The Film:

Anyone who grew up watching Troma films knows that their in house produced films were always a bit over the top, at times slightly violent and hugely entertaining. In 1996, Troma put out a film called Tromeo and Juliet. It was written by a young writer by the name of James Gunn. It was a modern day retelling of the Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet. The only difference is, Tromeo was more violent, bloody and sexual. After a bit of time in the family film market with the two Scooby Doo films, James came back into the genre he really loved with his official directorial debut, Slither (which he also wrote). After some time off, Gunn has returned to film with his take on the superhero with Super.

James Gunn has created a superhero that is original and you really want to root for. Ellen Page is just about perfect as the comic book nerd that wants to become a sidekick so badly. Rainn Wilson is perfect as the loser turned hero. There are bound to be a lot of comparisons to a couple of movies from last year about self-made superheroes, Kick-Ass and The Defendor. This film is about as far from either of those as one can get. There is a lot of comedy, sex, gore and over the top violence. There are also a number of serious scenes, and this is really where the movie loses itself a little. The scenes aren’t bad, just seem a little out of place. There is a thin line when creating a action-comedy and it’s very hard to stay on the good side of both. While the comedy is perfect, the serious scenes do drag a little. There is also a scene near the end of the movie where something happens to one of the main characters and the tone of the movie changes. While there is still comedy after that, it becomes a little hard to laugh at these scenes because the viewer is a little upset and depressed at what just happened.

The movie is still well written and amazingly acted. If there is one reason to get you out of your homes to see this movie, see it for Ellen Page’s performance. While everything else is great, this might be one of her best parts to date. James Gunn is a great writer and director and has a fantastic eye, and seeing him progress over the years has been a great trip that still is far from over.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Released by MPI Home Video/IFC, the standard definition transfer looks pretty darn good. The bright color scheme Gunn uses really comes through, even during the night scenes. Only complaint, are the transfer’s handling of the night sequences, which should be a little darker, but no biggie. The audio mix is DD 5.1, and is pretty solid with clarity, activity in the rears, and deep bass.

Commentary: James Gunn and Rainn Wilson deliver a really solid yak track. Full of great stories, nice jokes, and their overall enthusiasm makes for a must-listen.

Making of Super: While it’s only 20-minutes, it never drags or inserts filler. There’s plenty of honesty in how the film was made, a solid look at filming and post, so if you’re not a commentary person, who’ll get plenty of good information here.

Rounding out the extras, are your typical Trailers and TV Spots, one Deleted Scene of no real importance, and a cool Making of the Title Sequence.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

When sad-sack loser Frank (Rainn Wilson, The Office), a short-order cook, sees his ex-addict wife (Liv Tyler, The Lord of the Rings) willingly snatched away by a seductive drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), he finds himself bereft and unable to cope. But he decides to fight back under the guise of a do-it-yourself superhero called Crimson Bolt.

With a red hand-made suit, a wrench, a crazed sidekick named Boltie (Ellen Page, Juno) – and absolutely nothing in the way of superpowers – Crimson Bolt beats his way through the mean streets of crime in hopes of saving his wife.

Shut up, Crime!

Source: HDD

It has been a decade since Stan Lee’s mutants and webslinger mounted a turnaround after Joel Schumacher nearly killed it with his two cinematic abortions: Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. Like any genre of cinema, the bad will always outweigh the good, and the time for deconstructing the norm will be at hand.

What works best is taking the fantastic element of heroics out the door and replace it with gritty realism about bringing in regular folk who want to stop crime with tooth and nail, as opposed to running faster than a speeding bullet and becoming more powerful than a locomotive. Of course, that is the synopsis for most of these pictures, but Christopher’s Nolan’s two masterpieces proved that a man who starts from scratch and builds his identity from the ground up is what wins in the end.

Short order cook Frank D’Arbo’s (Rainn Wilson) pride and joy is his ex-addict wife Sarah (Liv Tyler), a woman who leaves him and returns to her vices full force as she is supplied with everything she needs from her new man Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Frank receives some divine intervention in the form of “The Finger of God”, which turns out to be a touch that literally gets his cranial juices flowing to go under the guise of the crime fighter The Crimson Bolt and throw down for the man upstairs. He is not the geek like most of us are, so he visits his local comic book store and get schooled from the cute as apple pie clerk  Libby (Ellen Page).

He constructs a home made suit and hits the streets and receives a beat down from some street thugs and the hoods who circle his wife. Frank realizes he needs a proper weapon and a sidekick ala Robin. With a pipe wrench in hand he bludgeons fear into the hearts of criminals, and adds sexy firepower in the form of a crazed Boltie, a transformed Libby who has his back as the two open a can of whoop ass on everyone in their path on way to rescuing Sarah.

As I sit here and type this review, I am somewhat perplexed by the screenplay from director James Gunn. There is a creed that states, “You are not supposed to molest children, cut lines or key cars.” Maybe if more time was spent going after the pedophiles of the world who deserve to get their ass beat down, and less on minor infractions, we might have had a keeper here. We are left with a vicious beating of a man who cuts in line at a theater and a guy who might or might not have keyed someone’s car. It’s all done in poor taste. Coming hot on the heels of Matthew Vaughn’s amazing Kick-Ass, The Crimson Bolt and Boltie come off as a poor man’s version of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl.

I realize that this film was shot for a low budget, but the costumes are drab and look like something that was discarded in a dumpster after a taping of a segment of The Adventures of Handi-Man! on In Living Color. There is a moment where Boltie plays hot and horny and describes how wet she is down below as she wants to bump ugly with Bolt. That kind of stuff might work in a Troma movie or James Gunn’s classic creature feature Slither, but here it comes off very tacky seeing that Ellen Page has the look and body of a twelve-year old girl.

Rating: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Super tells the story of Frank D’Arbo (THE OFFICE’s Rainn Wilson) who has not had the best life. In fact, there have only been 2 great things to happen to Frank in his life. The first was getting married to his wife, Sarah Helgeland (Liv Tyler), and pointing out where a criminal ran to a chasing officer. One day Frank is making breakfast when a man comes to his door looking for Sarah. Jaques (Kevin Bacon) tells Frank to let Sarah know he came by. 5 days later, Sarah is gone. Frank visits Sarah’s job, Bare Assets, and sees Jaques coming out. He confronts Jaques who doesn’t deny that he is now with Sarah. Frank becomes depressed and sits around watching TV. One day he comes across a religious network showing a superhero, The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion). Frank becomes obsessed with The Holy Avenger and decides to buy a few of his comic books. At the comic book store, Frank meets Libby (Ellen Page) who helps him out. They talk about how the world needs a real superhero. After this talk, Frank takes it upon himself to fight crime. He creates The Crimson Bolt. The Crimson Bolt wants to take down anyone that is not abiding by the laws of man; drug dealers, child molesters even people that skip line at the movie theater. His weapon of choice is a wrench. One day Libby confronts Frank about being The Crimson Bolt. After he finally tells her he is, she wants to be his child sidekick. She creates Boltie to help him out. The ultimate reason Frank created The Crimson Bolt was to get back his wife back from Jaques. Jaques is a big time drug trafficker and keeps Sarah doped up at all times. The Crimson Bolt and Boltie go into action to get Sarah back.

James Gunn has created a superhero that is original and you really want to root for. Ellen Page is just about perfect as the comic book nerd that wants to become a sidekick so badly. Rainn Wilson is perfect as the loser turned hero. There are bound to be a lot of comparisons to a couple of movies from last year about self-made superheroes, KICK-ASS and THE DEFENDOR. This film is about as far from either of those as one can get. There is a lot of comedy, sex, gore and over the top violence. There are also a number of serious scenes, and this is really where the movie loses itself a little. The scenes aren’t bad, just seem a little out of place. There is a thin line when creating a action-comedy and it’s very hard to stay on the good side of both. While the comedy is perfect, the serious scenes do drag a little. There is also a scene near the end of the movie where something happens to one of the main characters and the tone of the movie changes. While there is still comedy after that, it becomes a little hard to laugh at these scenes because the viewer is a little upset and depressed at what just happened. The movie is still well written and amazingly acted. If there is one reason to get you out of your homes to see this movie, see it for Ellen Page’s performance. While everything else is great, this might be one of her best parts to date. James Gunn is a great writer and director and has a fantastic eye, and seeing him progress over the years has been a great trip that still is far from over.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

In the outlandish dark comedy SUPER, James Gunn has created what is perhaps the definitive take on self-reflexive superheroes. When sad-sack loser Frank (Rainn Wilson) sees his ex-addict wife (Liv Tyler) willingly snatched by a seductive drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), he finds himself bereft and wholly unable to cope. But, inspired shortly after by fictional man-made superheroes of lore, he decides to fight back under the guise of a DIY crimefighter, the Crimson Bolt. With a hand-made suit, a wrench, and a crazed sidekick named Boltie (Ellen Page), the Crimson Bolt beats his way through the mean streets of crime in hopes of saving his wife.

When sad-sack loser Frank (Rainn Wilson) sees his ex-addict wife (Liv Tyler) willingly snatched by a seductive drug dealer (Kevin Bacon), he finds himself bereft and wholly unable to cope. But soon he decides to fight back under the guise of a DIY superhero called Crimson Bolt. With a hand-made suit, a wrench, and a crazed sidekick named Boltie (Ellen Page), the Crimson Bolt beats his way through the mean streets of crime in hopes of saving his wife. The rules were written a long time ago: You are not supposed to molest children, cut lines or key cars; if you do, prepare to face the wrath of the Crimson Bolt!

We will have our review soon!

The Avengers is scheduled to be released in May of 2012.

Frank (Rainn Wilson) is an average guy who transforms himself into superhero The Crimson Bolt after his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) hooks up with a smooth-talking drug dealer, Jacques (Kevin Bacon). What Frank lacks in superpowers, he makes up for with a trusty wrench in his one-man war on crime. But every superhero needs a sidekick. Enter Libby (Ellen Page), a cute psychopath working at the local comic book store. Transforming into “Boltie”, Libby teams up with Frank to take Jacques down. From the surprising imagination of writer-director James Gunn (Slither) comes Bolt and Boltie, a crazed crime fighting duo for the XBox generation. They’re here to save the day, or at least to beat you up.

Source: CBM

Frank (Rainn Wilson) is an average guy who transforms himself into superhero The Crimson Bolt after his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) hooks up with a smooth-talking drug dealer, Jacques (Kevin Bacon). What Frank lacks in superpowers, he makes up for with a trusty wrench in his one-man war on crime. But every superhero needs a sidekick. Enter Libby (Ellen Page), a cute psychopath working at the local comic book store. Transforming into “Boltie”, Libby teams up with Frank to take Jacques down. From the surprising imagination of writer-director James Gunn (Slither) comes Bolt and Boltie, a crazed crime fighting duo for the XBox generation. They’re here to save the day, or at least to beat you up.

Frank (Rainn Wilson) is an average guy who transforms himself into superhero The Crimson Bolt after his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) hooks up with a smooth-talking drug dealer, Jacques (Kevin Bacon). What Frank lacks in superpowers, he makes up for with a trusty wrench in his one-man war on crime. But every superhero needs a sidekick. Enter Libby (Ellen Page), a cute psychopath working at the local comic book store. Transforming into “Boltie”, Libby teams up with Frank to take Jacques down. From the surprising imagination of writer-director James Gunn (Slither) comes Bolt and Boltie, a crazed crime fighting duo for the XBox generation. They’re here to save the day, or at least to beat you up.

Source: CBM

The film follows Frank (Rainn Wilson) who transforms into the makeshift superhero Crimson Bolt after his drug addicted wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a psychopathic drug dealer (Kevin Bacon). Oh, and look for Rob Zombie as the voice of God.

No word on a date yet.

Source: First Showing

Directed by James Gunn (Slither), Super follows Rainn Wilson (pictured above as his “superhero” alter ego “The Crimson Bolt”), who plays Frank D’Arbo, a simple religious man whose wife, played by Liv Tyler, leaves him for a drug dealing kingpin, played by Kevin Bacon.  After being touched by the finger of God, D’Arbo becomes The Crimson Bolt to fight crime alongside Ellen Page (Juno) who stars as his comic book loving sidekick Boltie.

There’s obvious parallels between this and other hero movies like Kick-Ass, Special, and Defendor as all four feature ordinary people putting on costumes to fight crime. The film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival and based on the early reviews, Super seems to have found a good mix of black humor, style and violence to set itself apart.

Source: First Showing

Zombie will be lending his voice to the character of God in the film, which also stars Rainn Wilson, Elen Page, Nathan Fillion, and Kevin Bacon.

Source: Twitter