Film review: Super by James Gunn

Director James Gunn dissects superheroes in chaotically comedic origin story, Super.

"What if a superhero was just a crazy guy who beats people up with a pipe wrench?” asks director James Gunn in boisterous black comedy, Super. In a world where comic book movies are ubiquitous it's easy to forget how genuinely strange an idea costumed vigilantes are, but the inherent weirdness is exposed and embraced by this love letter to spandex wearing crime fighters.

Shut up crime! The Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson) delivering justice in Super, which is directed by James Gunn.

Super is a darkly comic version of the classic origin story with one great joke: what if the hero wasn’t Bruce Wayne but one of life’s losers. Rainn Wilson is hapless Frank Darbo, a seemingly harmless fantasist prone to religious visions and an inability to tell the difference between unreality and real life. A product of a strict childhood and bullied all his life, the only chink of light is wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) – a beautiful recovering drug addict. When she is lured away by manipulative drug lord Jacques (Kevin Bacon), Frank vows to rescue her by any means necessary.

Armed with a pipe wrench and wearing a home-made costume, Frank becomes the Crimson Bolt and delivers brutal retribution to the scum he encounters while shouting catchphrase “shut up crime!” Throughout the film the violence is comedic but rides the line between brutal and uncomfortably funny. Frank’s superhero knowledge is drawn from The Holy Avenger TV show, which espouses Christian lessons such as no sex or drugs. Beliefs and insanity collide in a glorious scene which harks back to the director’s formative years at gore masters Troma. Frank believes he's been chosen by god when he envisions tentacles cutting open the top of his head so the lord can touch his brain.

Consequently, he's a misguided maniac which is emphatically demonstrated when he bashes in the brains of an arrogant queue jumper. Gunn’s ability to make the audience laugh and squirm while testing the genre's limits is one of the reasons he’s one of its few auteurs (alongside Sam Raimi and Zack Snyder). A deeply awkward sex scene between Frank and lusty sidekick Bolty (Elliot Page) illustrates the grubby reality of fanfic fantasies. Even the protagonist’s name is a call back to Marvel Comics' lethal street level enforcer, The Punisher (AKA Frank Castle). Threaded throughout are music needle drops and a recurring cast which make the director’s films instantly recognisable, such as Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Gregg Henry and Michael Rooker.

Having risen to prominence by turning outsiders into heroes in Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, it will be fascinating to see how Gunn’s upcoming Superman film handles the genre’s most iconic character. A heartfelt ending may point to the director’s approach to the big blue boy scout, which delivers a reprieve for Frank and redemption for Sarah. Despite this cathartic moment, Super is James Gunn without the rough edges sanded down and is all the better for it. While often compared to Kick-Ass, it's really a schlocky, pulpy and weirdly sweet successor to Joel Schumacher's Falling Down.

Useful links

• The quote in the opening paragraph is said by James Gunn in a documentary about the making of Super.

• A Variety video interview with James Gunn.

• Super's IMDB page.