Robert Townsend is a man of many talents. No matter how much credit he gets, it still isn't enough. The man has had his hands in many great black films. The Five Heartbeats, Holiday Heart, Hollywood Shuffle, and even things like Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire. The man stays busy, and does incredible work. But, he also does passion projects. One of those is a film he wrote, directed and starred in called Meteor Man.
We start with an introduction to Jefferson Reed. A school teacher who lives in a neighborhood controlled by a gang called The Golden Lords. Jefferson doesn't love them, and attempts to save a woman one night from them. He ends up hiding in a trashcan so they don't hurt him. When he steps out, he's struck by a meteor and severely injured. When his bandages are removed at the hospital he's healed by a fragment of the meteorite stuck in his body.
Jeff realizes he's gained super powers when the Golden Lords try to finish the job. X-Ray vision, super strength, hearing, speed, and everything Superman has. He's also got the ability to absorb the contents of a book, telekinesis and telepathy with dogs for some reason. The community loves him and his mother creates a costume for him. He officially becomes Meteor Man. He quickly takes down several crack houses and stops multiple robberies. In the process he brokers peace between the Crips, Bloods and police gangs. They soon work together to rebuild their community.
The Golden Lords learn who Jefferson is and try to kill him when his powers start to fade. However he's saved by his neighbor. Marvin a local bum portrayed by real life bum Bill Cosby uses a fragment of the meteorite to take the Golden Lords guns. This causes the gang to fight the civilians. Jeff grabs the remaining fragment of the meteorite at the same time same time as Simon, the Golden Lions leader. They both gain superpowers and fight. At some point they both touch a vogue book, so they vogue. In the end Jefferson manages to defeat Simon thanks to a pep talk from his dog. The Bloods, Crips and Police gangs respond to noise and take The Golden Lions to jail.
I won't lie to you and say this isn't a Superman rip off. It's cheesy and there are entire major segments that are just montages. There's plenty of jokes and emotional moments. It really is a well written film and the actors are great. Legendary names like James Earl Jones, Marla Gibbs, John Witherspoon, Don Cheedle, Eddie Griffin, Sinbad and just as many cameos from musicians like Big Daddy Kane, Luther Vandross, and Naughty By Nature. It's one of those films where a person simply gets together with a bunch of people they'd like to work with.
The only real issue with the film is some of the special effects were kind of bad, there's some clunky editing and a lot of unnecessary time skips. Even with all that, the film is a joy to watch. You'll laugh, maybe cry and go away feeling satisfied. Just don't go expecting the 300 million dollar budget blockbusters we get these days.
You can check out some of my fiction at 12 AM Fiction or follow my web serial Exsanguinate and of course hear me on the Powerbomb Jutsu podcast.
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