Super

Super, a new independent film by James Gunn, the director of the cult classic, 'Slither'. I was strolling through Target the other day, and it was on sale for ten bucks. That's a gamble I can take, plus the cast was pretty great. I had heard some mixed reviews, but went in with low-ish expectations. This film is funny, dark, violent, and weird. At some points in the film I questioned what kind of movie I was watching. The premise of the Film is almost that of the movie 'Kick-Ass', basically, what if regular people became super heroes. While 'Kick-Ass' takes it a bit to the ridiculous, this movie keeps it pretty real. That's not to say that this movie isn't ridiculous, there is a bit of that to be found. Actually, there is a bit of everything in this film, genre wise. There is action, romance, sex, comedy,violence, satire; so it's like life.

The cast is great. Granted, the leads of the movie, Rainn Wilson & Ellen Page, are some of my favorites. Wilson is perfectly cast as the protagonist schlub who... decides his purpose in life is fighting crime. He really conveys a broad spectrum of emotions, and makes you feel for him. The highlight of the film, for me, anyway, is Ellen page. Her character and the way she portrays her is fantastic! She is ultra hyper, ultra violent, and adds another layer of comedy to the movie. Liv Tyler plays Wilson's lady in the movie, and is part of the motivation for him. I'm not sure if I've seen her in this type of role before, but she is pretty good. The villain of the film is Kevin Bacon, who is usually great, and is pretty fantastic here. You can tell he enjoys working on this material, and it shows in his character. The rest of the cast is a sort of who's who of actors, all bringing their A game. The only down side is I wish some of them had more screen time.

The feel of the film is pretty lo-fi, complete with shaky camera. That bothered me at first, but after a while it didn't phase me. Costumes are pretty good, and look like some regular people made them in the real world. There are some computer effects in the film that play with the lo-fi super hero aspect. The climax of the film is exciting and action packed while being hilarious. There is a turn that I didn't expect, but it does work with the tone of the movie. Overall, I enjoyed the film, but would Recommend it with a disclaimer of " it's kinda weird, and pretty dark '. I'm sure, some people will think this movie is a piece of crap, and I suppose i could see that. For me, however, after getting into the tone of the film think it works in what it's trying to accomplish. I think for some people that this film could be a cult classic, and I would totally be one of those people.