Where to watch Steel
0 1/2 Star
A scientist for the military turns himself into a cartoon-like superhero when a version of one of his own weapons is being used against enemies.
Fanboys and websites love to debate about the worst comic book movie ever made. Often times, Batman & Robin, Elektra, and the Fantastic Four are cited as the worst cinematic representations of our illustrated superheroes. But Steel is by far the most inept, poorly produced, and plain boring of all the DC or Marvel properties that have graced the silver screen thus far. Based on a little-known character from the pages of the Superman mythos, Steel has been removed from his comic book storyline, given a new origin story, and given a fabricated antagonist.
For all his basketball skills, Shaquille O’Neal is a lumbering presence, inarticulate, and ungraceful. O’Neal is outfitted in a silly costume and zips around on a motorbike while attempting to stop local gangs from using military-grade weapons in a crime wave. Written by director Kenneth Johnson, the film is slow to start; it’s nearly 45 minutes before Shaq appears as the title character. An inane subplot that concerns a recovering paralyzed veteran and another that follows Steel’s younger brother Martin’s (Ray J.) involvement with a crew of local hoods.
Steel has an obnoxious need for urban relevancy. This is an innocuous mix of a superhero film and an inner-city message movie. A good performance from Annabeth Gish is wasted in this corny tale that serves only as a trivia question—name the ‘other’ Shaq movie. Judd Nelson, Richard Roundtree, and Irma P. Hall all stop by for quick mortgage payments.
Directed by: Kenneth Johnson
Written by: Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Kenneth Johnson
Starring: Shaquille O’Neal, Annabeth Gish, Judd Nelson