Written by: James Gunn
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fillion
Rating: [2.5/5]
A life in vigilantism contains many things from violence and many late nights, but continually proves it will not solve all of your problems. Very much serving as the lesson of this feature in the attempts to tell an edgy crime-fighting tale but going so far off the rails it loses all meaning it seeks to present. Given the bright spots, it makes the final result very disappointing especially considering the talent involved.
Distraught by his wife leaving him for a strip club owner, Frank (Rainn Wilson) seeks the opportunity to get her back and successfully fulfill his dream of cleaning up crime thus becoming The Crimson Bolt. This leads him to interact with Libby (Elliot Page), who truly wants to join Frank in his efforts.
Super certainly serves as quite the intriguing viewing experience in the way it displays this vigilante experience. It strips away all of the glamour typically used in comic book movies and presents a character with a body type not typically seen with these heroes. It provides this real and rugged presentation of this journey for Frank and when in this element the film certainly thrives. This demonstrates what makes this life so difficult but also mixes the delusions of Frank in his attempts to make a discernible difference out there by beating down criminals and not thinking it would somehow go wrong with him.
Where the feature teeters come from the introduction of Libby. A character James Gunn really sought to be edgy with his writing in this presentation. Someone a bit too overly excited at the prospect of operating as a vigilante and inflicting some damage on others having to get reeled back in on a couple of occasions. Everything happening between them in this film causes a red flag to be raised emphatically on several occasions with some distressing scenes. This certainly has Gunn pushing the boundaries of what we can accept in a movie in what gets depicted, especially in a vigilante hero one. What he tries deserves a nod but the execution proves quite terrible allowing for the majority of his feature quite enjoyable to watch. This feeling does not result in a way where it serves as the point, but elicits a feeling on multiple occasions where I asked, “Why am I still watching this?” Certainly, something a director does not want an audience member to ask while watching this feature, yet here we are.
In regard to violence, this feature seeks to deliver several bone-crunching moments to demonstrate the reality of the brutality involved with fighting crime. Batman appears at times to just punch someone once and they land unconsciously safely on the floor because he does not kill. At the very least this feature exhibits how much damage needs to be done to someone in order to knock them down and out making for some eye-opening moments of violence inflicted by these heroes. This aspect certainly sticks out among everything else and contributes to everything this feature sought to accomplish.
Casting Rainn Wilson in this role certainly served as quite the choice and yet one that certainly worked for the film. Someone who you can easily root for because of our previous affiliation for his role in The Office but also having the right body and demeanor necessary for the role. He goes all in on the portrayal of this character as he displays the loser tendencies of this man. In ways he realizes he got way over his head with this mission, which mostly appears when individuals start shooting at him. Wilson has the comedic chops to carry those darkly humorous moments bringing the right delivery in order for it to land even if the screenplay did not always assist in the best way.
Ultimately a feature with plenty of interesting ideas about masculinity and vigilantism, Super never quite reaches its potential. Instead of diving deeper into its themes, it tries too hard in its efforts to create discomfort for the audience and have this edge no one asked for. Also, it must be quite discouraging to see this film come out in 2011 after Kick-Ass already took the similar concept of these unspectacular superheroes and crafted a much better film. It allows for this feature to mostly get forgotten in the shuffle of everything, which ultimately makes sense because of the lack of quality in the final product.
Films with Josh 
