A Few Thoughts on "Super"


A few things may become clear by the time you have clicked to this page. For starters, I have a thing for the actress Ellen Page. My blog has detailed over the past two years various aspects of that relationship and surprisingly, I stand by her in good times (Inception, Whip It) and mediocre times (Peacock). I haven't really found a role of hers that I hated, but I try to judge her like I'd judge everyone else in my film criteria (as hopefully my numerous Inception rants of '10 should prove).

But you know... it hard to say no to this person. So adorable, so versatile.

Which is precisely why I drove all the way out to Santa Monica from Long Beach. I didn't stop for lunch, or even to visit Second Spin or the beach (not that I like that place, anyways). I risked sitting in traffic for an hour, getting leg cramps, and somehow forgetting to get a parking ticket when I entered the parking structure (lame, long story, but that parking attendant is awesome. Kudos to you).
I did it all because I had a day off, and you know what? I have been waiting close to two years to see it. Mostly because of Ellen Page.

So to say the following rant doesn't have some bias or motive is a lie. However, again, Page is just a pawn in the chess board. Can't quite succeed without the other aspects.

The story is simple: Frank (Rainn Wilson) loses his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) to her drug dealer Jacques (Kevin Bacon) and decides to fight crime with the assistance of Libby (Ellen Page) to get her back.

Add the discovered subtext that Frank has a mentally disturbing history, being exposed to sex and violence at an early age. He goes around with a monkey wrench and wails on "criminals" ranging from drug dealers to theater line hoppers. Very little motive is exposed other than God touched his brain, which in one scene should determine whether you are in or out of this bizarre world.

One of the best supporting roles goes to the awesome Nathan Fillion, who plays the Holy Avenger (think Bible Man) on a TV show. The overly campy yellow spandex suit and ridiculously blown up scenarios of children dressing in S&M because of the evil Demonswill (James Gunn). While his segments are short, Fillion brings an air of cockiness that suits the inspirational messages
he gives with tongue in cheek hilarity in a way I haven't enjoyed since Jason Schwartzman in Funny People's Yo Teach segments.
Also, as the voice of reason, how can you go wrong with a buff guy in yellow spandex preaching Christianity?

While it was only two minutes or less, I am also glad to see Linda Cardellini in this as a Pet Store Employee. Another personal favorite from the Freaks and Geeks days. All I'm saying is that it's nice to know she's still around and brunette.

As for the actual story? Let's be honest. Ever since Superhero Movie in 2008, there have been so many well known superhero average Joe movies made that I'm totally fine with you dismissing this one. From the trailer alone, I got the impression that it was Kick-Ass meets Juno. Also, the mentally disturbed, D.I.Y. ethic reminded me of Defendor.

The difference from those? This is an unrated, low budget ($2 million), film that has toured TIFF and
SXSW, getting praise (though Rotten Tomatoes begs to differ) and eventually found distribution from IFC. The entire look of this movie screams indie, but probably not noticeably. The advertisement seems to be more word of mouth than TV spots and bus advertisements.

Ok, it's not totally different from Defendor (though it didn't circle any festivals).

If you are familiar with director James Gunn's style in any way, you will kind of know what to expect from this. Sure, he's written Scooby Doo, but he also directed Slither. Albeit, that was another monster movie in the vein of Dead Alive that I didn't enjoy visually, but I loved the perverse nature of the humor, choosing to make light of killing anything that moved.
I just worried that I was getting into another Slither-type film where there would be a lot of graphic violence.

Luckily, there isn't much to report on other than I really fell in love with this movie fast. True, I have never been the biggest Rainn Wilson fan (the Rocker wasn't the worst thing to flop at the box office), but he was amazingly convincing as a mentally challenged loser from the start, slowly coming out of his shell, until he's beating people up with a monkey wrench because of a four comics knowledge of superhero weaponry.
However, the shtick seems familiar from the other work he's done. It was mostly his ability to have chemistry with Kevin Bacon, who played deranged on the other end of the spectrum. The little quips of fighting they have throughout the movie seem logical and eventually make us root for the guy who just threw a brick on some loiterer's head.

In fact, it's hard to say which characters outside of Liv Tyler are not in some way looking at the world askew. Not knowing too many motives also helps make this movie easier to take the violence and the characters being able to just destroy each other. It's a character study of madness, which in a way kind of reminded me of Taxi Driver without a budget.

So, who was the maddest of all these characters? Was it Kevin Bacon doping up Liv Tyler? Rainn Wilson just failing to hide his identity?
This is all pretty fucked up, but let me make my argument for Ellen Page.
It's been awhile since we've seen her talk this dirty (think Tracey Fragments), but by this scene alone, there's something deeply more disturbing. Her motives seem to root to some deeper emotional issues. Because despite her originally motive to fight crimes, she's more obsessed with killing guys for keying a brand new Jetta.
Wilson may be out to save his wife, but Page is just a hot mess. Nothing good comes of her character other than screwing up Wilson's plan more by running someone over in his car in nothing but a mask and underwear, and even flirting a little with Wilson, which turns into a bizarre superhero fetish.

Sure, she's no Hit Girl, but the comparison seems stupid when there is a ten year age gap. A 23 year old should know better than a 13 year old. That's even more disturbing and so ridiculous that she pushes the humor into pitch black territory. You may have thought Hard Candy was dark. Try throwing in manic, slapstick violence, and a personality you may notice from Juno, but this time she's pissed and crazy.

It's refreshing to see her attempt to play outside of her recent string of performances, which have mostly been mild mannered, smart girls who solve problems with funny phrases and roller skates. The early, demented Page has been hiding for awhile. I suppose this is the ultimate coming out party that manages to wreck everyone else's performances with no more than a cackle.

Also, how can you argue with this?

This is definitely not going to be a crowd pleaser. I doubt it will get much public attention, but for those that seek it out, you get some violent, perverted fun.
This is essentially what I hoped Defendor could have been. Where Defendor had too much back story and drama, Super just goes for it and never apologizes or glamorizes the events, instead allowing everyone to get bruises and face reality. If you don't laugh, you are sure to at least find some joy in watching some wild shit go down. Also, it's infectiously done to an upbeat soundtrack that alters emotional response so well that you will either feel awkward or giddy.

This is all mainly to be thanked to James Gunn, who just made my current favorite movie of the year. While I am not too familiar with his style outside of this and Slither, I am intrigued to see what other achievements he can make in the future.
What I love most about his style is that it's uncompromising, and it manages to carry his own wit (after all, he wrote it). His ability to mix violent imagery, subtle wit, perverse motivations, and campiness into his movies sets him up to be one intriguing, cult phenomenon.

As long as he sticks to his guns, he may create some more inspiring pieces of work and while he may not get cultural recognition, he'll have his fan base, which includes me now.
I can see myself watching this movie numerous times if I owned the DVD. It's just too much fun.
If anything, it's inspiring me to follow my dreams as a writer and hope for the best. If not, I'll just write Scooby Doo and Dawn of the Dead to get started. This guy is amazing, if just because he made me like Rainn Wilson.

So basically, go see this now.
I personally believe that this is the end of a dry spell of movies. With Super, Source Code, and Win Win opening, we exit four months of crap and are now looking at a year where anything can happen in cinema.
Though it's got quite a ways to beat Super.

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