Super

In yesterday's post, I talked about the James Gunn scripted, superhero comedy The Specials. Today, I'm looking back at another superhero movie that he wrote, and this time, directed. Before tackling the hero's of Guardians Of The Galaxy, Gunn went a much darker route with his ultra violent, incredibly funny 2010 film Super.

Rainn Wilson stars as Frank, a sad sack of a man. His wife Sarah, Liv Tyler, a recovering drug addict, has just left him for her pusher Jacques, Kevin Bacon. Suffering from a severe bout of depression, Frank believes that God and a religious comic book character named the Holy Avenger, Nathan Fillion, have instructed him to fight crime. Sporting a homemade costume and armed with a pipe wrench, Frank, going by the name The Crimson Bolt, hits the streets to put an end to the evil doers and hopes to take down Jacques in the process. An off her rocker, comic book store employee named Libby, Ellen Page, joins his fight and becomes his boy, or girl, wonder, known as Boltie.

This is a terrific and very dark comedy. Wilson gives one of his best performances as the beaten down Frank. As does Page, who might be a too unbalanced to fight the good fight. Wilson was actually suggested to Gunn for the part by his Office costar Jenna Fischer, who was married to Gunn at the time. Oddly enough, Page was suggested by Wilson. Bacon, who is at his sleazy best as Jacques, was a last minute replacement for Jean Claude Van Damme. Van Damme was all set to be in it, but was a no show on the first day.

I think Gunn, who I've always been a fan of, really comes into his own as a filmmaker on this. I also think that this was the movie that probably gave him the opportunity to direct Guardians.

I think Super might have ran into the same problems that The Specials did at the box office. Yesterday I talked about how The Specials was released around the same time as the similarly themed Mystery Men. Super had the misfortune of coming out at the same time as the sort of similar, and highly successful, Kick Ass. In my opinion, Super is a better and stronger film.

Super is a very bloody, but very entertaining, superhero comedy that is aided by some terrific performances and great direction.

It's available on dvd and blu ray.