Steel – Film Review
Movie Details
DC Comics has had it’s share of horrible movies, including Supergirl, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, and Batman & Robin. Steel starring Shaquille O’Neal may just be their worst movie.
This movie tries to make you care about certain characters like Shaq’s friend Sparky, but you really don’t care. The film also introduces more characters you don’t care about, and that don’t serve any purpose to the film in any way. Fast into the movie we find out that Shaq has a friend that is a female cop, she dies quickly after her introduction, and that’s it.
It’s also filled to the brim with hilariously bad special effects. There are times when a gang member shoots Shaq with a laser gun and you can tell the director wants you to care about Shaq, but instead you can’t help but laugh when you see the special effects work put into the movie. The film also has a scene in which Shaq is about to eat a meal with his grandma when all of a sudden a SWAT team member bursts through his grandma’s window.
These days, superhero films try their hardest thankfully to be as serious as possible while also having a sense of fun mixed in to create a good contrast. Steel however, never does this. It tries to be a hilariously fun superhero film, but all it turns out being is just a hilarious bad superhero film.
For sure one of the most horrendous parts of Steel, is a scene in which Shaq is trying to break into the hideout of the villain Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson). Shaq sees two vicious looking dogs, when all of a sudden, he pulls out his gun and we find out that his gun has a built in dog whistle. I’m completely serious.
The ending also features a main character shooting sonic beams out of her wheelchair, which makes us all question what we just watched.
Steel contains an bafflingly bad story filled with immensely weak dialogue, poor character development, and poor acting throughout.
My Rating: F
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some superhero action violence
Cast: Shaquille O’Neal, Annabeth Gish, Judd Nelson, Irma P. Hall, Richard Roundtree
Directed by: Kenneth Johnson
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Running Time: 97 minutes