It’s no surprise to learn that James Gunn wrote for Troma before he began making his own films. His latest release, Super, belongs in the same film lineage as Toxic Avenger and Nuke ‘Em High, self-consciously “cult” films that made up for commercial failure with subculture success. Super mixes humor with violence, adds startling dashes of sex and (sac)religion, while taking superhero conventions as its structuring principles. Manipulating an astonishing variety of media in the film—music, animation, scripts within scripts, acting the part of the Devil on the All Jesus Network—Gunn sees his film as an arthouse/grindhouse marriage of extremes, made on such a small budget that it can’t help but make a profit.
There exists already a well-established subcategory of superhero films: the non-superhero superheroes, featuring regular people who suit up to fight for their brand of justice, from the more traditional Batman and Green Lantern, to the vigilante Watchmen, the misfits of Special and Mystery Men, and most recently Kickass, Defendor and now Super. Each asks what makes a hero, investigating psychological motivations, family dynamics, and social yearnings with greater and lesser degrees of earnestness. Super adds little to this subgenre, a film that withholds much beyond irony and black humor until its dénouement; none of the above films are without significant flaws, but Kickass brings a joie de vivre to its action sequences, Mystery Men a well-executed sophomoric humor, whereas Super seems unevenly mean and manic in its dismantling of the superhero mythos.
Super pairs short-order cook Frank (Rainn Wilson) with comic geek Libby (Ellen Page), seeking to rescue his addict wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) who’s been seduced by drug dealer Jacques (Kevin Bacon, in my favorite performance of the film). Frank gives birth to Crimson Bolt after inspiration from late-night Christian television and instruction from Libby, a shop girl at the local comic store, who is primed to fill the frisky sidekick role of Boltie. After false starts fighting random street crime first unarmed, then packing only a wrench, and missteps attacking theater line cutters and suspected car keyers with the same vehemence as child molesters and drug dealers, The Crimson Bolt stocks his arsenal and prepares for his final showdown with Jacques. While some of the violence is well-executed, the film fails to gel sufficiently, and its conclusion, where Frank realizes his higher purpose in a schmaltzy flash forward sequence, feels as impotent as much of the film. The Crimson Bolt may succeed in his immediate quest to free Sarah, but the film cannot say as much in its subversion of superhero conventions.
The film’s tonal and production unevenness could be all too easily absorbed into the annoyingly familiar “it’s supposed to be that way,” film defense. I get it: I get the project, I get its execution. I just don’t think it’s particularly good or interesting. Frankly, I felt too old while watching Gunn’s film, like I might have enjoyed it 20 years ago, if I hadn’t already seen as many movies, read as many books, watched as much late-night Christian television.
Today Pi Pizzeria's Loop location (6144 Delmar) serves up the "Super Meatball & Cheese" (hormone-free beef and pork meatballs, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, red peppers, white onions, mushrooms and basil) in celebration of the release of Super. The film opens tonight at the Tivoli (6350 Delmar), with screenings at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Director James Gunn will be on hand to answer questions after the first screening, and prior to the second screening.
