Super

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As unhinged as modern mainstream filmmaking gets, it's hard to put James Gunn's sophomore directing effort (after the hugely underrated Slither) into a box. Super is probably most aptly summed up as a cross between Taxi Driver and Kick Ass; but tonal convergences aside, it is a rather brilliant, consistently mental tale of one man just losing it and looking for an outlet for his anger. Announcing Rainn Wilson as a viable, unconventional leading man while giving Ellen Page her best role since Juno, this ultra-violent indie flick will delight genre fans and offend pretty much everyone else.

Wilson is diner cook Frank, a man who led an unfulfilling existence until he met Liv Tyler's troubled Sarah. Frank is devastated when Sarah falls off the wagon and returns to the grimy world of drugs, after becoming involved with Kevin Bacon's dodgy gang boss. Enraged, a sad and frustrated Frank has a "vision" and thinks he has been tasked by God to fight crime and clean up the streets, under the guise of 'The Crimson Bolt'. Teaming up with Ellen Page's enthusiastic (and sociopathic) comic book store employee Libby - who becomes his sidekick Boltie - he tackles crime aggressively, wrench in hand.

There's no way this film would've been made inside the studio system in Hollywood, so it's easy to see why Gunn went down the indie route - that way, he got to make entirely the film he wanted. The moments of violence are so jarring and realistic that you'll be taken aback at first, but Gunn continually subverts what's happening on screen with funny, self-aware dialogue playing over the assaults. For example, after tearing a man out of a car who was about to engage in some illicit activity with an underage boy, the Crimson Bolt repeatedly cracks him in the face with his trusty wrench before pointing at him and saying "Don't molest kids." It certainly appeals to a very specific sense of humour, but you get the impression that Gunn knows that, and doesn't bother pandering to anyone. It is consistently hilarious, regardless.

Wilson has a wide variety of emotions to go through. There's more than one scene where he has to dig to affecting depths, resulting in more empathy for a lead character than I can recall in recent memory. Frank is beyond damaged, but he's not beyond repair, and that's the balance that Wilson had to strike, which he does wonderfully. Page, meanwhile, almost steals every scene that she's in and the Canadian actress is obviously relishing the chance to cut loose. Bacon is a suitably dastardly bastard as the villain of the piece, while other regular Gunn cohorts, including Michael Rooker, reinforce the edgy tone.

Easily this critic's favourite film of the year so far, Super won't be to everyone's taste - but those that do enjoy it will end up owning it, loving it, and re-watching it time and time again.