Review of Super (2010) by Paul A — 19 Mar 2012

With the ever expanding amount of superhero movies being released each year, it comes as no surprise the filmmakers are constantly trying to experiment with different, more unique ways of going about portraying the story. Last year saw the idea of a normal guy becoming a crime-fighting superhero in Kick-Ass. Granted, I wasn't a big fan of that film, Kick-Ass was a fun, violent story about an average high school kid just trying to find himself while also bagging the girl of his dreams. Super doesn't exactly take that route. Perhaps it should have.

Another installment of "the average guy turned superhero," Super tells the story of Frank (Rainn Wilson), a boring, plain man who's wife leaves him for another man named Jock (Kevin Bacon). Unable to get over losing his wife, Frank decides to become a superhero who fights crime and society's wrong-doers. A local comic book store employee named Libby (Ellen Page) joins him.

Unlike Kick-Ass, there is limited empathy for any character. Regardless of how it's twisted, even the superheros are scum. The situational violence and gore is tackled well from a real world standpoint, but it remains impossible to form a connection with even the film's two main stars as they are walking, talking psychopaths. In large part, the limited marketing of the film creates this flaw. As opposed to Kick-Ass, a film that flaunted its violence and characters upfront, Super draws in its audience by setting the story up to be one of humor. Though it may attempt to be humorous, Super is far too dark to even be labeled a dark comedy.

Our two "heroes," Frank and Libby, simply can never become the title they seek. Resorting to barbaric measures to enforce legality and liberty, such as pelting criminals repeatedly with a wrench is one thing, but when people who key a car or butt in line receive the same treatment as child molesters or rapists, a character goes from mentally unstable to full-out insane just based on his actions. Any type of mental or emotional point the film tries to make is overwhelmed by the outright brutality displayed. There's no empathy towards Frank, who is as another character labels him: "stalker-ish." Likewise, there's certainly no empathy for Libby. While Frank's wife leaving him no excuse to act they way he does, Libby doesn't even have that excuse. She's not a youthful misfit or the victim of a broken home or a bad relationship. She's nothing more than a lunatic.

One redeeming moment has to be the fact that the film isn't weary to treat its characters the way they should be treated. Two average people who take up such a dangerous way of life aren't immortal, physically and emotionally. Regardless, Super isn't humorous enough to overlook how immorally dark the film really is. Not even the acting can save this misfire as the characters have no depth and their actions are unwarranted.