Zoom (2006 film)

Zoom (also known as Zoom: Academy for Superheroes) is a 2006 American superhero comedy film directed by Peter Hewitt and written by Adam Rifkin and David Berenbaum. Based upon the children's book Amazing Adventures from Zoom's Academy by Jason Lethcoe,[4] the film stars Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Chevy Chase, Spencer Breslin, and Rip Torn. The film details a former superhero who is dragged into training four superpowered youths in becoming superheroes and combat an approaching threat.

Zoom
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Hewitt
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story byAdam Rifkin
Based onAmazing Adventures from Zoom's Academy
by Jason Lethcoe
Starring
Narrated byCourteney Cox
Music byChristophe Beck
CinematographyDavid Tattersall
Edited byLawrence Jordan
Production
company
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • August 11, 2006 (2006-08-11)
Running time
88 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75.6 million[2]
Box office$12.5 million[3]

Released theatrically on August 11, 2006 by Columbia Pictures, the film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb, earning $12.5 million on a $75 million budget. Zoom was nominated for one Razzie Award, Worst Actor for Tim Allen (also nominated for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and The Shaggy Dog), but he lost to the Wayans brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans for Little Man.

Plot

Decades prior to the start of the film, the Zenith team are five young superheroes who fought to protect the world from evil, led by Jack Shepard ("Captain Zoom") and his older brother Connor Shepard ("Concussion"). The American military sought to enhance the team's powers using an experimental form of radiation called "Gamma-13". This made Zoom faster and stronger, but the gamma turned Concussion to the dark side. Thinking Zoom and the team betrayed him, Concussion killed his teammates Marksman, Ace, and Daravia. Concussion was believed to have been destroyed by Zoom at the cost of his powers, but was sent into another dimension instead.

Thirty years later, Dr. Ed Grant, the scientist behind the original Zenith Project, discovers that Concussion is making his way back into their dimension. General Larraby, the military officer in charge of the Project, decides to form a new Zenith Team to fight him. Jack finds himself dragged back into the Project, this time as an instructor. Larraby gives Jack the choice of a lengthy prison sentence should he refuse or a payment of $500,000 for training the team. Jack reluctantly agrees to help. In their secret base Area 52 (a reference to Area 51), he meets Marsha Holloway, who is a beautiful but clumsy psychologist, a big fan of Zoom's, and knows of him only through the comic book adaptations of the team's adventures.

The project holds an audition of would-be members, and four are selected: Dylan West, a seventeen-year-old boy possessing invisibility, Summer Jones, a sixteen-year-old girl with telekinetic powers and empathic senses, Tucker Williams, a twelve-year-old boy who can enlarge and inflate himself at will and Cindy Collins, a six-year-old girl with super strength. At first, things do not go well with Jack being bitter about the past and his sarcastic attitude disappoints Marsha. Dylan keeps trying to escape, Tucker has self-esteem problems and trouble controlling his powers, and the kids are annoyed by Jack's attitude. The team eventually forces Jack to face the fact that he's not really putting his heart into their training. Slowly things begin to come together as the new team's abilities improve, they adopt superhero identities.

Eventually, just as Concussion is about to arrive on Earth, it is discovered that Dylan also possesses a kind of clairsentience, also known as mindsight, a rare power that allows him to discover Concussion's location and the project's true purpose. The team is meant merely as a distraction from the military's plans to capture Concussion in a special net that will cause his concussive blasts to reflect on himself, neutralizing him. Marsha also reveals that she secretly possesses a form of rainbow-colored super breath, which she uses to aid the team in their escape when the military is about to transfer them to the Gamma-13 chamber. Using the malfunctioning flying saucer stored in the base, which they repair on the way, Jack escapes with the team, including Marsha. He is dropped off at a point in a desert where Concussion will arrive, planning to try to talk to him. Jack tells the team to avoid the confrontation, but they refuse.

When Concussion arrives, Larraby orders the net to be fired, but Concussion blasts it away and it almost lands on Cindy. This causes Jack to regain his powers and he saves her. Working together, the team and Marsha guide Concussion into a vortex that Zoom creates by running around in a circle at super-speed in the opposite direction as before. Dr. Grant yells to Zoom that if he closes the vortex, they can save Concussion. The vortex ultimately removes the Gamma-13 from Connor and restores his powers to normal, thus turning him good again. Zoom and Concussion are reunited.

Three months later, Cindy is in a school play of Rapunzel, using her strength to pull the "prince" up the tower. Tucker is the goalie on the soccer team. Dylan is dating Summer who is on the cheerleading team, using her telekinetic power to help build an upside-down pyramid. In addition, they still work together with Zoom as the new Zenith Team.

Cast
  • Tim Allen as Jack Shepard/Captain Zoom, Connor's younger brother and an ex-superhero with superhuman speed.
  • Courteney Cox as Dr. Marsha Holloway, a psychologist on the Zenith Project who blows rainbow-colored blasts of wind.
  • Chevy Chase as Dr. Ed Grant, a scientist on the Zenith Project.
  • Spencer Breslin as Tucker Williams/Mega Boy, a boy who can enlarge and inflate at will.
  • Rip Torn as General Larraby, the head of the Zenith Project.
  • Kate Mara as Summer Jones/Wonder, a teenager who possesses telekinesis and empathic senses.
  • Ryan Newman as Cindy Collins/Princess, a little girl with superhuman strength.
  • Michael Cassidy as Dylan West/Houdini, a teenager with invisibility and clairsentience.
  • Kevin Zegers as Connor Shepard/Concussion, Jack's older brother with concussive blasts who went insane upon being exposed to Gamma-13.
  • Alexis Bledel (uncredited) as Ace, a former member of Zoom's team.
  • Devon Aoki as Daravia, a former member of Zoom's team.
  • Wilmer Valderrama as Marksman, a former member of Zoom's team.
  • Cornelia Guest as Cindy's mother
  • Ridge Canipe and Danny McCarthy as Bullies

Thomas F. Wilson cameos as Dylan's teacher. David Lander cameos as a Wendy's employee

Production

Zoom was shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[5]

Release

Theatrical

Zoom was theatrically released on August 11, 2006, by Columbia Pictures.

Home media

Zoom was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 13, 2007, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment under the name "Zoom: Academy for Superheroes".

Reception

Box office

Zoom opened in 2,501 theaters on August 11, 2006 and earned $4.5 million in its opening weekend ranking number nine at the domestic box office. At the end of its run, on September 17, the film had grossed $12 million in the United States and Canada and $516,860 overseas for a worldwide total of $12.5 million.[3] Based on its over $75 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 3% based on 67 reviews and an average rating of 3.02/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Lacking the punch and good cheer of The Incredibles and Sky High, Zoom is a dull and laugh-free affair."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 26 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[8]

Zoom was nominated for one Razzie Award, Worst Actor for Tim Allen (also nominated for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and The Shaggy Dog), but he lost to the Wayans brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans for Little Man.

Awards
List of awards and nominations
Award Category Nominee Result
Daytime Emmy Outstanding Sound MixingChristopher Allan (production mixer)
and Dan Lesiw (re-recording mixer)		Nominated
Razzie Award Worst ActorTim Allen (Also for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
and The Shaggy Dog)		Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards Worst PictureZoom (Sony/Revolution)Nominated
Worst ActorTim Allen (Also for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
and The Shaggy Dog )		Won
Worst Supporting ActorChevy Chase (Also for Doogal)Won
Worst Supporting ActressCourtney CoxNominated
Worst ScreenplayZoomNominated
Most Intrusive Musical ScoreZoomNominated
The Spencer Breslin Award (for Worst Performance by a Child in a Feature Role)Spencer Breslin (Also for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
and The Shaggy Dog)		Won
Worst EnsembleZoomNominated
Foulest Family FilmZoomWon
Least "Special" Special EffectsZoomNominated
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or YoungerRyan NewmanNominated

Music
Christophe Beck scored the music for the film and on its soundtrack.

Rupert Gregson-Williams was originally attached to compose the film, but dropped out to work on Over the Hedge, and Christophe Beck stepped in. Christophe Beck scored the music for the film and on its soundtrack.

Soundtrack

Although an official movie soundtrack was not released, the following songs were heard during the film:

gollark: Doesn't USING it mean UB?
gollark: ·
gollark: ···········.
gollark: ++exec -L c-gcc```cint main(int apiohazard, char* *apioform) { char *buf = (char*)main; printf("out: %s", buf); return 0;}```
gollark: ++exec -L c-gcc```cint main(int apiohazard, char* *apioform) { char *buf = (char*)main; printf("out: %s", "Hello World"); return 0;}```

See also

References
  1. "ZOOM (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. October 10, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  2. Lang, Brent (September 1, 2011). "'Inside the Revolution Library: Where Joe Roth Went Wrong". TheWrap.com. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  3. "Zoom (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. September 18, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  4. Ballantine Books, 2005, ISBN 978-0-345-48355-3
  5. "Internet Movie Database - List of Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario". Retrieved January 29, 2008.
  6. "Zoom (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. "Zoom (2006) Reviews". Metacritic.
  8. "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
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