Blankman

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Blankman
Blankman poster
Directed by	Mike Binder
Produced by	C.O. Erickson Eric L. Gold
Written by	Damon Wayans (story & screenplay) J.F. Lawton (screenplay)
Starring	Damon Wayans David Alan Grier Robin Givens Christopher Lawford
Music by	Miles Goodman Michael Jay
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Editing by	Adam Weiss
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	19 August 1994
Running time	92 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
IMDb profile

[edit] Plot Summary

Darryl (Damon Wayans) is a child-like man with a genius for inventing various gadgets out of junk. When he stumbles on a method to make his clothes bulletproof, he decides to use his skills to be the lowest budgeted superhero of all.

[edit] Influences

Like Meteor Man is a parody of Superman, Blankman is most clearly a parody of the Batman franchise. The opening shots in the film reveal the childhood versions of Blankman and his brother watching an episode of the 60's Batman TV show, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The movie uses the same fight scene graphic style (e.g. "Zap!", "Pow!") as the show, and Blankman relies heavily on gadgets, which he makes out of ordinary household appliances (J-5, Blankman's all-purpose robot, for example, is made from an old washing machine).

In addition to this, Blankman has his own version of the "Batcave", an old abandoned train station where he keeps various do-dads and gadgetry. The film Blankman follows a trend of early nineties superhero movies, blending Golden Age superheroism with urban crime and African American heroes (such as Meteor Man and The Rza's Bobby Digital). There are also some influences from the Superman franchise. Similar to Clark Kent's glasses, Blankman uses his nerdy specs to hide his true identity, though those who know Blankman and his true self (Darryl) are not fooled. Also, Blankman spazzes out whenever he is kissed by a woman, which is a possible allusion to Superman's kryptonite.