Super (2010)

Super (2010)

Shut up, Crime!

I actually enjoyed the movie a great deal.  However, I can’t recommend the movie to light at heart.  The movie is as violent as they come.  Actually, the movie might be more brutal than Kick-ass.  Up until the last 20 minutes, the movie is very much a dark comedy, and I can’t stress dark enough.  People get their heads cracked in by this “super” hero.  And, I found myself really enjoying the movie because of this. 

Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) is a guy that works at as a cook at a restaurant, and has a rather boring life, but he has a lovely wife.  She is a recovering addict that ends up falling off the wagon and leaving Frank for a drug dealer named Jock (Kevin Bacon).  Distraught by this, Frank starts to lose his mind and becomes a superhero named The Crimson Bolt.  He fights crime by bashing people’s skulls in with a wrench.  While fighting crime, he even takes on a lovely sidekick (Ellen Page). 

This is probably Wilson’s best role yet.  You’re not sure if you should be cheering on this guy or wanting him stop his crime fighting ways.  Wilson does a good job balancing the mundane, silly and darkness of his character.  He really seems to shine when he takes on the character of The Crimson Bolt.  Wilson is just outstanding in the twisted role. 

The other actress that steals the show is a hyper Ellen Page doing something different than her Juno role.  Here, she is a fan-girl that works at a local comic shop.  She knows her comic books and helps Wilson’s character with his research.  There is a dark twisted charm about Page’s character and her intensity to become a super hero sidekick to the Crimson Bolt.  Her sidekick name is Boltie. 

When she dons the Boltie costume, she becomes extremely crazy to the point of harming a somewhat innocent person.  Page is extremely cute as Boltie, if a little insane.  And, there is one scene that every fanboy talks about involving her, in her Boltie outfit, and an unsuspecting/sleeping Rain Wilson.  I won’t spoil it, but you will never see Page the same way again…

“It's all gooshy. ”

Kevin Bacon is playing Kevin Bacon.  And, I am fine with that too.  I find it funny that he’s the main villain here, and it another big bad villain in X-Men: First Class. 

Besides the Ellen Page scene, there is another stand out scene involving a theater line-cutter that is extremely brutal.  I was disturbed by it, and amused with the fact they showed it. 

The story switches to a serious one toward the end of the movie.  The dark humor is replaced with some serious scenes of life and death when the Crimson Bolt and Boltie attack the drug stronghold.  I was even shocked the direction they took with one character.

The ending wasn’t what I suspected either.  While somber, there is a hint of hope, and I will leave it at that.  I am surprised how much I enjoyed the movie. 

Grade:  B+

Side Note: 

-Did I mention that Nathan Fillion plays a parody of Bibleman?  I think only a few people will even get the joke. 

 At least the outfit is better than the Batgirl outfit in Batman & Robin.