tino1534
05-02-11, 02:55 PM
Review:
Frank (Rainn Wilson), a cook at a diner, sinks into a deep depression when his alcoholic wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) leaves him for the sleazy Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Coming to believe that God (voiced by Rob Zombie, no less) has spoken to him, Frank makes a superhero costume, starts reading comic books to figure out how it’s done and, in his alter-ego as the Crimson Bolt, starts bashing local malefactors over the head with a wrench. The objects of his crime-fighting vengeance range from drug dealers to child molesters to people who are simply rude. As Frank never ceases in his efforts to get Sarah back, he picks up a fan/sidekick, Libby (Ellen Page), who is ardent about everything to do with superheroes, though like Frank, she has no previous experience.
The combination of high comedy and bloodbath can be pulled off, and Gunn deserves a lot of credit for trying something different. However, in SUPER, we’re supposed to view Frank as simultaneously really pathetic and righteous. Wilson embraces Frank’s misery and flat affect, playing him as a man who is just bright enough to understand how others see him, which makes him more wretched than ever.
Without spoiling major plot points, SUPER does address the issue of unintended consequences, but by then, we can’t tell how we’re meant to feel about it – it seems to be going for a gut punch and instead results in the viewer wondering what effect is intended, rather than having any actual emotional impact. SUPER gets points for originality and for attempting wild shifts in tone. Sometimes it works to embrace the absurd and the tragic – in its way, SLITHER achieved this. However, in SUPER, the ingredients just don’t mesh.
Frank (Rainn Wilson), a cook at a diner, sinks into a deep depression when his alcoholic wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) leaves him for the sleazy Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Coming to believe that God (voiced by Rob Zombie, no less) has spoken to him, Frank makes a superhero costume, starts reading comic books to figure out how it’s done and, in his alter-ego as the Crimson Bolt, starts bashing local malefactors over the head with a wrench. The objects of his crime-fighting vengeance range from drug dealers to child molesters to people who are simply rude. As Frank never ceases in his efforts to get Sarah back, he picks up a fan/sidekick, Libby (Ellen Page), who is ardent about everything to do with superheroes, though like Frank, she has no previous experience.
The combination of high comedy and bloodbath can be pulled off, and Gunn deserves a lot of credit for trying something different. However, in SUPER, we’re supposed to view Frank as simultaneously really pathetic and righteous. Wilson embraces Frank’s misery and flat affect, playing him as a man who is just bright enough to understand how others see him, which makes him more wretched than ever.
Without spoiling major plot points, SUPER does address the issue of unintended consequences, but by then, we can’t tell how we’re meant to feel about it – it seems to be going for a gut punch and instead results in the viewer wondering what effect is intended, rather than having any actual emotional impact. SUPER gets points for originality and for attempting wild shifts in tone. Sometimes it works to embrace the absurd and the tragic – in its way, SLITHER achieved this. However, in SUPER, the ingredients just don’t mesh.