly siphons off some of Hourglass's stolen life force to heal Jill, only for the villainous mastermind to retaliate with a devastating bomb that becomes stuck to Dragonfly's crotch. With his foe trapped and helpless, Landers cries out in desperation, "Oh, f**k!", before the bomb detonates, ending his malevolent schemes once and for all.

As fate would have it, Jill takes an unexpected tumble from the rooftop, plummeting towards the unknown below. But in a stunning display of chivalry and devotion, Dragonfly - or rather, Rick (as we soon discover) - springs into action, hurtling after her with reckless abandon. Upon catching up to Jill, Rick wraps his arms around her and reveals his true identity, prompting a confession of love from the grateful damsel. The air is electric as their lips meet in a passionate kiss, and in a miraculous transformation, Rick's body begins to morph, sprouting wings that shimmer with an otherworldly glow. With newfound aerial abilities, Rick lifts them both off the ground, soaring above the cityscape until they land safely on the rooftop where Uncle Albert and the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking (played by none other than himself) await their return. As they make their way down to solid ground, however, disaster strikes: Hawking's wheelchair becomes wedged against the ledge, sending him careening into a precipitous free-fall. Rick and Jill respond with alacrity, taking to the skies once more - only to find themselves caught in the crosshairs of an oncoming helicopter, its blades whirring menacingly as it bears down upon them.