Matt Burns, a simple pizza man working alongside his mother at his late father's pizzeria, becomes a superhero after consuming a genetically-modified tomato that allows his entire body to become superhuman, withstanding punches, gunshot wounds, and being able to self-heal in seconds. Yet, he didn't have the luxury of having his build modified in strength and size, like Steve Rogers did in Captain America. He doesn't possess the sarcastic wit of Tony Stark in Iron Man. He is not any type of God like Thor. And he doesn't have the ability of practically defying gravity thanks to webs shooting out of his arms like Peter Parker in Spider-Man.
No, in one instance, Matt still has to push his ways through the crowded halls of an evacuating school - he can't throw everyone to the side so he can make his way through, nor can he fly up and out of the school, rocketing through the roof like a supercharged bat out of Hell. Despite an incalculable body system of tolerance, Matt Burns is still ordinary, which is one of the reasons why Joe Eckardt's Pizza Man is such a fun film to watch. Hot off the heels of several Marvel films to come out in recent years, this particular film gives us a feeble hero and doesn't hamfist the tired idea that "it's not your size that makes you a hero, but your actions" moral, nor does it give us a hero so super that we're unable to connect with him on any other level than perceived coolness.
Matt Burns is played by Frankie Muniz, an actor I've always enjoyed watching for his likable charm and commonalities that make him less a high-paid actor but more a regular guy who got lucky. After receiving these powers from his chemistry professor (Michael Gross), who had been working on the tomato he fed Matt out of sheer desperation in a dire circumstance, Matt needs to protect himself and his friends from a corporate tycoon (Dallas Page) interested in gaining access to Matt in order to extract the supercharged blood from his veins. Not to mention, as a side-project, Matt is also trying to win over Susan (Amber Borycki), a girl he's quite fond of. You really don't need much more of an explanation; every Pizza Man needs his Pizza Woman, I suppose.
Muniz works well, as he fits like a glove in the titular role, and wrestler Dallas Page also finds ways to provide some gleefully entertaining quips here and there. Ultimately, the film comes down to three cameos, by Adam West, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and comic-book legend Stan Lee, which are nicely self-aware (consider Matt telling Piper, when he comes in the restaurant demanding pizza at closing time, "there's no reason to get rowdy"). Then we have Stan Lee in a room full of comic book memorabilia, and let's not shortchange Adam West referencing two big gigs in his acting career.
The point I'm trying to make is that Pizza Man, as ridiculous as it can be, is pleasantly different and a breath of fresh air from the superhero films we now see released every three or four months. Obviously, Pizza Man was never intended to be compared to the likes of multimillion dollar Marvel films. However, after watching three underwhelming Marvel endeavors in a row, I was hungering (no pun intended) for something quirkier, a little different, and pleasantly watchable, and that's exactly what one gets with Pizza Man. The film is a goofy display of affection and appreciation for the superhero genre, and a loving ode to the fans of them as they might as well be turning one of Marvel's die-hard fans into the film's titular character here.
Starring: Frankie Muniz, Dallas Page, Amber Borycki, Michael Gross, Adam West, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Stan Lee. Directed by: Joe Eckardt.
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