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Super | 2011 | NR | - 8.8.10

A man (Rainn Wilson) suffers from depression when his wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a drug dealer (Kevin Bacon). He becomes obsessed with rescuing her and dons a homemade super hero suit to expunge evil and crime from the streets by wielding a wrench as his weapon of choice. He acquires a sidekick after meeting a woman (Ellen Page) bent on killing people. Directed by James Gunn. [1:36]

SEX/NUDITY 8 - A man and a woman have sex on the floor: we see the man thrusting (his bare buttocks are visible), the woman's bare breasts is seen and she waves away a young man that sees them (we understand that he is upset). A woman straddles a man seated on a sofa; she kisses him and thrusts (we see the man's boxers gathered at his knees and the woman's dress is hiked up a bit and part of her bare lower legs is visible).
 A woman asks a man if he wants to "make out," he becomes upset and says no, she persists and caresses her clothed breast and between her legs, she pushes him onto a sofa and straddles him, presumably forcing penetration, she thrusts, climaxes loudly and he pushes her onto the floor.
 A man imagines another man raping him in a jail cell: we see one man bent over at the waist (his pants are down and part of his bare legs are visible) and another man thrusting from behind (his bare chest, abdomen and hip are visible) and moaning. A man pushes a woman onto a bed, she punches him as he pries her legs apart, we hear her screaming and it is implied that he rapes her. A boy is seen getting into a car with a man that unzips his pants (no nudity is visible), presumably for the boy to perform oral sex.
 A man and a woman kiss and lie on a bed together (both are clothed) until they are interrupted. A man kisses a woman and caresses her face tenderly. A man and a woman kiss passionately. A husband and his wife kiss. A husband and his wife lie in bed together (both are clothed). A man kisses another man on the cheek. A man and a woman (both are clothed) lie next to each other in bed and hold each other.
 An animated TV show depicts a nude woman (her bare breasts, abdomen and legs are visible) writhing as a tentacled creature attacks her, and its tentacles wrap around her breasts. A man on a TV show talks about a young man and a young woman being sprinkled with "lust dust" and being exposed to pornography and "sex TV."
 We see two scantily clad women outside an exotic dance club wearing short skirts, revealing abdomens, cleavage and stocking covered legs, A young woman wears a deeply cut dress that reveals cleavage and a young man wears tight-fitting leather shorts with studded straps across his bare-chest, as well as nipple rings. A man changes his clothes in the back seat of a car and we see his brief-covered buttocks and the outline of his genitals (a mother pulls her child away from the car as they walk by). A woman wearing a tight-fitting superhero suit strikes suggestive poses as a man watches (he tells her "that's inappropriate"). A man lies on a bed wearing only jockey shorts (his bare chest, abdomen and legs are visible). A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage.
 A man offers several women to another man (implying prostitution), he takes one woman by the arm and asks her to "have a party with him," she resists and he leads her away.
 Two men discuss whether they'd have sex with a corpse or their grandmother and one makes a crude remark about the grandmother's anatomy. A reference is made to beatings being sexually motivated. An exotic dance club is called "Bare Assets." A woman asks, "How gay is it?" about a comic book. A man says of a woman "She's going through the change in life."

VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - A man stabs another man repeatedly (we hear crunching and we see blood on the wounds and the knife) and a woman screams. A man and a woman are shot and fall to the ground (we see a man with a bloody wound in his chest and the woman is shown with part of her head and face blown off; blood and matter are evident).
 A man shoots another man in the chest (we see blood on his clothing at the wound). Several men are shot and blood spurts from their wounds. A man is shot in the head and blood spurts on the wall behind him. A man is shown lying on the ground and flapping what's left of his arms (they are missing from the elbow down and blood and tissue flap around); he pleads for his life and another man shoots him. A man is shot in the groin by a blade-launching weapon (we see blood pouring from his pants). A man hits another man in the head with a large wrench (we see blood pour from the open head wound), and then strikes a woman across the face with the wrench (she falls to the ground screaming and we see blood on her face and hand).
 Two men fight and wrestle, one is pinned on the floor and the other slams his head down repeatedly until we see blood pooling on the floor under him and we see a gaping wound on the back of his head (we hear the crunch of the skull breaking). A man and a woman punch a man, the woman strikes him with a glass vase (we see his face badly cut and bloody), and raises a heavy statue over him but is stopped before striking him. A woman with blades on her gloves stabs a man repeatedly (we see blood splatter and pour from wounds).
 A man imagines a many-tentacled creature breaking through the walls of his hotel room, wrapping tentacles around him, using two tentacles to cut the top of his skull off, and another with a suction cup opens the top of his head (we see the bloody brain), another quirts something on it, a roller wipes up some of the blood and a large human finger touches the exposed brain.
 A man is set on fire, he screams and flails and another man stabs him repeatedly. A bomb explodes and blows up three men (we see particles blown into the air). A bomb explodes and blows a man up (we see particles sail through the air). A woman in a car speeds into a man and pins him between a wall and the car (we see him with blood coming from his mouth). A man shoots another man in the arm and chest (blood spurts and he yells).
 A man pushes a woman onto a bed, she punches him as he pries her legs apart, we hear her screaming and it is implied that he rapes her (we see her later with a bloody bruise on her face where he presumably punched her). A boy is seen getting into a car with a man that unzips his pants (presumably for the boy to perform oral sex on him), and another man breaks the driver's window and beats him with a wrench (we see blood on his face). A man imagines another man raping him in a jail cell: we see one man bent over at the waist and another man thrusting from behind and moaning.
 A man tied to a rope swings into a window, breaking it, and is shot by two other men (although he was already dead). Three men shoot a man in the chest (we see him fall to the floor with a blood-soaked shirt). A man breaks the window of a house and yells at the people inside; three men with guns shoot at the man and chase him, he climbs a fence, he is shot in the leg (we see blood spurt) and he crawls away, into a car and drives away (we see him pick up a blood-soaked piece of paper while driving).
 A man tackles another man who is stealing a purse from a woman in a wheelchair (the woman is also knocked out of the wheelchair and onto the sidewalk) and he beats him repeatedly with a large wrench (we hear pounding but no blood is evident). Several people are shown in quick succession being beaten by a man using a wrench and we see blood on their faces. Two men push another man and try to beat him up, he runs away, they chase and tackle him, they punch and kick him and he punches back.
 We see a bloody bullet hole in a man's leg and he yells when a woman pours alcohol on it. We see a bloody wound on a man's shoulder as a woman stitches it with a needle and thread.
 We see animated sequences of people being attacked by a masked avenger: a man is crushed under a many-toothed plate and we see blood and matter ooze out, a man blows fire at several people and their skin burns away leaving only the skeleton, we see two dismembered people with missing limbs and blood at the stumps, and a man punches numerous people in rapid succession and they fall to the ground and blood pools at their heads.
 A man tackles another man and punches him, they fight and wrestle on a sidewalk, one man is thrown into a pile of garbage, struck with a garbage can lid and he runs away with a soiled diaper stuck to his backside (we see a smear of feces on the diaper). A man pulls a woman out of a car and tries to take her away, another man pushes the man away, the man pounds on the car several times and throws himself on the windshield until three other man pull him to the ground and kick and punch him repeatedly (we see him later with a bloody and bruised face). A man imagines stabbing another man in the neck with a fireplace poker and blood spurts from the wound. A man holds his son over his knee and paddles him on the clothed buttocks (the boy moans).
 A man and a woman buy weapons and ammunition and do target practice at photos of men. A man throws a smoke bomb at two men on a street (there is no effect). A man uses a large wrench to smash a melon (we see splatter of the melon flesh and hear a crunch). A man makes a blade-launching device and bombs and demonstrates the blade launcher (we see the blade sunk into a piece of wood).
 A man vomits into a toilet: we see the goo coming out of his mouth and we linger over the goo-filled toilet as the pieces float into the shape of a woman's face and the man imagines her talking to him. Two boys urinate on another boy's head (we see the two streams and the boy's head and face drenched in urine as he whines). A woman is injected in the foot with a drug (we see the needle pressed into her flesh).
 A man imagines another man entering his apartment and threatening him with a gun. A man in a TV show is shot by another man using a ray gun and he wriggles and yells.
 A man and a woman argue about killing people. A man weeps after his wife leaves him. A man says he locks his dog in a closet because he bites people (he doesn't have a dog). A man talks about having visions and we see the visions as he describes them: One vision is of Jesus sitting on his wall, and others are of people looking like demons. A man talks about serial beatings and that they could lead to serial murder. The word "destroy" is repeated in song lyrics. A man says, "I hate you God."
 A woman appears to be sick when walking out of a club (it is implied that she is under the influence of drugs and alcohol). A man on a TV show wears a costume with crucifixes decorating it and is called "The Holy Avenger," while another man wears makeup that resembles the devil (red skin, horns and he wags his tongue like a snake several times).

LANGUAGE 10 - About 72 F-words and its derivatives, 15 sexual references, 15 scatological terms, 10 anatomical terms, 9 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for African-Americans, 1 derogatory term for homosexuals, name-calling (stupid, lazy, bad news, idiotic, crazy, evil, mongoloid, weird, jerk, psychopath, monkey baby, freak), exclamations (shut up), 2 religious profanities, 15 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A woman is injected in the foot with a drug (we see the needle pressed into her flesh), people are shown drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana at a party, 3 people smoke marijuana from a pipe, we hear that a woman is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, a woman appears to be sick when walking out of a club (it is implied that she is under the influence of drugs and alcohol), two men in a car buy drugs from another man on a street (they talk about Thai stick), a man tells a woman that he is doing a report on where illegal drugs are sold in a city, a man carries several wrapped packages of drugs, and we see a pile of wrapped packages of drugs on a table. A woman smokes a cigarette and a man smokes a cigarette.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Drug addiction, alcoholism, perfect moments, love, depression, rejection, evil, disappointment, drug dealing, super heroes, love, tenderness, humiliation, heroism, vigilantism, rape, prostitution, being unlucky, fighting evil, happiness, sin.

MESSAGE - All it takes to be a super hero is to make the choice to fight evil.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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