Super Review

Rated R (Scenes of Graphic Violence, Language, Some Sexual Content and Drug Use)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 36 Minutes

Cast-

Rainn Wilson-Frank D'Arbo/The Crimson Bolt

Ellen Page-Libby/Boltie

Liv Tyler-Sarah Helgeland

Kevin Bacon-Jacques

Nathan Fillion-The Holy Avenger

Gregg Henry-Detective John Felkner

Andre Royo-Hamilton

Michael Rooker-Abe

Sean Gunn-Toby

Stephen Blackehart-Quill

Don Mac-Mr. Range

Rob Zombie (voice)-God

Directed by James Gunn

Before the Guardians of the Galaxy, there was...the Crimson Bolt!

James Gunn’s latest film, “Super,” is all kinds of f*cked up in that it makes “Kick-Ass” look like it was made for babies. While both bear some passing similarities in their exploration of ordinary, everyday people dressing up as superheroes, Gunn’s film is a different beast altogether as it’s not afraid to offend and push the envelope. Gleefully hilarious with its dark comedy and shockingly brutal violence, “Super” unfortunately falls short due to its disjointed tone, leaving its themes ultimately muddled.

Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) is an oddball loser who works as a short-order fry cook at a local diner. As indicated by his color-penciled drawings, the two happiest moments in his life is his marriage to Sarah (Liv Tyler) and when he assisted a police officer in apprehending a purse-snatcher. However, Frank’s life comes crashing down when his wife, a recovering drug addict/alcoholic, relapses into her old ways and leaves him for Jacques (Kevin Bacon), a strip club owner and drug dealer. He does everything to try to get his wife back but all it gets him is a butt-whooping by Jacques’ goons. After praying one night, Frank has a surreal dream where he is literally touched by the finger of God and meets a television superhero called the ‘Holy Avenger’ (Nathan Fillion). Taking this as a sign to battle evil, Frank creates a homemade costume and calls himself ‘The Crimson Bolt!’ His motto: ‘SHUT UP, CRIME!’ His first foray into crime-fighting ends in disaster and he goes to the local comic book store to research on superheroes without any powers. He picks a giant pipe wrench as his weapon and brutally beats up criminals, no matter how small their crime. Frank’s goal is to use his costumed persona to take down Jacques and get his wife back. Things get even crazier when the comic book store clerk, Libby (Ellen Page), teams up with Frank as his kid sidekick ‘Boltie.’

“Super” is all kinds of crazy rolled into one. “Watchmen” explored the thin line between hero and sociopath but this film just kicks that line to the curb and revels in its violence. Once Frank puts on the suit and becomes the Crimson Bolt, he just loses it as he whacks people with his pipe wrench or dropping cinder blocks on their faces, screaming, ‘Don’t steal, don’t deal drugs, and don’t molest kids!’ Frank takes this so seriously that when he sees someone cutting the line at the movie theater, he suits up and gives him a good ol’ trashing. When a woman comes to defend the person, she gets hit in the face too! It’s all hysterical stuff yet slightly uncomfortable, and I like the fact that Gunn is unafraid to pull his punches. Libby one-ups Frank in sheer craziness once she becomes Boltie, cackling manically as they deal with criminals. At one point, she repeatedly stabs someone with claws resembling X-23 and dressed in nothing but her bra and pants, she slams a car into a thug about to shoot Frank, breaking his legs. Her immense joy at doing this cannot be described! She definitely has a couple of screws loose and that’s already a big understatement. Ultimately, Frank becoming a mentally unhinged superhero is his way of dealing with his wife leaving him and his sudden loneliness. He did everything right but is unable to see what went wrong in his marriage. Being the Crimson Bolt gives him a temporary sense of purpose, a measure of control over his directionless life but after getting his wife back, then what? Did it ever occur to him that she may not him back? Gunn tries to walk the fine line between dark comedy and drama but does not entirely succeed, leaving many of its themes buried under a sea of violence. The constant tonal shifts gives “Super” a disjointed feel as it is unable to decide whether it wants to be a dark superhero satire or an exploration into a person’s total nervous breakdown.

The film is filled with some great performances and Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from NBC's "The Office") is perfect as Frank D'Arbo. There’s a bit of Schrute in Frank with his deadpan delivery but Wilson digs deeper to find the right mixture of quirky desperation and loneliness that actually makes us sympathize with him. Ellen Page has been typecast in ‘smart aleck’ roles but here she’s something totally different and takes the psychotic angle to the max, stealing the film. Libby is a lonely soul like Frank and her scenes where she clumsily tries to seduce him are funny and a little sad. She pokes her…lady-parts and remarks, ‘It’s all gushy!’ and practically rapes Frank but it’s presented in a tongue-in-cheek way. I must also say that she looks quite sexy in spandex. Kevin Bacon is always good in any role and it’s no different here as slime-ball Jacques. The weakest link is Liv Tyler, who isn’t convincing as a recovering drug addict; she’s just…too good-looking. Nathan Fillion, who starred in Gunn’s “Slither” back in 2006, also makes an appearance as a ridiculous Christian-themed superhero called the Holy Avenger. There are a few jabs at Christianity but in a rare instance, the jokes end up falling flat.

“Super” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2010 and is in limited release since April 1, 2011. If you live in New York City, the film is only playing in two theaters and will hit video-on-demand on April 13. Reviews have been mixed with 44% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics found the tone wildly uneven. Made on a small budget of approximately $2.5 million, “Super” is rough around the edges and will most likely break even once it arrives on Blu-Ray and DVD. It didn’t seem like many were interested as the theater only had about twenty to thirty people. “Super” is not for everyone and most will be put-off or outright offended at its violence. Gunn is unable to maintain a consistent tone but there’s enough to like in this twisted little film to give it eventual cult status.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5

“SHUT UP, CRIME!”