Super

Frank isn’t happy that if you search for Super, you get lots and lots of Mario.

Super is a low-budget film that asks the question now frequently posed by movies, ‘Just what, exactly, kind of person do you have to be to become a superhero?’ with the answer, ‘A severely damaged one.’

Frank (Rainn Wilson, putting his general oddity to good use) has had two perfect moments in life. One was marrying Sarah (Liv Tyler, effectively spacy), a waitress at the diner they both work at who is trying hard to make this go at sobriety stick. The other was the moment when he pointed a police officer towards a running criminal. When Sarah leaves, Frank decides to save her, and with the help of local comic store worker Libby (Ellen Page, appearing to have an absolute blast), he gains inspiration to become the Crimson Bolt.

Super is often dark, funny, and entertaining, as you might expect from a movie whose lead decides his catchphrase should be, “Shut up, crime!” and whose prime weapon of choice is a wrench. Notably, the violence is more realistic than in most films of this type, and a little to my surprise that actually made it even funnier. Of course getting slammed in the face with a wrench is going to wreck you up, and seeing it happen, blood and all, actually emphasises the absurdity and humour.

As the film follows Frank and as Libby gets closer to him, we get to see just how messed up they both are – and to even Frank’s surprise, how Libby is even more unstable than he is. With the exception of one weird CGI scene here and one underused Linda Cardellini there (seriously, I want to see the film where she and Ellen Page play sisters), Super was a lot of fun, a B-movie conception on superheroes with lots of moments of delight, from the joyous opening credits to the surprisingly poignant finale. A good, solid film.