BEFORE: Riffing on the theme of ordinary Joes becoming superheroes. I'd link from Tommy Lee Jones to Kevin Bacon since they co-starred in "JFK", but isn't linking via Kevin Bacon a cop-out? Oh, what the heck. Jeez, have I really not seen Kevin Bacon in a film since "Frost/Nixon", back in December 2009? That doesn't seem possible...
THE PLOT: After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills.
AFTER: Damn, but it's hard to get a reading on this film. Was it meant to be a spoof of the superhero genre? Because there are some funny elements to it, but they're sort of dark humor. Is this what an indie-superhero film looks like? Because it's kind of got that low-budget film festival feel to it. Or is it just meant to be a portrait of a deranged man, some kind of comment on society at large?
There does seem to be something of an attempt here to get inside the mind of someone who wants to dress in tights and fight crime, without any super-powers, financial resources, or formal training. Some comic-book writers "get" Batman, and some don't. He's obsessive to the nth degree, driven by his compulsions, and sometimes he's shown as the walking psychological mess that he must be. Same goes for the Punisher - the theory is that if you take away a man's family, he'll either break down or demand revenge, or both. How messed up does the Punisher have to be, to do what he does?
Which brings us to the main character of "Super", Frank D'Arbo, who is driven to fight crime when his wife gets mixed up with the wrong crowd, and falls off the wagon. It's tough to say whether she left of her own accord or not - but Frank believes that she's a noble person who's been corrupted by evil people, so he sets out to take the law into his own hands.
First he has something akin to a revelation, and a dream/visitation/abduction that is quite graphic and disturbing. Is it the Hand of God, or aliens, or just a mental delusion? I suppose that's really up to the viewer. But it puts him on the path to designing a costume and patrolling the streets.
Without the resources of a Bruce Wayne or a Tony Stark, there's a tough learning curve. His first attempts at vigilante justice go poorly, as you might expect. But he learns from his mistakes, and some things then do go his way - but maybe those successes only prevent him from seeing the overall downward spiral that he's really on.
Unfortunately, it seems Frank has never even read a comic-book, or he'd know some of the more obvious no-nos in maintaining a secret identity. The man drives his own civilian car while on patrol, for example. He picks a fight, lets people see his face, changes into costume, and then re-appears fully dressed and armed. Anyone with half a brain would figure out who the Crimson Bolt was right away - again, I don't know if this sort of thing is meant to be comic or tragic.
Rainn Wilson (last seen in "America's Sweethearts") was a good casting choice here, because he's played this type of socially awkward, dysfunctional, unattractive yet narcissistic egomaniac before. Like as in, all the time. Basically, it's Dwight Schrutte as a superhero, in all the ways that count.
I won't talk about the details of final acts of the film, no spoilers, but I will say that there's some original stuff here, and also some stuff that's very messed up. And I don't usually like the ultra-violence. The director came out of the Troma Films stable, so make of that what you will. (Yes, I noticed Troma Films founder Lloyd Kaufman in a cameo role)
Also starring Ellen Page (last seen in "Inception"), Liv Tyler (last seen in "The Incredible Hulk"), Michael Rooker (last seen in "Jumper"), with cameos from Gregg Henry, Linda Cardellini, Nathan Fillion, Steve Agee, and William Katt (the original clueless superhero from "The Greatest American Hero")
RATING: 5 out of 10 crayon drawings
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