There have been a number of films made in recent years that are use the concept of average people becoming costumed vigilantes. From last year’s ambitious Watchmen adaptation, to the Canadian indie flick Defendor, and more recently the big screen version of Mark Millar’s ultraviolent Kick-Ass, normal people putting on tights and bashing criminals in the face has become something of a trend in Hollywood. Enter James Gunn. The director — who brought us such classics as Tromeo & Juliet and Slither — firmly establishes that this new sub-genre has plenty of life left in it with his new film SUPER. The film is a hilarious and twisted story about a man with the best of intentions, who is at the least delusional and at the worst totally insane.
That man is Frank (Rainn Wilson), a guy who many people would consider a bit of a loser; bullied his entire life and never able to catch a break. Always an outcast, Frank works a dead end job as a cook in a local diner and ekes out an existence. That is, until he meets Sarah (Liv Tyler), a recovering alcoholic trying to make a new start herself. The two fall for each other and eventually get married — but a happy ending is not in the cards for Frank. Sarah soon falls back into her old ways and leaves Frank for a seedy drug kingpin named Jock (Kevin Bacon). Fed up with his lot in life, Frank becomes The Crimson Bolt — Batman on a budget, but without the moral compass — fighting crime in an effort to win back Sarah.
