Zoom (2006)

Former superhero Jack is called back to work to transform an unlikely group of ragtag kids into superheroes at a private academy.

Director:

Peter Hewitt

Writers:

Adam Rifkin (screenplay), David Berenbaum (screenplay)

Stars:

Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Chevy Chase

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Allen	...	Jack Shepard / Captain Zoom
Courteney Cox	...	Marsha Holloway
Chevy Chase	...	Dr. Grant
Spencer Breslin	...	Tucker Willams / Mega-Boy
Kevin Zegers	...	Connor Shepard / Concussion
Kate Mara	...	Summer Jones / Wonder
Michael Cassidy	...	Dylan West / Houdini
Ryan Newman	...	Cindy Collins / Princess
Rip Torn	...	Larraby
Cornelia Guest	...	Cindy's Mom
Ashton Moio	...	Halloween Bully
Hunter Aarniokoski	...	Prince
Thomas F. Wilson	...	Dylan's Teacher (as Tom Wilson)
Ridge Canipe	...	Mean Bully
Danny McCarthy	...	Meaner Bully

Storyline

Former superhero Jack Shepard, also known as Captain Zoom, is called back to work to transform an unlikely group of ragtag kids into a new generation of superheroes. At a privacy academy, he trains Dylan, a 17-year-old boy who can turn invisible; Summer, a 16-year-old girl with telekinetic powers; Tucker, a 12-year-old boy with the power to enlarge any part of his body; and Cindy, a 6-year-old girl with super strength.

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Plot Keywords:

superhero | female hero | teenage superhero | superhero team | invisible man | 

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Taglines:

They're going to save the world . . . as long as they're home for dinner

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief rude humor, language and mild action

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zoom's Academy

Filming Locations:

Kingman, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,510,408, 13 August 2006

Gross USA:

$11,631,245, 17 September 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Team Todd, Boxing Cat Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the only photo of the old Zenith team, in addition to Tim Allen (Zoom) and Kevin Zegers (Concussion), the other teammates are portrayed by Alexis Bledel (Ace?), Wilmer Valderrama (Marksman?), and Devon Aoki (Daravia?).

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Goofs

Zoom and the kids are playing Baseball in the Ship hanger minutes before he actually showed it them and went for a joyride.

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Quotes

Summer Jones: That is getting so old.
Dylan West: Considering you can read my mind, I don't have many options.
Summer Jones: I can't read your mind. I just feel stuff. And you can stop hitting on me entirley.
Dylan West: No, I can't do that. You and I are destiny.

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Connections

References Home Improvement (1991)

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Soundtracks

Hang On
Written by Greg Camp, Paul De Lisle (as Paul DeLisle) and Steve Harwell
Performed by Smash Mouth
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

What could possibly be the motivation for making a film like this?

It is conceivable that a movie about four misfit young people turned superheros could have been made into an enjoyable family film, but someone made a serious wrong turn early in the film-making process here. To make matters worse, rather than abandoning this sinking ship early on, or starting over at square one, the filmmakers appear to have blindly moved forward producing what can only be described as a disaster that will quickly find a home among the most poorly rated movies at IMDb and leave theaters quickly.

The biggest question I have is why? Why was this movie made? Why was no one minding the store? Why was this screenplay ever permitted to see the light of day? I took my five year-old to the movie because the previews looked okay and we love movies. The fact that it took less than five minutes for him to get fidgety after the movie started was probably a good clue to what was ahead. He never did calm down and I'm not sure he paid attention to more than ten minutes of the whole movie.

The script and sets are both beyond ridiculous and rarely make any sense at any time during the movie. Some of the acting is really over the top absurd, Rip Torn and Chevy Chase come to mind. With the exception of Courntey Cox, this film seems like it exists purely to provide a vehicle for over the hill actors to bring in a little up front income. However, since this movie will not turn a profit, it is the studio that will pay price in the end and I suppose they deserve it.

There are a few moments in the first 15 minutes of the movie where you have a hope that something good will happen in the movie, but we quickly discover that the purposes behind bringing this group of kids together are entirely unsound and unexplainable and the rest of the movie has been constructed around random events placed in the film for no apparent reason other than to fill the obligatory 90 minutes minimum required for all non-animated movies.

Besides all of the rest of what makes this movie rotten, the worst thing of all is that there never turns out to be any plausible reason to have brought these four kids together in the first place to make them superheros.

By the time we arrived at the end of the movie, I cared so little about what happened to any of the characters, that I was just bouncing around in my seat, looking over at my wife and child and praying it would end any moment.

There are real reasons that this movie is nearly universally hated by professional critics and movie-goers alike and that is that this movie is entirely unoriginal, incoherent and borders on being unwatchable.