1000 Nights in the Dark: Super (2010)

USA

Feature Film | Superhero Black Comedy-Drama | English | 1h36m

Cast: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Cara Silverman, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Andre Royo, Sean Gunn

Capsule review | 236 words | 19/07/11 | 2010 favourites

After his drug addicted wife falls off the wagon and leaves him for a powerful dealer, Frank, a mild mannered but reality-challenged cook, becomes convinced that she has been taken against her will, and goes to the police for assistance – when none is forthcoming, and after a Godly vision/delusion or two, he decides to become a superhero (The Crimson Bolt) and take matters into his own hands. Before long, large adjustable spanner (for bashing baddies) in hand and deranged sidekick by his side, he is soon doling out “justice” to muggers, kiddie-fiddlers, and cue jumpers alike. But how will he cope against the bullets and guns of his wife’s new beau’s ruthless gang?

With a tone equal parts blackly comic, satiric, parodic, and ironic, Gunn’s film often feels like a cross between Taxi Driver (1976) and Batman: The Movie (1966). The story is told in a largely linear fashion, with the odd flashback and fantasy sequence. The handheld camerawork is discrete, the lighting naturalistic (with the odd lens flare), and the colour palette fairly muted, whilst the ironically upbeat score is generally effective. Effects work and makeup are bloodily convincing, and the lo-fi graphics – complete with ka-pows, blams, and splats – very well done. The performances are generally good, with Wilson’s turn commendably restrained, Page’s maniacally and hilariously full-blooded, and Bacon’s very amusing, though Tyler’s is a tad bland.

A thoughtful, hilarious, and disturbing jet black comedy.

1000 Nights in the Dark: a collection of reviews of the single sentence, capsule, short, medium, and long variety, varying in length from fifty to a thousand-plus words, documenting my personal, exploratory journey through cinephilia.