Monday 10 October 2011

ONE TO WATCH: SUPER (DVD)



“Sometimes the best way to forget someone you care about is to fill the void with someone you don’t quite so much.” When you lose your drug addict wife (Liv Tyler) to a charismatic drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), there really is only one course of action. “All it takes to become a superhero is the choice to fight evil,” so when average Joe Frank (Rainn Wilson) decides to target crime, no matter how minor the offence, hilarity is bound to ensue. Crimson Bolt has arrived, ready to restore order in the only way he knows how, usually with a rusty pipe wrench and a dry line in catchphrases. “Shut up crime!” James Gunn (Slither) walks the same path as the team behind Kick-Ass, but he does it at night, in a darker, more sinister part of town.

Frank is touched by the finger of God and decides to take the law into his own hands, becoming his own crime fighting superhero. Powers or not however, every superhero needs a sidekick. Enter Libby (Ellen Page), cute, sexy and just a little bit psychopathic, working at the local comic book store. Under the guise of  'Boltie', Libby teams up with Frank to take Jacques down in a quest to win back his wife. Kevin Bacon is back to his best, Ellen page is off her rocker, away with the fairies and on another page entirely, and Rainn Wilson remains one of the freshest, funniest faces on TV. Even Nathan Fillion makes an appearance - as a crime-fighting hero of God - resulting in one of the quirkiest, darkest comedies of the year.

It’s easy to see why Super didn’t prove the commercial hit like Kick-Ass; Matthew Vaughn’s comic book oddity may have been blessed with Hit Girl’s high-octane profanity, but it still feels relatively safe when compared to James Gunn’s ultra-violent offering. The tone is off balance - a little too dark for mainstream and not quite funny enough to distract from the fact - but with blistering performances and an offbeat charm, Super impresses even when it shouldn’t. Like its protagonist, Super is demented, deluded and very entertaining. Too dark for some and five years too late, but with Ellen Page flying away with the movie, Super might just be what happens inbetween the panels of a comic book."                                                        AW


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