Now I do like spoof movies, when they are funny and done right. There are some funny spoofs around, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and Loaded Weapon 1 for example, but the spoof genre has also had some excrement such as Disaster Movie and Epic Movie. 2001: A Space Travesty is not as bad as any of the worst of Friedberg and Seltzer. However, that is not saying much, 2001:A Space Travesty is still a terrible movie, being contrived, embarrassing and unfunny and it makes you think what possessed Leslie Nielson to take on this project.
As I said in the review title, the irony in the word "travesty" is correct. To be honest, while hardly clever or original the title is the best asset of this movie, as well as the end credits which was the only time in the entire movie when I cracked a smile, you know immediately there is something wrong when that is the case. The production values are cheap, with the costumes more reminiscent of fancy dress, shoddy camera work, dismal special effects and wobbly sets. The soundtrack is poorly thought out, In the Navy by The Three Tenors especially felt as though it was shoe horned in.
The story is predictable and almost a non-event, the pace didn't draw me in in any way and the direction was decidedly patchy. Also the characters are little more than stereotypes and caricatures and really bad ones at that with names that felt like poor Carry On lampoons. The acting is terrible, yes including from the talented Leslie Nielson. Nielson shows he can be funny as with Naked Gun and Airplane, which are comedy classics in my opinion, but he overacts and mugs shamelessly here which saddened me hugely. Everyone else either overplay, are bland or seem to be playing themselves. Worse is the humour, the film just isn't funny and is filled with the crude and vulgar kind of humour that doesn't come close to the inspired zaniness of the best of the spoof genre. The homages and references to sci-fis such as 2001:A Space Odyssey(one of my favourite films) are obvious and poorly thought out and the script is abysmal and didn't make me laugh one time.
In conclusion, not the worst of the genre but a mess all the same. 2/10 Bethany Cox
