"All it takes to become a superhero is the choice to fight evil."
2010’s Super is a
black comedy/superhero film about a loser called Frank (Rainn Wilson) whose
wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) is a recovering drug addict. Despite Frank’s attempts to
keep her sober, she leaves him for a charismatic and dangerous club owner called
Jacques (Kevin Bacon). After seeing visions and a religious TV show featuring a
superhero called the Holy Avenger, Frank decides the best way to clean up the
city and win his wife back is to become a superhero himself. He creates a
persona and costume and becomes The Crimson Bolt. His methods of crime fighting
turn out to be quite un-PC and his only weapon is a wrench which he hits people
across the head with, to the catchphrase, “Shut up, crime.” Later he is joined
by Libby (Ellen Page), a slightly unbalanced comic book store employee who
becomes the Crimson Bolt’s sidekick, Boltie. Together they try to get Sarah
back.
Super unfortunately
came out in the same year as Kick-Ass which
is a far superior film and a film with a larger budget ($28m to $2.5m) and more
hype. While the films share a similar idea, they are in fact quite different. Super is a much darker and more unhinged
film with themes of religion and mental illness. It is quite strongly hinted
that both Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page’s characters have mental problems and is
not more apparent than when Page jumps around and screams with delight at
cracking someone’s skull open. The film is very violent and deserves its 18
Certificate. As well as the graphic violence there is also racially inappropriate
language and laughs at rape, which occurs twice, on one occasion firmly
cementing Page’s mental problems.
There are plenty of laughs with most coming from Rainn
Wilson. For anyone familiar with his The
Office character, here he plays something quite similar. He is geeky and
insecure but also has a dangerous religious side to him. He has vivid visions
and believes that God talks directly to him as well as asking for signs as to
whether he should continue with his path of violence. Ellen Page is also good.
She seems totally on edge and you are never quite sure what she will do next.
She also looks fantastic in her provocative superhero outfit.
I think this is a fairly good film but could have been so
much more. It is true that there have been other Superhero without powers
movies (Defendor, Kick-Ass) but I
think there is still scope for the genre. The message was quite confusing and
it felt rushed and unfinished. It is easy to forget that this is an adult film
which makes the violence and language feel surprising and sometimes nasty. We
are so used to the 12-A Superhero that it feels odd to see one crack open a
skull with a wrench. I’ve had mixed feelings since I finished watching it. On
one hand it is darkly funny and interesting but on the other it feels
ill-judged and rushed. The performances are good and it is worth seeing for
Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page alone.
6/10
