Super - Movie Review

This review of the movie Super is littered with spoilers. Do not read the review if you have not seen the movie.

Super is a low budget dark comedy that revolves around Frank (Rainn Wilson), a man that has been picked on for his entire life that loses his wife and then decides to become a superhero. The film opens with a monologue from Frank. He explains that the two happiest moments of his life involved his marriage to his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler), and the day he helped a police man catch a robber (basically by pointing the policeman to his whereabouts). Their marriage crumbles and Sarah runs of with a shady mob boss of some sort (Kevin Bacon), what Frank believes to be God intervenes (in the form of some creepy tentacles, which was fairly disturbing). This gives him the inspiration to become The Crimson Bolt. Frank can now help people and save Sarah (again), from her life as a drug addict. Frank then becomes a Dexter-like figure, punishing people for their crimes by whacking wrong-doers (such as drug dealers, and, er, people that cut in line) with a wrench. After an unfortunate incident Frank allows Libby (Ellen Page) to become his side-kick, Boltie. I've now ran through half of the film (in fairness, most of that is covered in the trailer - maybe all but the happiest moments and his belief that God told him to become a hero).

The trailer sells the film as a comedy (and there are certainly plenty of funny moments throughout), but it is also surprisingly dark. While I found Frank's brand of justice hilarious, I can how other people would be a little disturbed by the amount of violence in the movie. His motivation for becoming The Crimson Bolt is sound (since, well, the two best moments in his life involved his wife and helping to catch a robber. Even when he married Sarah, he kind of saved her - from herself, for a while). I'm not sure if I believe that God was responsible for urging Frank to become The Crimson Bolt, or if he just dazed out at and let his imagination run wild at those moments where he saw demons or...er, tentacles. The recurring television show about The Holy Avenger, that shoves a moral message down the viewer's throat was used well (Frank used this television show as a way to guide him in his life, heh). This is the first time I have seen Rainn Wilson in a substantial role (I have only seen him in Juno, which also featured Ellen Page). Wilson handles the lead role well. He manages to be funny, somber, and entirely convincing throughout the entire movie.

The violence really kicks in when Libby becomes Frank's sidekick. Libby is a hoot (and certainly my favourite character in the film). Libby is an impulsive maniac that lives in the moment, almost kills a man for (probably) being the person that keyed her friend's car. She rapes the lead character. She kills and disables people, and then laughs, loudly, in their faces (granted, she was protecting Frank at one point, and they were mostly nameless henchmen). Ellen Page is clearly having fun playing this lunatic, and I couldn't help but smile almost everytime she came on screen. The more I see of Ellen Page, the more I love her. She is an incredible actress. For me, Libby was the funniest character in the film (the Wolverine like-diving at the end, comparing getting pushed into a wall with being shot, the insane laughter, her list of superhero nicknames, etc.).

The rest of the cast are fine. Kevin Bacon plays another villainous role well (he was a bunch of fun in X-Men First Class), while Liv Tyler looks convincingly strung out for most of the film (while also managing to be a sweet woman, trying to change in the flashback portions of the movie). A bunch of familiar faces from television pop up throughout the movie (Sean Gunn from Gilmore Girls, Linda Cardellini from E.R, and Nathan Fillion from Firefly).

Super is a stylish, well-written, funny (but very dark and violent) film written and directed by James Gunn. I really recommend it (it could be one of my favourite movies of the year). Great soundtrack, too.

Dollhouse - Ghost (Review)

Joss Whedon fans are devoted, sometimes overly so. Everything he does seems to be met with blind praise from some of his biggest fans. Dollhouse was a show that split many television fans because of the way it dealt with certain issues, because the dialogue wasn't as snappy as it was on Buffy, because people didn't buy Eliza Dushku as a versatile actress that could play a different character every week, or just because it is hard to care for a central character that doesn't really have a personality, that cannot grow, that changes constantly.

Me? I love Dollhouse. While 'Ghost' isn't the strongest pilot episode I have ever seen (that would either go to Alias, Damages, or Desperate Housewives), it is solid enough to keep me engaged in the show as a whole. In the very first scene of the show, we see Caroline being nudged into becoming an active. She has no choice, but Adele is manipulating her, trying to make it seem like she would be better off in the Dollhouse. Later in the episode, Topher explains that all people are running from something, or toward something. This opens up a few interesting questions - how did Caroline reach this point? What is she running from? How would becoming an active solve this problem? In that first scene, Adele states that 'Nothing is as it appears to be', which is an interesting statement that could apply to basically any aspect of the show (but the dollhouse and the characters in particular).

The characters are introduced well. Caroline has gotten herself into a bit of a miss, presumably because one of her attempts to make a difference have landed her in some deep trouble that she can't escape from without the aid of Adele. In the ending video we see that she is intelligent, funny, ambitious, and with her whole life ahead of her. In the video she states that she wants to do everything, which is spliced with the image of Echo going to sleep in the Dollhouse - where she will do everything, but not neccessarily things that Caroline would be comfortable with. I felt that Dushku handled the entire episode well - Eleanor Penn, Caroline, Echo, and motorcycle girl were all finely acted (if not amazing).

We don't spend as much time with the rest of the cast, but there is no one I have a problem with. Echo's handler Boyd seems like a well adjusted, good person that ended up in the wrong place. Adele is efficient, intelligent, and very British. Paul didn't really register with me, but his investigation into the dollhouse gets more interesting as the season goes along (and the boxing/performance review type situation said a lot about the character in a short time). Dr. Saunders intruiged me the most in a very short amount of screentime (on first watch, Clare was my favourite character - Amy Acker rocked the hell out of her material, and I'm looking forward to her increased presence on the show during the rest of the season).

The engagement of the week was strange, and a little too neat. Topher explained that an active would need flaws, like a real person, basically because creating something perfect wouldn't work (the imprint can't be perfect, it would be overcompensating, and since the imprints are made up of actual people, it maybe just can't be done). In this case, Echo was able to solve the case because Eleanor Penn weakness, the thing she is running from, was brought to the surface because the imprint had experienced abuse (at the hands of the same person, no less). That felt a little too much like tying something in a bow, but it managed to show why the imprints need to have faults in a semi-believable way. Dushku performed well as Eleanor Penn, and most of the episode's (admittedly rare) humour came from various people commenting on how Penn was like a librarian or school teacher (which is another thing the show has been criticised for - for exploiting women, but it's an interesting topic, and it isn't like there aren't male actives - Victor, for example).

'Ghost' is an entertaining hour of television that introduces the idea of Dollhouse well enough, and raises a few interesting questions about the storyline along the way (Alpha, Caroline, the Dollhouse, the actives, etc.), but isn't quite as strong as it should be (mostly since it is a Joss Whedon show, and his pilots, including Welcome to the Hellmouth, really entertained me). Well directed and it set up the show well, but pilots can be tricky to get right. It leads to better episodes, but it was neccesary.

Note; this review was written around a month ago, when I made my way through the entire series of Dollhouse. I won't be writing anymore reviews of the series. I fell in love with the show though (Clare and Adele in particular).