Superbad is a film that truly displays the power of friendship and resilience. It showcases how friendship will safely glide us through life and make it much easier for us to achieve happiness, as shown by the moral parable of values and friendship in the film. Its characters are polite and endearing in addition to being innately likable, and everything is morally upright and admirable. Now, with that said, this is also the dirtiest, raunchiest R-Rated comedy featuring teenage protagonists and some of the vilest language you will find. It’s a Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg masterpiece!
How to Download Superbad
You can download the film from a digital store. You can also stream it. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. To see more movies with Johan Hill, check out Don’t Look Up, 22 Jump Street, or The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Movie Review
Seth and Evan are nerdy outcasts and best buddies from high school, they have intellectual discussions regarding adult films, girls, and of course, wanting to get high and go to parties. They are parting ways as high school is about to come to an end, but Seth doesn’t know that Evan is going to an Ivy League College yet.
Seth is attracted to the high school cutie Jules, and Seth offers to cover the cost of the alcohol when Jules invites him to her party. Their odd pal Fogell says he’s going to get a fake ID and get them the booze that is required. When it turns out the name on Fogell’s fake ID is McLOVIN, he is relying on Fogell to receive the alcohol, and things take a turn for the whacky!
There’s something special about this Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg masterclass in comedy, directed to perfection by Greg Mottola. The vague time frame, with warm browns and oranges and a grainy feel, coupled with a fantastic funk-inspired soundtrack gives Superbad its iconic look of being a pure 2000s film. It almost seems as though the film is subtly hinting at how classic it will ultimately turn out to be, as its setting is as much of a character as the actual characters.
The chemistry between Michael Cera and Jonah Hill in this movie is as real as it gets. The fact that they haven’t worked on another movie together is a stark contrast to the fact that they sound, act, and feel like true friends. This elevates their relationship in this movie to LEGENDARY status. They speak to each other like real people, cut each other off during dialogue, they hit each other and yell at each other, fight and have moments of admiration and love for one another.
It’s the purest display of friendship you will find in a film such as this, none of that “The Interview” stuff where one character is more interested in the friendship than the other.
Now, of course, Superbad is an R-Rated comedy, so there’s going to be a WHOLE lot of cussing, especially with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg involved. These two have created some masterful R-Rated comedies, which is why these films are so fun to watch. They’re not for kids, they’re for adults, and yet Superbad mixes those teen and adult elements in a perfect collaboration.
The cinematography in the film is excellent too, it’s trying to emulate the same look that they had in Freaks and Geeks and perhaps teen films from the 70s and 80s. It does that effectively with the above-mentioned ‘shot on film’ look that it achieves with its grainy textures, its warm color tones, and its funky soundtrack. However, the camera work adds to that effect as well, with the shots being often zoomed in onto characters’ faces, and the zoom-outs having a decent depth of field. The camera is almost always static too, adding to that feel even more so.
Verdict
The R-rated comedy Superbad has more four-letter words than the Webster dictionary and is brazenly racy. Once more, this sounds like the introduction I would give to a movie with a low rating. Superbad is by no means a subpar comedy. It is a clever, humorous, and truthful teen film that avoids cliches and poorly developed main characters while yet managing to be hilarious and enjoyable all the way through.
