The Return of Captain Invincible

Captain Invincible was a superhero who nigh on won World War Two single handed. After the war he was tried for numerous offenses including supporting Communism (by fighting the Nazis...), impersonating a captain and showing his underpants. He walked out of his trial and vanished.

Years later when his evil arch-enemy Mr. Midnight once again menaces the world (or at least New York) with a dastardly scheme he is discovered living in a squat in Australia. Now a disillusioned alcoholic, can Captain Invincible regain control of his long-unused and erratic superpowers in time to stop this fiend and make the world safe again?

A musical B-movie comedy starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.


 * Affectionate Parody: Of quite a number of superhero tropes.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Supporting Communism, Impersonating a military officer and Showing your underpants.
 * The Alcoholic
 * Mr. Midnight even gets a song to showcase Captain Invincible's weakness for alcohol, reducing him to tears in the process.
 * Better Than It Sounds
 * The Cast Showoff: Christopher Lee said in his autobiography that the main reason he did the film was that he'd never previously had an opportunity to show his musical abilities on-screen. "Name Your Poison" (the song linked above) even gives him lines in German and Italian to show off his command of multiple languages.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: The "Bullshit" song. Very simple lyrics.
 * Cold War: Certain high ranking officials automatically blame Russia for Mr Midnight's actions.
 * Deconstruction: of superheroes.
 * Forgot the Call: With the help of an ungodly amount of strong liquor.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Dracula sings! (spoiler)
 * Hurricane of Puns: "Name Your Poison", again. A veritable bar(rage) of cocktail puns.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: What does Captain Invincible say after surviving a snake pit, alligator pit and even a giant peach pit? "Well, that was really the pits!"
 * Kick the Dog: Mister Midnight provides a wonderfully pure example, as after reducing the Captain to a helpless wretch by tempting him with a truly beautiful bar, he hands him...a can of Sterno.
 * Larynx Dissonance: Christopher Lee briefly appears as a woman as part of a hallucination. His voice doesn't change.
 * The Nudifier: Captain Invincible isn't as skilled with his magnetic powers anymore. Metal fasteners are a bad idea.
 * Old Superhero
 * Selective Magnetism
 * Shoulders of Doom: Smaller than most but still undeniably part of the Captain's outfit.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The film travels along the sliding scale.
 * Stuff Blowing Up: When the woman who discovered him bends over, Captain Invincible's magnetic powers inadvertently make household appliances explode.
 * Underwear of Power: He's prosecuted for them.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: See Stuff Blowing Up above.
 * Villain Song / "The Villain Sucks" Song: "Evil Midnight" manages to be both of these tropes at once.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Watching this, one has to wonder how many recovering alcoholics are covered by this trope.
 * The X of Y