Zoom (film)

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For the public television TV series, see ZOOM.
Zoom

Zoom movie poster
Directed by Peter Hewitt
Produced by Trevor Engelson
Neil A. Machlis
Nick Osborne
Written by Adam Rifkin
David Berenbaum
Jason Lethcoe (novel)
Starring Tim Allen
Spencer Breslin
Chevy Chase
Courteney Cox
Kate Mara
Rip Torn
Kevin Zegers
Michael Cassidy
Ryan Newman
Music by Christophe Beck
Cinematography David Tattersall
Editing by Lawrence Jordan
Distributed by Revolution Studios
(Sony Pictures)
Release date(s) August 11, 2006
Running time 83 min
Country USA
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Zoom is a 2006 film released August 11, 2006. It is based upon the novel, "Zoom's Academy", by Jason Lethcoe. Directed by Peter Hewitt, the film stars, Tim Allen, Kate Mara, Spencer Breslin, Michael Cassidy, Kevin Zegers, Chevy Chase, and Ryan Newman. The film is rated PG by the MPAA for brief rude humor, language, and intense action.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Decades ago, the American military sponsored a superhero group called “Team Zenith”. Its leader was Jack Shepard, aka Captain Zoom, who possessed super-speed; his brother, Concussion, who could project sonic blasts, was also a member. However, the military tried to increase their powers by exposing them to an experimental form of radiation called “Gamma-13”. This caused Concussion to become more powerful, but it also turned him evil. Concussion killed his teammates (except Zoom) and was believed to be killed in an explosion (in reality, he had been sent into another dimension.) Zoom apparently lost his powers, and retired.

Decades later, the scientist behind the original Zenith Project, Dr. Grant, discovers that Concussion is making his way back in a few days. Larraby, the military officer in charge of the Project, decides to form a new Zenith Team to fight him.

Jack finds himself dragged back into the Project, this time as an instructor. He is told that a new team is needed to battle a great menace, but isn’t told that it is his brother. In their secret base, Area 52 (a reference to Area 51) he meets Marsha, a beautiful but clumsy scientist, who is a big fan of his, knowing of him only through the comic book adaptations of the team’s adventures.

The Project holds an audition of would-be members, most of whom possess useless or disgusting powers. In the end, four young people are chosen: Dylan ,a young man who is able to turn invisible; Summer, a young girl with telekinetic powers; Tucker, an obese boy with the power to enlarge any part of his body; and Cindy, a 6-year-old girl with super strength. All of them were having problems adapting to normal life because of their powers.

At first, things do not go well. Jack is bitter about the past, and his sarcastic attitude disappoints Marsha. Dylan keeps trying to escape, Tucker has self-esteem problems, and the kids are annoyed by Dr. Grant’s attitude. The team eventually forces Jack to face the fact that he’s not really putting his heart into their training.

Slowly, they come together as a sort of family. Dylan and Summer become attracted to each other, Cindy takes Jack as a father figure, and they start to improve in their training. The kids finally choose code names for themselves: Dylan becomes Houdini, Summer becomes Wonder, Tucker becomes Mega Boy, and Cindy becomes Princess. They also discover that Marsha has the ability to blow rainbow-colored wind and she uses this to distract the guards.

Eventually, just as Concussion is about to arrive on Earth, Dylan develops a kind of clairsentience that allows him to discover this fact, as well as the Project’s true plans: the team is meant merely as a distraction, while the military uses a special “net” to capture Concussion. Using a malfunctioning flying saucer stored in the base, Jack escapes with the Team, including Marsha (who reveals that she also has a superpower: super breath.) He drops off at a point in a desert where Concussion will arrive, to try to talk to him; he tells the team to stay away, but they refuse. Finally, Concussion arrives, still looking like a young man (not having aged in the alien dimension he was trapped on). He refuses to listen to reason and starts beating on Jack. The rest of the team takes him on. Larraby orders the net to be fired, but Concussion blasts it away, and it almost lands on Cindy; but this causes Jack to react and recover his speed, and he saves her. He then runs back to the base, puts on a new costume, and returns to battle his brother. Working together, the team (plus Marsha) knock Concussion into a high-speed vortex that Zoom creates by running around at super-speed; this sucks out the energy out of his body and restores him to normal. The two brothers are happily reunited.

The movie ends with scenes depicting the kids living their lives better, even using their powers in public, and still active as a superhero team.

[edit] Cast and characters

  • Tim Allen as Jack Shepard/Zoom: He was once a member of a superhero team known as Zenith. After a failed experiment with gamma radiation his brother, Concussion, turned evil and Zoom lost his powers of superhuman speed. He was later located by the government and used to form a new superhero team and defeat his brother.
  • Courteney Cox as Marsha Holloway: She is a big fan of Zoom and his comics book adventures. She is however dissapointed with Zoom's attitude, but they later learn to get along. She later reveals that she has the power of super breath.
  • Spencer Breslin as Tucker Williams/Mega Boy: He is a slightly overweight boy who is constantly teased about his appearance. He is one of the kids chosen for Zoom's class. He has the power of elasticity.
  • Kate Mara as Summer Jones/Wonder: She is a teenage girl who is constantly teased by the cheerleaders at her school. She is one of the kids chosen for Zoom's class. She has the power of telekinesis and empathy.
  • Ryan Newman as Cindy Collins/Princess: She is the youngest of the kids chosen for Zoom's class. She is rarely taken seriously by the rest of the group. She has the power of superhuman strength.
  • Chevy Chase as Dr. Grant: He is a scientist at the Area 52 base and he constantly annoys the kids with his serious attitude. He is the inventor of Gamma 13.
  • Kevin Zegers as Connor Shepard/Concussion: He is Zoom's older brother who was turned evil by Gamma 13. He was thought to be dead but later turned out to be trapped in another dimension. He has the power to project force blasts from his hands.

[edit] Trivia

  • The film's release was held up due to a lawsuit filed by Fox and Marvel Comics. Zoom was initially intended to premiere two weeks before X-Men: The Last Stand but it was alleged that the script for Zoom was too similar to the X-Men film franchise and would 'confuse' viewers.[citation needed]
  • In the scene where Jack attempts to talk to Connor, and also when Jack recovers his powers and saves Cindy, a microphone boom briefly appears at the top of the screen.
  • Gamma 13 may be a reference to Galaxy Quest's device called the Omega 13
  • This is the fourth film which stars both Tim Allen and Spencer Breslin.
  • Quicksilver, Flash, and Superman are all mentioned in this film.
  • Thomas F. Wilson makes a cameo appearance as Dylan's teacher at the start of the film.
  • In the scene where the team and staff are playing baseball, if you look closely you can see Mr. Pibb, a robot that was Zoom's friend when he was there, and that they're playing in the hanger that is holding the flying saucer. However, later in the movie Zoom sees Mr. Pibb and acts like he hadn't seen him before and introduces him to the team. He then takes the team to the hanger with the flying saucer that they had been playing baseball in earlier and they act as if they had never seen it before either.

[edit] Reaction

This film ended up being released only a year after another movie, Sky High, which had basically the same plot but far superior reviews and higher grosses. The movie was widely panned by critics, causing it to receive a 0% "rotten" rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and is currently the #29 worst movie ever created on the IMDB, with a rating of 2.0/10 as of February 17th, 2007. Zoom has also performed poorly at the box office, earning only $11.4 million in North America as of September 1, 2006. The film received a 2006 Razzie nomination for Worst Actor - Tim Allen (Also cited for his performances in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and The Shaggy Dog)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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