Review of Super (2010) by Cj T — 23 Jun 2014

Upon watching Super I was entranced, horrified, and in love.

Super is a film that depicts a vigilante hero in a world that borders realism, demonstrating it's hero in a more true-to-life light. As a deranged man with strong beliefs and an unstable mind. It eschews the glory of superheroes, and equally the shallow violence of vigilante films like Kickass. It's best comparison is Defendor, and I think it manages to one up the latter on the basis of it's erratic comedy, violence, and absolute willingness to do whatever it has to to send it's message. It's violence is grotesque and uncompromising. You don't get up from being beaten in the head with a monkey wrench. It's protagonist is delusional, morally motivated, but ultimately a broken man attempting to find righteousness in an unjust and cruel world. It's plot isn't the linear paved superhighway of comparable films. It's the backroad gravel of a film that's finding it's way to a conclusion while navigating the harsh realities of a world that doesn't exist to sell you the same cheap crap other's do.

And as much as I hate it, what happens near the end, as miserable and as unfortunate as it was to watch, was absolutely necessary to drive this movie home.

A brilliant work that outdoes everything else in it's genre, Super is a must-watch for anyone with a stomach for a grimmer more realistic depiction of a vigilante "hero".