Review of Super (2010) by Adam F — 18 Mar 2013

"Super" is brilliant in it's madness. Every character feels like a real person you've seen that one time on the bus and your instincts told you "Stay away!" but they never feel phony or cartoonish. Although the film is fictional and some parts of it are pretty improbable, it mostly stays in the realm of realism and that is what makes the movie interesting. You know that the characters in the movie are just people with problems (or in the case of the antagonist, total scumbags and completely accurate to real life) and that if any of them take a bullet, they're done. There aren't any moments where a characters somehow manages to take several hits but keep on going or where a man that's totally out-of-shape manages to hop the distance between two buildings while evading gunfire. The movie keeps escalating and gets crazier and crazier as it goes along and just when you think the movie can't top itself, it does. It's a really dark, violent and incredibly funny black comedy that's satisfying because you basically get to see some people that are incredibly disturbed dish out their own brand of justice. There is so much satisfaction in seeing "Frank" (Rainn Wilson's character) dispense his vigilante justice on "criminals" that may or may not deserve it that you won't even care that he's almost sinking to the level of the people he's attacking.

Everyone in the movie gives a great performance. Rainn Wilson particularly stands out as a man who lets it all out. Towards the beginning of the movie we hear him say something along the lines of "People look stupid when they cry" and when you see him pouring out his heart in dispair, it feels completely genuine and yes, he does look stupid. He's a terrific actor that isn't trying to look good for the camera, he's doing everything he can to sell his part in the movie. Kevin Bacon, Ellen Page and Liv Tyler are also really good and it's the best work they've all done in a long time. You can tell that these actors read the script and really believe in this project because they sell it compeltely.

There are many memorable and iconic scenes (some funny, some thrilling and some disturbing) and more than a few lines that are very quotable and so perfectly placed in the film that they will stick with you for a long time (even though "Shut up, crime!" is great any way you say it). It's totally unpredictable and the ending might be sad for some, sweet for others but you won't forget it and it hits every note perfectly. (Dvd, July 2, 2012).