Super

Super (2010) is about a short order cook whose wife leaves him for a drug dealer. Frank declares himself a superhero, sews a costume at home, picks up a wrench and goes out into the street. The problem is that he has no powers, no training, and the people he hits are genuinely injured. James Gunn wrote and directed it. This is four years before Guardians of the Galaxy and one of the clearest expressions of his roots at Troma: the violence is ugly, the comedy is uncomfortable, and the film never lets its hero off. Rainn Wilson plays Frank, Ellen Page a comic shop clerk who declares herself his sidekick, Kevin Bacon the dealer and Liv Tyler his wife. The strangest thing about it is the tone. It tries to be funny and repellent in the same scene, arguing that an ordinary person trying to be a hero is frightening rather than amusing. Its similarity to Kick-Ass, released the same year, was much discussed; Super is the darker of the two. It was made very cheaply and did almost nothing in cinemas, building its cult standing later. It runs 96 minutes. Good for: black comedy, anti superhero narratives, and early James Gunn. Less good for: the violence is graphic and at times disgusting. One scene is seriously troubling on the question of consent and the film does not deal with it adequately. The tonal shifts read as incoherent to many viewers.