"Super" Review
So, I saw "Super" yesterday at Chicago's very own Music Box Theatre. From what I understood, the movie was a labor of love for director James Gunn. I understood that he had hard time finding distributors. According to the early reviews, the movie was a bit disturbing. But I love independent films, and I enjoy superhero comics, so I decided to check it out.
I had no idea what I was in for.
First Thoughts Upon Leaving Theater: Holy crap! That. Movie. Is. Fucked. Up.
Longer review:
At their heart, superhero comics are a power fantasy. If you go back to the earliest days of superhero comics, you'll see plenty of stories about men who gain a power and use that power to impose their vision of justice upon the world, laws and ethical concerns be damned. Superheroes like the original Blue Beetle, Volton and Stardust the Super Wizard hunted down criminals with extreme prejudice, inflicting cruel, sadistic punishments upon the simply because they could. The notion that superheroes should follow the law, the notion that heroes should avoid killing weren't really set in stone until the late 50s-early 60s.
Watching "Super" was kind of like watching one of the early superhero comic strips brought to life - except with better characters, more realistic consequences and a writer who realized just how screwed up their heroes really were.
"Super" follows a short-order cook named Frank (Rainn Wilson). An abusive upbringing left him with a strong sense of morality and little to no self-regard. As he sees it, his life was worthless and depressing until he married Sarah (Liv Tyler), a recovering drug addict. But as the movie opens, Sarah falls under sway of her drug dealer ex-boyfriend, Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Before Frank knows is, Sarah is gone. And while the movie makes it clear that she probably wasn't in her right mind (next time we see her, she is in the back of a car, trapped in a drug-induced stupor), Frank is powerless to do anything about it. When he tries to retrieve her, Jascues' posse beats him up for his trouble.
Crushed by his own powerlessness and despair, Frank takes comfort in a cheesy, Bibleman-esque show about an Evangelical superhero known as the Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion). The show's simplistic, black-and-white morality offers a welcome respite from what he sees as a fundamentally unjust world. One very disturbing vision later, Frank decides to take justice into his own hands and fashions a superhero identity for himself, becoming a wrench-wielding Crimson Bolt. Before long, he catches the attention of Lily (Ellen Page), a helpful comic book store clerk. After that, it was only a matter of time before Lily discovers (in a manner of speaking), she pretty much coerces him into letting her be his sidekick, Boltie.
And this is where things really start to go off the deep end.
Given its plot and subject matter, the comparisons between "Super" and "Kick-Ass" are inevitable. "Super" is far more grounded in reality than kick-ass. As Crimson Bolt, Frank makes many mistakes, but once he achieves some successes, the media immediately brands him a psychopath - which, lets face it, is probably what would happen if some guy started bludgeoning people with blunt instruments in real life. Frank's secret identity isn't really that secret to people who's seen him without a mask. When people get shot in "Super," their injuries don't magically heal - they continue to affect the characters days and weeks later. And speaking of injuries - the movie really drives home to point just how gory real-life wounds can get.
But perhaps the most impressive aspect of the movie is that, unlike "Kick-Ass," it does not treat its protagonists as heroes. Over the course of the movie, the viewers discover that Frank had issues even before he made the Crimson Bolt costume. The film makes no bones about the fact that being Crimson Bolt is not about fighting crime - it's about Frank striking back against Jacques and anybody else who made his life unpleasant. It is the way for him to vent his anger without confronting Jacques. As for Lily - well, lets just say that it doesn't take long before it becomes evident that she became Frank's sidekick for very sadistic, disturbing reasons that only grow more disturbing as the movie progresses. For a few moments, I thought that this movie was going to show Frank and Lily coming to terms with their respective issues, perhaps helping each other out, but those hope were quickly and brutally dashed. And while the ending seemed to give Frank some closure, it is a cold comfort in light of the film's shockingly brutal climax.
Quite frankly, this movie was horrifying. It was the kind of horror that will make you question the goodness of humanity. It is a movie about disturbed, broken people doing disturbing, horrible things to each other. And it's not that the filmmakers don't known what they created. They want you to be disturbed. They want you to feel uncomfortable. And boy, do they ever succeed.
Thing is, the film has a lot going for it. The acting is excellent all around. Some of the characters aren't as fleshed out as they could be (with Sarah being a particularly galling example), but for the most part, the characters are complex and believable. The pacing and direction is admirable. The plotting is complex, and it has many interesting themes. I am sure that film buffs and comic fans would be able to spend hours peeling "Super" apart and examining all the ways in which it subverts action movies and superhero cliches. Sure, lots of it has already been covered in comic books and other films (Watchmen immediately comes to mind), but it does so in its' own, interesting ways. And the more die-hard comic book nerds would probably get a kick out of references to the original Human Torch to the art of Fletcher Hanks.
So do I recommend this movie? I don't know. I honestly don't know. I would not discourage you from seeing it for yourself, but, at the same time, I am not sure I would encourage you to see it, either.
Here in Chicago area, "Super" is playing at the Music Box Theater. It was originally scheduled to screen until today, but its run has since been extended for another week. So, if you live in Chicago area and you are curious, now might be the time to check it out.
And, on a more personal note:
P.S. When I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder how tweelore would feel about it. When I saw Paul with her and her fiance, she took issue with the film's blatantly anti-religious undertones. Whatever else you may say about "Super," I don't think it's anti-Christian at all. Sure, Frank is motivated by a cheesy Christian superhero, and his moral outlook is based on Protestant doctrine, the movie does not blame his issues on Christianity, nor does it really say anything bad to say about Christianity itself. If anything, the movie could be a great example of how individuals can use Christianity to justify their selfish desires, or how they see God as little more than an extension of their desires - neither of which is particularly Christian or, really, all that healthy.
I had no idea what I was in for.
First Thoughts Upon Leaving Theater: Holy crap! That. Movie. Is. Fucked. Up.
Longer review:
At their heart, superhero comics are a power fantasy. If you go back to the earliest days of superhero comics, you'll see plenty of stories about men who gain a power and use that power to impose their vision of justice upon the world, laws and ethical concerns be damned. Superheroes like the original Blue Beetle, Volton and Stardust the Super Wizard hunted down criminals with extreme prejudice, inflicting cruel, sadistic punishments upon the simply because they could. The notion that superheroes should follow the law, the notion that heroes should avoid killing weren't really set in stone until the late 50s-early 60s.
Watching "Super" was kind of like watching one of the early superhero comic strips brought to life - except with better characters, more realistic consequences and a writer who realized just how screwed up their heroes really were.
"Super" follows a short-order cook named Frank (Rainn Wilson). An abusive upbringing left him with a strong sense of morality and little to no self-regard. As he sees it, his life was worthless and depressing until he married Sarah (Liv Tyler), a recovering drug addict. But as the movie opens, Sarah falls under sway of her drug dealer ex-boyfriend, Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Before Frank knows is, Sarah is gone. And while the movie makes it clear that she probably wasn't in her right mind (next time we see her, she is in the back of a car, trapped in a drug-induced stupor), Frank is powerless to do anything about it. When he tries to retrieve her, Jascues' posse beats him up for his trouble.
Crushed by his own powerlessness and despair, Frank takes comfort in a cheesy, Bibleman-esque show about an Evangelical superhero known as the Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion). The show's simplistic, black-and-white morality offers a welcome respite from what he sees as a fundamentally unjust world. One very disturbing vision later, Frank decides to take justice into his own hands and fashions a superhero identity for himself, becoming a wrench-wielding Crimson Bolt. Before long, he catches the attention of Lily (Ellen Page), a helpful comic book store clerk. After that, it was only a matter of time before Lily discovers (in a manner of speaking), she pretty much coerces him into letting her be his sidekick, Boltie.
And this is where things really start to go off the deep end.
Given its plot and subject matter, the comparisons between "Super" and "Kick-Ass" are inevitable. "Super" is far more grounded in reality than kick-ass. As Crimson Bolt, Frank makes many mistakes, but once he achieves some successes, the media immediately brands him a psychopath - which, lets face it, is probably what would happen if some guy started bludgeoning people with blunt instruments in real life. Frank's secret identity isn't really that secret to people who's seen him without a mask. When people get shot in "Super," their injuries don't magically heal - they continue to affect the characters days and weeks later. And speaking of injuries - the movie really drives home to point just how gory real-life wounds can get.
But perhaps the most impressive aspect of the movie is that, unlike "Kick-Ass," it does not treat its protagonists as heroes. Over the course of the movie, the viewers discover that Frank had issues even before he made the Crimson Bolt costume. The film makes no bones about the fact that being Crimson Bolt is not about fighting crime - it's about Frank striking back against Jacques and anybody else who made his life unpleasant. It is the way for him to vent his anger without confronting Jacques. As for Lily - well, lets just say that it doesn't take long before it becomes evident that she became Frank's sidekick for very sadistic, disturbing reasons that only grow more disturbing as the movie progresses. For a few moments, I thought that this movie was going to show Frank and Lily coming to terms with their respective issues, perhaps helping each other out, but those hope were quickly and brutally dashed. And while the ending seemed to give Frank some closure, it is a cold comfort in light of the film's shockingly brutal climax.
Quite frankly, this movie was horrifying. It was the kind of horror that will make you question the goodness of humanity. It is a movie about disturbed, broken people doing disturbing, horrible things to each other. And it's not that the filmmakers don't known what they created. They want you to be disturbed. They want you to feel uncomfortable. And boy, do they ever succeed.
Thing is, the film has a lot going for it. The acting is excellent all around. Some of the characters aren't as fleshed out as they could be (with Sarah being a particularly galling example), but for the most part, the characters are complex and believable. The pacing and direction is admirable. The plotting is complex, and it has many interesting themes. I am sure that film buffs and comic fans would be able to spend hours peeling "Super" apart and examining all the ways in which it subverts action movies and superhero cliches. Sure, lots of it has already been covered in comic books and other films (Watchmen immediately comes to mind), but it does so in its' own, interesting ways. And the more die-hard comic book nerds would probably get a kick out of references to the original Human Torch to the art of Fletcher Hanks.
So do I recommend this movie? I don't know. I honestly don't know. I would not discourage you from seeing it for yourself, but, at the same time, I am not sure I would encourage you to see it, either.
Here in Chicago area, "Super" is playing at the Music Box Theater. It was originally scheduled to screen until today, but its run has since been extended for another week. So, if you live in Chicago area and you are curious, now might be the time to check it out.
And, on a more personal note:
P.S. When I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder how tweelore would feel about it. When I saw Paul with her and her fiance, she took issue with the film's blatantly anti-religious undertones. Whatever else you may say about "Super," I don't think it's anti-Christian at all. Sure, Frank is motivated by a cheesy Christian superhero, and his moral outlook is based on Protestant doctrine, the movie does not blame his issues on Christianity, nor does it really say anything bad to say about Christianity itself. If anything, the movie could be a great example of how individuals can use Christianity to justify their selfish desires, or how they see God as little more than an extension of their desires - neither of which is particularly Christian or, really, all that healthy.