Price of Admission reviews: Super

By: Paul Meekin

A lot of folks probably haven't heard of James Gunn's Indie film “Super”. “Super” follows Rainn Wilson's Frank, A well meaning but weird (and he knows it) fellah whose girlfriend, played by Liv Tyler, leaves him for a drug dealer played by Kevin Bacon.

If by some chance you have seen the trailer, you're probably thinking of it as a farce and a knock off of 2010's “Kick Ass”. It's not. In no way shape or form is this movie anything like Kick Ass, or Batman, or any “Superhero” film that has been released. Ever.

After a vision of God (and his friendly tentacle helpers) cut Frank's head open and touch his brain with apparently devout power, he decides to become a superhero, and we're off to the races.

Superhero Frank is a very binary character. Whether you've killed, or cut in line, or dealt drugs, you're getting the same punishment, a pipe wrench to the FREAKING skull. You're either in the wrong or you're not. There's no degrees, and as Frank says, “The rules were written a long time ago, they do not ever change”.

“Super” is profound in that it works on several levels as a dark comedy, character study, Indy film, and yes, superhero movie too. But perhaps the most surprising level is one of poignancy. Early in the film a young Frank is whipped by his dad for having naughty pictures of Heather Locklear under his bed, because it wasn't right in the eyes of God. This scene explains wonderfully how Frank could become a person mentally unbalanced enough to put on a red suit and hit people.

And because these characters are unbalanced, and the fact that this movie is, well, a movie and not a franchise, I found myself caring for the fates of these characters. In Batman you never felt Batman was in any real danger. Here, all bets are off. I loved this film, and I loved Rainn Wilson in it. This is an adult movie for adults. No tie-ins, no action figures, this isn't a franchise, it's a film, and a damn good one at that.