Film

Comic Book: The Movie

Name: Comic Book: The Movie
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2004
Cast: Mark Hamill, Donna D'Errico, Billy West, Lori Alan, Daran Norris

Mockumentary
Light-hearted

Mark Hamill stars as a naïve documentarian stumbling through Comic-Con, encountering cosplayers, collectors, and comic book legends in this affectionate satirical comedy. It's a time capsule of early-2000s geek culture that works best if you share its fondness for the whole messy thing. A love letter disguised as mockery.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love comic conventions and fandom satire, and enjoy a mockumentary that pokes fun at its own cast with loose, improvised-feeling jokes.

Skip it if the humor is broad and uneven, and if fan-culture gags wear thin, the 106 minutes will feel long and scattered.

What it asks of you: Little beyond a willingness to laugh at fandom's excesses; it runs under two hours, loose and episodic, drifting from one convention bit to the next.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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Spaced1999

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But Paced for viewers who can catch rapid-fire visual gags. Two seasons total means commitment before momentum builds, and it's very much of the Britpop moment.

Clerks1994

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Comic Book: The Movie

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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But Anthology format means dead weight you have to wait through, and some sketches feel stretched to breaking point.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes!1988

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Absurdist musical comedy where genetically modified tomatoes attack. Utterly sincere in its commitment to the bit—it's trash cinema that completely understands what it is and owns it completely.

But It's proudly stupid and makes no real attempt at cleverness; if you need either coherent plotting or high-concept satire, this will feel like a waste of your time.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent2022

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Nicolas Cage plays a version of himself, desperate and delusional about his own career. It's wildly affectionate about Cage's whole thing while never pretending he's not occasionally unhinged.

But Heavily self-referential; if you're not already charmed by Cage's entire catalogue, the film's devotion to minutiae will feel excessive and exclusive.