Cast Ellen Page, Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon
Director James Gunn
For every superhero in the X-Men or Avengers mould, there’s an all-too-human counterpart who really, really wants to be a crime-fighter, but who really, really lacks the necessary nuclear-powered x-ray vision.
Rainn Wilson’s Frank D’Arbo is one of those guys. He’s the original Mr Nobody, whose stunning wife Sarah (played by Liv Tyler – and you can tell this isn’t real life, because Liv falling for Rainn – aka Dwight from the US Office? Erm, hello?) gets seduced by evil drug dealer Jacques (a wonderfully hammy Kevin Bacon) and leaves Frank to set up home with El Baddie.
But Frank doesn’t take things lying down, and pretty soon, with the help of a monkey wrench and some coloured spandex, he’s transformed himself into the Crimson Bolt – a superhero for the modern age – and sets out to fight crime and bring Jacques to his knees.
Somewhere along the way, the Bolt acquires a sidekick in Hollywood’s go-to girl for smart-mouth roles, Ellen Page, who cuts a cute’n’comical figure in her green and yellow costume to emerge as Boltie – she kicks butt first and asks questions later.
Frank spends most of the movie doinking baddies over the head with his wrench, striking a blow for the little guy, but the shame of it is that we’ve seen this kind of movie before in the hysterically funny Kick-Ass. And as good as Ellen is with the droll one-liners, once you’ve seen the 11-year-old Hit-Girl take down an entire building of scumbags à la John McClane in Kick-Ass, Super seems like it got to the party a teensy bit too late. But, having said that, if anyone can make you wanna go and see what is effectively Kick-Ass II, it’s comedy legend Rainn and super-cute Ellen.
Our fave nerdy superheroes
Superman
Original Clark Kent, Christopher Reeve, was the ultimate everyday nerd – remember the glasses and the short-sighted walking into lampposts?
Kick-Ass
Brit actor Aaron Johnson was the movie’s eponymous hero, skinny and awkward by day… and only slightly less nerdy by night.
Spider-Man
Peter Parker epitomises the hero who’s so underthe- radar, his mum would probably have trouble picking him out of a line up.
