SUPER (2010)

[indianasmith]

Holy cow, has no one else seen this?  I'd never even heard of it till it showed up on the shelves at Hasting's this week, but this movie is a masterpiece!  Imagine it as a more bleak, darker version of KICKASS, but with a somewhat more redemptive ending.  I put this in with very low expectations and wound up being utterly amazed by it.

A QUICK PLOT SYNOPSIS WITH A FEW MINOR SPOILERS:

Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) is a neurotic short order cook whose wife, Sarah (Liv Tyler), is a recovering junkie who is in the process of falling off the wagon as the film begins.  Frank's dreadful life has enjoyed two perfect moments: One, when he married Sarah, and the other, when he pointed a cop in the direction of a fleeing fugitive.  Other than those two shining moments, his life has utterly sucked.  And now his wife is getting back into drugs and leaving him for a nightclub owner named Jacques, who is also a major dope dealer (played by Kevin Bacon).
   Frank goes batty and tries to chase her down and bring her back, only to be first warned, then beaten up, by Jacque's goons.  So Frank goes home and watches a  very poorly done Christian children's program about a self righteous hero called "The Holy Avenger," and this begins his fascination with superheroes.  After reading a few Holy Avenger comics and praying for guidance, and being molested by  tentacles that sprout from his wall and open his cranium so God's finger can touch his brain,  he decides it's time for him to step out and do something to oppose the city's teeming evil.
  So he makes himself a superhero costume and begins calling himself The Crimson Bolt.  However, a drug dealer beats the snot out of him on his first mission (shades of KICKASS), and he decides he needs to carry a weapon of some sort. He goes to the comic store and does a bit more research, and then he settles on a heavy duty pipe wrench as his sidearm.  Soon he is cracking the craniums of pimps, drug dealers, child molesters, and people who cut in line at the movie theater with gory abandon.
  But when he goes after Jacques again, two bad things happen.  First, the costume doesn't fool the druglord and his minions for a minute.  They know it is Sarah's husband, come back for another round.  Second, Frank gets shot in the leg.  He seeks refuge with the only person who has guessed what he is up to: the beautiful young Libby (Ellen Page), who works at the comic book store where he does his "research."  She takes him in and patches him up, then offers to become his kid sidekick, "Boltie."
  From there, the plot moves swiftly towards its denouement.  Will Frank free Sarah from the drug lord's wicked clutches?  Will Boltie calm down some, or will her enthusiam for the job continue to endanger the dysfunctional duo?  Will the police realize who the Crimson Bolt is, since he never bothers to hide the plates on his car?  Will Frank ditch his junkie wife who doesn't love him and submit to the considerable charms of Libbie?
  This is a very amusing, very dark, and very bloody comedy.  Ellen Page steals the show as the foulmouthed, overly enthusiastic Boltie, who wants to kill a guy who once keyed her best friend's car.  At least, she thinks it's him! Kevin Bacon is very convincing as a villain who looks just like Kevin Bacon.  But Rainn Wilson is absolutely AMAZING as Frank, a hero at once pathetic, scary, and inspiring.  There are some very unexpected twists and bumps, and the gore is really over the to in some scenes.  This isn't a remake of KICKASS - this is the movie that KICKASS aspired to be.  It's the best thing I've seen since SUCKER PUNCH, and it has WAY less CGI!!!!!

Indy sez check it out.  Or the Crimson Bolt will pipe wrench your cranium!!!

[JayJayM12]

I saw it a couple of months ago at a screening in Austin and I absolutely loved it.  I'm not a huge superhero/comic book fan, but I would say that this movie barely falls into those categories.  It's really more of a character study, with some extreme (but pretty realistic) violence thrown in.  I had been looking forward to it for awhile cause I've always liked James Gunn's work, but I have to admit that I had a hard time picturing Rainn Wilson in the role.  But, once I saw it, those reservations were thrown out the window - he was fantastic!  I can't recommend this one enough - it's been a few months since I saw it, but I picked up the blu-ray on release day and plan on checking it out again this weekend...

I actually really enjoyed Kick Ass too, but this one seems to be unfairly compared to it.  I find it to be a far superior movie.  It's definitely in my top few movies of 2011 so far (maybe even the #1 spot if I took some time to put some thought into it)...

[retrorussell]

It was funny.  Kick-Ass, for me, lost its way at times.  This one was far better.  Kevin Bacon was perfect as a smarmy sleazeball basically making fun of his real self.  Good fun.

[Vik]

Liked this quite a bit. Big Rainn Wilson fan 

[The Burgomaster]

I was in Best Buy yesterday using a gift certificate and I saw this sitting on the shelf.  Looked amusing, but I didn't buy it.  Instead I got:

* RIO (3D blu-ray)
* BATTLE LOS ANGELES (blu-ray)
* GREEN HORNET (3D blu-ray) - I know, I know . . . I wouldn't have bought it if I had to pay for it, but I had a gift certificate . . . plus, the hood-mounted machine guns looked cool in 3D when I saw the trailer.  Haven't watched the movie yet . . .

 

[indianasmith]

I think SUPER was much better than GREEN HORNET, although I did enjoy BATTLE: LOS ANGELES.

[Vik]

i think Super was better than all of those films, especially BATTLE LA 

[Mr_Vindictive]

Bought it on blu-ray as a preorder. Awesome movie. Great mix of insanity and action!

[Jim H]

I've now seen this one twice, and while the comparisons to Kick-Ass are valid, this is actually a very different film.  The comic book element is much more minor, and I think a character study is a better comparison.  That said, I enjoyed this one considerably more and found it to be just an overall better film.

Rainn Wilson is great in this one, he really carries the film, but in truth everyone is good.  Even Michael Rooker gives a little bit of extra character to a small role, like how he often doesn't really seem to be too happy with what he is doing.  It's barely touched on, but it's there (like the sadness in his eyes when Liv Tyler is being assaulted towards the end).  

I particularly liked Wilson's final speech to Kevin Bacon.  It's off-kilter, but practically made me cheer.  Here's a link.  Warning: HUGE SPOILERS HERE.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOouS1uJA9E&feature=related
	Small | Large

Critics are pretty negative on this one, but they're nuts.

9/10.

Also, as a final note, Lloyd Kaufman has a speaking cameo in this one.  Not surprising, as James Gunn got started at Troma.

[mahoney]

Saw Slither for the first time a few weeks back & absolutely loved it so now really looking forward to giving this a go.

James Gunn got the balance of horror & gross out humour completely right in Slighter, for me he would of been the ideal choice to direct the remake/reboot of The Evil Dead.