Super (2010)

Written and Directed by James Gunn

It's been too long, James Gunn. I know he had a tough time getting a movie made, and when faced with the possibility of the loss of creative control, he probably walked away. So I don't mind waiting a few years for his follow up to the splattery fun that was Slither (sadly, a mismarketed commercial failure), and he's back with a knockout punch rife with turmoil from his own life.

Super, is, in essence, a break-up revenge fantasy. When Frank D'Arbo's (Rainn Wilson) wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) leaves him for the crooked Jacque (Kevin Bacon), he literally snaps. The weight of his failures destroy him, to the point where he has an epiphany: He's only failed because he didn't make the choice to try. Inspired by an insipid Christian-themed superhero, he befriends Libby (Ellen Page) a comic shop employee with strange fascinations and enough personality flaws to fill her own movie.

Invigorated by his message from God, Frank sets out as the Crimson Bolt, who tells crime to shut up, and eventually shuts them up with a hefty pipe wrench. As Frank's path of vengeance burns through the city, Libby catches on, and by virtue of her pushiness, quickly becomes the Crimson Bolt's sidekick Boltie.

The superhero genre has pretty much been covered, and the existential superhero has always been defined by the Watchmen, and Gunn seemingly knows this, so he takes his hero in a completely different direction. This isn't a huge superhero film about huge issues and vast conspiracies. It's about the small issues, things that only a few people might care about, but Frank D'Arbo proves those people can be the most passionate. With his tirades against child molesters, drug dealers, and even people who cut in line, Gunn is venting every frustration he ever felt in a failed relationship.

Super is more in spirit with the Coen Brothers A Serious Man in that it's about a man who continually does the right thing, but finds failure at every door. Where the Coen Brothers film is about a man taking it all inward, this is the tale of a man who explodes everything that's ever bothered him off his chest, with increasing frequency, until he's ruthlessly gunning down Jacque's henchmen.

Many will see this as a film about the question of morality. I don't agree. I don't think it takes even a second to muse on morality, rather, it makes its decisions quickly, and lets history look as it may. For instance, when Frank attacks people with his pipe wrench, he does it on instinct, flared by the anger of his own past failures. Upon reflection, he decides the morality, and examines it, in an attempt to possibly shape some form of morality from what he's done.

I also don't think it's really about any relationship with God. Rather, I think the scenes of Frank's religion are further extensions of the scenes where he is shamed. God is merely his outlet for guidance, and even then, he always made his own decisions, even if he was always questioning God if they were the right decisions. It seems less about faith, and more about Frank's relationship to that faith once everything is said and done.

Beyond the film, and this is very much a film that's really about the events outside the ones depicted in the film, what happens to Frank next is just as important as what happened in the scenes we saw, a rare feat it seems. The tone is what makes it all work, and every actor knows exactly what world they're in. Kevin Bacon is hilarious as the not-so-bad bad guy, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, and Nathan Fillion all have cameos (another joy of James Gunn movies), but it's Rainn Wilson who really shines as the hurt, broken, and lonely Frank.

Wilson takes the material quite seriously, and that's what makes all the dark humor work so well. His earnestness is what prevents the violence from feeling too mean and cruel, which some of it is. And that's the point. The violence and gore may be shocking for some expecting the full on comedy treatment, but I think it brings a realism to the world, that there are indeed consequences to the things Frank does, and it defies the flashy superhero style to have blood flying everywhere.

I also loved the little touches, the music, the way the camera moved, to give it that "small comedy" feel, and then in the action scenes it went 60's pop Batman for the violence. Watching some of the scenes, it almost seems that the BLAM! and POW! were to cover up that fickle blood particle problem so many greenscreen scenes tend to have, but if it is, bravo. I love the concept and at the same time it defies the realistic violence, bringing the stark realism to the viewer, but softening the emotional impact.

Super is funny, tragic, violent, but ultimately, cathartic. It's a testament to Gunn's writing ability to say how much I really enjoy and care about these characters. Too many films seem to know that not much is expected of their genre, so they don't bother trying to reinvent the wheel. The great part is, Gunn hasn't reinvented anything. He's just made a new type of superhero film, and I guess you can say it's in the same genre as Kick Ass just for being a comedic send up of classic comic characters, but really it's none of those things, just an angry break up letter to an ex-girlfriend that happens to be tragically hilarious and gorily passionate.

For now, Super is playing in limited cities, and on VOD in even fewer cities it seems. IFC would be wise to take a note from new genre juggernaut Magnet Releasing, who have the benefit of Mark Cuban and his money, but releases genre films across every platform in a timely manner, with increasing success. Any which way you can, see this film, especially if you think you've seen everything the superhero genre can offer.

9.5/10 (A)