9) Super
James Gunn has now become one of the most successful directors in Marvel Studios’ ranks, as his space opera Guardians of the Galaxy has made $587 million at the box office, spent four weeks at the #1 spot, and was the highest-grossing film of the summer in the United States. Guardians wasn’t Gunn’s first foray into the superhero genre, however. That title belongs to his 2010 film Super, starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon and Nathan Fillion.
Wilson stars as Frank Darbo, a short-order cook who only has two good memories from his “disappointing life,” marrying his wife Sarah (Tyler), and a time where he helped a cop catch a purse snatcher. Sarah eventually leaves Frank for a strip club owner named Jacques (Bacon), who gets her hooked on drugs. This causes Frank to sink into a depression, and then later have a vision in which he’s touched by the hand of God and meets the Holy Avenger (Fillion), who tells Frank that God has chosen him for a very special purpose.
Frank does what any normal human being would do, and creates a superheroic alter-ego for himself called Crimson Bolt. He’s then joined by a foul-mouthed comic book store clerk named Libby (Page), who assists him as his sidekick Boltie. Frank takes to the streets with a pipe wrench and “fights crime” by brutally beating various rule breakers and shouting his catch phrase, “Shut up, crime!” Eventually, he gains public attention and eventually goes after Jacques to save his wife.
Super was thought of as a simple Kick-Ass clone before it came out… but it’s so much more than that. It’s incredibly weird, very funny and packed with some deep emotional stuff, all sandwiched between bizarre and darkly comedic moments.
It’s frankly one of the weirdest entries on this list… but that’s what landed Gunn the Guardians gig, and we’re totally okay with that.
Published: Sep 10, 2014 10:15 pm