Super

Typically in any film, to get cheap entertainment at the expense of the characters is usually considered a big strike against the entire film itself. Usually the film is considered “mean,” and that it has no real compassion for its characters, causing most to turn away from the film.

Super, however, is an exception to this case. In fact, the majority of the film’s laughs come from the fact that its central character, Frank D’Arbo, is one of the most pathetic people on the face of this Earth. Here is a man who is society’s standard definition of a loser. Yet we find ourselves laughing at everything he does. Every move that he makes and everything he says we find of utmost interest. I mean, it’s hard not to find interesting a man who compares with such great conviction butting in line to acts such as dealing drugs and molesting little children.

The film has gained great comparisons to the similarly themed - and equally demented - Kick-Ass, released only a year earlier. However, while both films contain similar premises, they wildly differ in how they go about themselves. While Kick-Ass is an action film with immense amounts of violence that’s supported by its many three-dimensional characters, Super is a straight-up character study with its horrific violence used to support what kind of characters we are dealing with.

Frank leads such a mundane and depressing life that he is the type of man who takes such pride in even his smallest of accomplishments. He states right in the opening of the film how he has had only two good memories in his life, and those are marrying his wife and helping the cops stop a purse snatcher. He commemorates both events by hand-drawing them in crayon and hanging them up on his wall. The fact that he dresses up as his superhero alter ego, The Crimson Bolt, shows what great lengths he’ll go to defend even the smallest of his miniscule convictions. Not only does he go around beating up on criminals, but also those whose less-than-favorable actions are considered major injustices in his eyes (i.e. line-cutting).

Frank is played with such perfection by Rainn Wilson, known to those who keep up with their television shows for playing another big loser on The Office, Dwight Schrute. Frank is just like Dwight in the sense that they are both pathetic in their viewpoints and how they will go to great lengths to defend them, so I could imagine the role being a very easy fit for Wilson. However, Frank is Dwight’s darker side, without all the goofiness to him. He is the type of man who can come to terms with how much of a sad-sack he really is. With each step that Frank takes, with each act that he commits carrying as much pride as he possibly can, you could see such an underlying sadness to him. Yet it’s not the kind of sadness that guilts you into feeling any sympathy for the guy, like most melodramas tend to do. You love to see him defending his convictions and accomplishments so when you catch that sadness about him as he goes about his actions, you genuinely feel bad for him.

As much as there is a sadness about the lead character, though, this does not make Super all that depressing of a film. In fact, there is an equal amount, if not greater amount, of fun to be had from the film. This mostly stems from Wilson’s co-star in all his crime-fighting adventures, Libby, played fantastically by Ellen Page. Libby is the female equivalent of the characters that Wilson is best known for playing. She’s equally as pathetic, a comic book fangirl with grand delusions that she and Frank are indestructible forces that can easily take down crime and whoever else they wish to take down. She balances out Frank’s sadness, though, as she doesn’t care that she doesn’t do a whole lot with herself, and just has fun with the fact that she’s doing something that she thinks is right. The passion she carries as she goes around assisting Frank makes her the highlight of the film.

Wilson and Page are joined by a great supporting cast, including Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, and Kevin Bacon. All offer their fair share of solid moments in the film. This especially holds true to Bacon, who I guess has recently found a knack for antagonist roles, having also recently played the antagonist in X-Men: First Class. He should keep it up, as he seems to fit into these roles very naturally. He’s the type of guy who’s able to have fun with the fact that he’s such a bad guy, although never becoming too over-the-top. He plays with the villain, Jock, so very suave yet with such an obvious more conniving nature about himself that it makes him so much fun to watch every time he’s on screen.

If there’s one thing that might turn people away from Super, it’s the violence. There is a mass amount of violent acts committed in the film, from people being hit over the head with a wrench to a man being run over by a car. It constantly escalates, all leading to a very explosive final act. A lot of it is portrayed very graphically, possibly making it uncomfortable for some. However, there are two main reasons why the violence works. For one thing, as previously stated, the violence supports the types of characters we are dealing with. Their convictions are small-scale, yet hold them very strongly, and will go to great lengths to defend them. To not have as much violence as there was would completely downplay them. Secondly, the film is also meant to be fun, so for those who are big action film fans, the violence will be something to enjoy.

4.5/5