SUPER(2011)***1/2 out of **** Written and Directed by James Gunn Starring Rainn Wilson,Ellen Page, Liv Tyler,Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry. Rated R, 96 minutes Released on DVD & BluRay by IFC Midnight Home Video
In this recent superhero film craze of the last twentyfive years,there has been several films that have parodied the superhero movie genre such as HERO AT LARGE(1980),DEFENDOR(2009)),SPECIAL(2009), GRIFF THE INVISIBLE(2011),THE SPECIALS(2002),MYSTERY MEN(1999) and the recent hit, KICKASS (2009) especially about ordinary people who dress up as superheroes without having any superpowers to be able to fight crime like vigilantes. This time, screenwriter and film director James Gunn who wrote scripts for the DAWN OF THE DEAD(2004) remake and the SCOOBY DOO(2003) movie as well as the horror film SLITHER(2006), finally tackles the superhero film with a great black comedy on how an ordinary man who is a losing nobody becomes a costumed vigilante in order to regain his wife (Liv Tyler) who has ran off with a notorious drug dealer played by Kevin Bacon(FOOTLOOSE).Just like the other superhero films parodies that I mentioned,the costumed vigilante named the Crimson Bolt in SUPER played by Rainn Wilson of TV's THE OFFICE finds out the hard way that being a superhero in real life isn't exactly as it is depicted in comic books.His nightly exploits are at first very comical but as the film progresses,the tone turns dark and violent, especially when the Crimson Bolt reluctantly gets a teenaged female sidekick named Bolty played by Ellen Page(JUNO, INCEPTION) who has a very nasty sadistical violent streak. When the Bolt and his young sidekick decides to take on the druglord and his gang in order to rescue his wife,then the climatic shootout becomes violently similar to the bloody ending in Martin Scorsese's classic TAXI DRIVER (1976)
Gunn effortless mixes black comedy/satire with off the wall violent action sequences just the same way it was done in last year's similar KICKASS(2010) but the same similarity also affects the film's effectiveness in a somewhat negative way since other films like KICKASS, DEFENDOR(2010) and SPECIAL(2008) also covered similar territory storywise making this film less unique than all the others that I mentioned. But what really saves the film are the great performances by Wilson as the Crimson Bolt, the always great Ellen Page as Bolty as well as Liv Tyler as the emotionally weak addicted wife of the Bolt and Kevin Bacon as the Crimson Bolt's main nemesis.The film also has nice satirical touches such as the animated fight balloons similar to the classic and campy 1960's TV BATMAN series that appear in this film's action scenes as well as some very amusing fantasy scenes in which the hero has these religious visions that make him continue in his quest to fight against crime. Both the DVD and BluRay of SUPER has an amusing and entertaining audio commentary by director Gunn and main star Rainn Wilson as well as trailers,featurette on the film's imaginative credits sequence, a making of dpcumentary and if you get the 2 DVD disc set of SUPER only exclusively sold at Best Buy stores, you get a second disc with cast and crew interviews, extended and delete scenes, a Q&A session with the cast and crew at last year's Comic Con and finally a poster and photo gallery.
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