Despite enjoying other films like it, I was never a fan of James Gunn's Slither. It just came off as being average to me, and despite multiple tries, I have never ventured back to give it a second chance. Keeping that in mind, I ventured into a screening of Super at the Toronto International Film Festival hoping to be surprised, and not to come away disappointed. Thankfully, it turned out to be quite the awesome surprise.
Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) lives a pretty miserable existence. He has just two happy memories in his entire life – marrying his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) and pointing a police officer in the right direction of a suspect. So when Sarah, a stripper and former junkie, leaves him for her boss Jacques (Kevin Bacon), he loses all faith. But during a chance epiphany, he realizes his true calling is to be a superhero – the Crimson Bolt – and fight against those committing any sort of crime, whether it be drug dealing, underage rape or even butting in-line at the movies.
While I figured the film would have a hurdle to face making it feel different than any other movie about ordinary people donning costumes and fighting crime (in the past few years alone, see Special, Defendor, Kick-Ass and to a point, even Batman Begins and The Dark Knight), but Super is a much different beast. From the epilogue through the totally ridiculous (in a good way) animated song and dance credit sequence on, you know you are in for something different. This is a film that embraces the absurd and the full-blown psychopathic, and delivers a twistedly hilarious comic gem that lacks the seriousness (mostly) that plagues the other films previously mentioned. And any movie about someone using a pipewrench to wreak havoc on crime is immediately enough to make me forget Defendor even existed.
I think the element that sets Gunn's twisted fantasy apart from other films is that it is decidedly not mainstream. D'Arbo truly becomes the superhero we all wish we were by taking out anyone who is committing crimes. He has the vendetta against Jacques taking his wife hanging over his head throughout the movie, but in the meantime, he ensures that no crime goes unpunished – in increasingly graphically violent ways. I knew that using a pipewrench could only lead to a bloody mess, but I did not expect the movie to become the nasty bloodbath it quickly does. If you remember being disappointed at how much blood got cut between the conversion of Kick-Ass from a comic to a film, you will be delighted at just how much is spilt here. I knew Gunn was a graduate of the Troma film academy (Lloyd Kaufman makes a cameo late in the film), but I never expected to see just as much violence as I did. Thankfully, every injury and blood spurt is more hilarious and ridiculous than the last.
Wilson is amazing from start to finish as D'Arbo. I have never been a fan of his zany humour, but it fits this role perfectly. He jumps from being the pathetic loser to being the invigorated crime fighter with ease. And despite playing the role seriously, you never once think he is descending into parody. The film is a parody, but he never hams it up in the role deliberately looking for laughs. He has a very strong comic presence that he maintains throughout the film, and brings a rather poignant touch to more than a few scenes. If he sticks to more roles like these, and stays away from being the best thing in downright awful movies like The Rocker and My Super Ex-Girlfriend, he might have quite the career ahead of him.
The supporting cast is all very good and very funny in their smaller roles. Bacon is just as good as he always is, injecting the right amount of style and finesse into his scumbag of a character. Tyler could have done a bit more as the damsel in distress, but she remains quite memorable in her role. Smaller turns by Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker and especially Nathan Fillion all pay off wonderfully within the film. But if anyone can even stand close to Wilson's performance, it is Ellen Page as the off-the-rails comic nerd Libby. While she has found fame playing Juno and derivatives of the same character in the majority of her roles, she actually is quite different here. She alternates between being anxiety-ridden and being a complete psychopath, often in the same scene, and practically steals the film from Wilson. And when she finally becomes his sidekick Boltie, she truly is able to embrace the absurd.
If I have any problem with the film (outside of a rather bizarre and horrendous looking CGI sequence early in the film), it is that it never stays consistent with its tones. The humour remains intact throughout, but its absurdity starts to waver as the film goes on. It remains ridiculous, but it becomes a bit too serious in some sections. It feels more like Gunn did not want to truly push the film into the realm of comic fantasy, and still wanted some semblance of realism to stay within the film. He explained his tonal shift choices to the audience, but it still is not enough to make up for the film never knowing which way it wants to go. I loved its unpredictability of what D'Arbo would do next, but loathed never knowing what the next shift would be. It never destroys the film, but it weakens the film cohesively.
Super is an awesome film, and one whose dark humour never truly overtakes it. Wilson and Page are amazing in their roles, and the rest of the supporting cast does a great job backing them up. I just hope everyone can experience and have as much fun as I did.
9/10.
