Zoom (film) - Plot

Plot

Decades prior to the start of the film, the American military sponsored a superhero group called "Team Zenith." Its leaders were Jack Shepard (Tim Allen), aka Captain Zoom, who possessed super-speed, and his brother, Connor (Kevin Zegers), aka Concussion, who could project sonic blasts. The military tried to increase the team's powers by exposing them to an experimental form of radiation called "Gamma-13". This caused Concussion to become more powerful, but it also turned him evil. Concussion killed his teammates Marksman (Wilmer Valderrama), Ace (Alexis Bledel), and Daravia (Devon Aoki). Concussion was believed to be killed by Zoom in an explosion, but he had been sent into another dimension instead. Zoom lost his powers, and his brother.

Thirty years later, Dr. Grant (Chevy Chase), the scientist behind the original Zenith Project, discovers that Concussion is making his way back into their dimension. General Larraby (Rip Torn), 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. He is told that a new team is needed to battle a great menace but is not told what it is. He is also told that if natural training does not prepare the new team in time, they will be exposed to Gamma-13. In their secret base, Area 52 (a reference to Area 51), he meets Marsha (Courteney Cox), who is a beautiful but clumsy psychologist, a big fan of Zoom's, and knows of him only through the comic book propaganda adaptations of the team's adventures.

The project holds an audition of would-be members, most of whom possess useless or disgusting powers. In the end, four young people are selected:

• Dylan West (Michael Cassidy), a 17-year-old boy who can turn invisible and has clairvoyance.
• Summer Jones (Kate Mara), a 16-year-old girl with telekinetic powers and empathic senses.
• Tucker William (Spencer Breslin), a 12-year-old boy with the power to enlarge any part of his body.
• Cindy Collins (Ryan Newman), a 6-year-old girl with super strength.

All of them are shown as having problems adapting to normal life because of their powers. At first things do not go well. Jack is 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 that allows him to discover not only Concussion's location, but also 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 to send him back into another dimension. Marsha also reveals that she secretly possesses a superpower of her own: "super breath" which appears as clouds of rainbow-colored wind. She uses this power to aid the team in their escape. Using a malfunctioning flying saucer stored in the base, 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 stay away, but they refuse.

When Concussion arrives, he refuses to listen to reason and starts firing sonic blasts at his brother. The rest of the team takes him on. Larraby orders the net to be fired, but Concussion blasts it away, and it almost lands on Cindy. This causes Jack to react and recover his speed, and he saves her. He then runs back to the base (tripping over in the process), puts on a new costume, and returns to battle his brother. Working together, the team (plus Marsha) knock Concussion into a high-speed vortex that Zoom creates by running around in a circle at super-speed; Dr. Grant yells to Zoom that if he closes the vortex, they can save Concussion; the vortex ultimately sucks the Gamma-13 out of his body and restores his powers and personality to normal. The two brothers are happily reunited.

At the end you see that Dylan is dating Summer who is on the cheerleading team, using her telekinetic power to help build the pyramid, Tucker is the goalie on the soccer team, and Cindy is in a play adaption of Rapunzel and uses her power to pull the "prince" up the tower. In addition they still work together with Zoom as the new Zenith Team.