James Gunn’s “Super” plays like a stubborn sidekick to Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 revisionist comic book action flick “Kick-Ass.” Perhaps it should have adopted a name defining itself better in relation to that film: “Half-Ass.”
Gunn’s film is made in good fun, but “Super” is a little too footloose and fancy-free for its own good. The off-kilter antics follow cuckolded sad-sack Frank Darbo (Rainn Wilson), who dons the costume of “The Crimson Bolt” in order to win back his wife (Liv Tyler) from the clutches of a drug lord (Kevin Bacon). The material is wacky enough for Wilson to dive into head first, but it feels a bit like an abandoned pilot for a Dwight spinoff of “The Office.”
Frank works as a quirky, peculiar character to follow, but the same could not be said for Ellen Page as his wannabe partner-in-crime “Boltie,” also known as Libby. Page goes balls to the wall in her performance, though it winds up feeling rather sloppy, especially in her chemistry with Wilson. She’s so unhinged that I wondered if she simply stopped taking her Adderall during the filming of “Super.”
Gunn’s total package resembles Page moreso than Wilson in the end, unfortunately. The tone in the film fluctuates from over-the-top hum or to downbeat drama and then to a teenager’s wet dream of gory violence. By the end, I found myself wondering if I was watching the scribblings of a deranged comic book devotee who’s been to one too many Comic-Cons. C+ / 
Marshall and the Movies 
Aww, that’s a bummer you didn’t like this one more! I loved it, I was kind of shocked how dark it got at the end there.
I was shocked too – a little too dark, I felt. Tonally jarring.
Haven’t seen this movie in some time, but I remember really liking it. Mostly because Gunn did some strange, rather ballsy things here, but allows it to just tell itself without ever really trying to shed his own opinion on it. Sounds weird, I know, but it was something that I noticed and rather liked. So odd that he’s now directing a Marvel movie, but hey, as long as it’s good. Good review Marshall.