Mystery Men
dir. Kinka Usher (1999)
A rare instance of a spoof that takes itself seriously enough to be funny, Mystery Men follows the exploits of wannabe superheroes the Shoveller (hits people with a shovel), the Blue Raja (throws cutlery) and Mr Furious (loses his temper a lot).
Galaxy Quest
dir. Dean Parisot (1999)
Out-of-work SF actors are plucked from the convention circuit by guileless aliens who, failing to distinguish them from their Star Trek -like characters, beseech them to intervene in a real-life space war. The quality of the cast makes this spoof very watchable.
Ant-Man
dir. Peyton Reed (2015)
Deliberately as formulaic a superhero movie as possible, scripted with a view to then humorously undercutting audience expectations. There are genuinely funny (dare we say, laugh-out-loud) moments, but in terms of spoof Ant-Man’s straight parts needed to be played with more conviction.