James Gunn's Super, reviewed

[ed_rex]

Latest long-underwear entry is under-powered

I've read at least one review of Super that suggests it is best seen as being in dialogue with the likes of Scorsese's Taxi Driver, but I can't help comparing it to last year's other "normal guy puts on long underwear to fight crime" super-hero movie, Kick-Ass (which was super indeed).

Both movies are narrated by protagonists who don ridiculous disguises to Fight Crime, both feature explicit violence and neither delivers much in the way of deep insights into the human condition.

As it turns out, though, once you get past the basic premise, there is a world of difference between Matthew Vaughan's brutally funny and eminently re-watchable action-comedy and James Gunn's equally brutal (but only occasionally funny) tale of a delusional middle-aged loser who — at God's prompting — reacts to his wife's desertion by dressing up in the aforementioned undergarments and a mask and attacking criminals with a lug-wrench.

Sadly, despite an excellent cast and a premise brimming with surreal possibilities, Super ends up being far less than the sum of its parts. Super doesn't suck, but neither does it kick ass. Spoilers ahead at my website.