Review: Super

Sequel to POWERLESS
By Matthew Cody
Available now from Knopf (Random House)
Review copy

I love superhero stories, and POWERLESS stood out from the pack to me because of it's brutal first chapter.  Michael's whole life is flying, until he wakes up without his powers or memories, never to fly again.  That's been the fate of the children of Noble's Green for centuries.  Many of them have a superpower, but they lose it and all memory of it on their thirteenth birthday.  Then Daniel Corrigan came to town and helped the Supers find and defeat the culprit.

But something has happened, and the Supers are again losing their powers.  Temporarily, but who knows when they'll be gone forever?  Meanwhile, Daniel is showing evidence of developing powers and the grandnephew of their nemesis the Shroud has come to town.  He's obviously the number one suspect, but Daniel's worried things aren't so simple.

In addition to having a fast and fun storyline, the morality of SUPER is not black and white.  Who deserves power?  Who can decide whether or not someone deserves power?  Daniel may want to help his friends, but some of the super-powered kids aren't as nice or altruistic.  If the local bully didn't have super strength, that would be a good thing.  But would it just stop there?

I liked that there isn't much romance, since the main characters are younger teens.  (They're maybe fourteen during SUPER.)  There are hints of crushes and a quick kiss, but nothing more.  There are a lot of friendships that cross gender lines, which is nice to see.  Molly, a flyer, is one of the toughest characters and always ready to defend her friends.  And Daniel is a good protagonist for the series, since he has no powers - just the ability to think things through and use his head.

I do recommend starting with POWERLESS, since SUPER deals with the fallout from the first book.  Both tell complete stories, however.  Each book has a definite end and can stand on its own if need be.  I'd be happy to read another Noble's Green novel, but SUPER does not require a sequel.  This series is a good choice for kids who love superheroes and are looking for a good read that isn't a graphic novel.

Movie Monday: 2011 Superhero Films, Part I

2011 was a big year for superheroes, so I'm splitting this into two parts. Today I'll cover The Green Hornet, Green Lantern, and Super. Next week I'll cover the Marvel films Thor, X-Men: First Class, and Captain America: The First Avenger.

I loved The Green Hornet. I can't believe it only has 2-1/2 stars on Amazon. (I also can't believe it was directed by Michael Gondry of the almost-perfect Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the interminably awful The Science of Sleep.) Seth Rogen and Jay Chou have wonderful chemistry as Britt Reid and Kato, the two men who fight crime by pretending to be criminals. I liked that they were equals as the Green Hornet, but had difficulty working as equals to their previous relationship. I also enjoyed Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case, the love interest who ends up with neither guy because she's too smart to put up with their antics. Christoph Waltz, as villain Chudnofsky, slowly loses his mind throughout the film, providing the best comedic moments. The Green Hornet may not stand at the head of its genre, but it's a perfectly serviceable superhero movie.

I may not be qualified to speak about Green Lantern since I feel asleep for half an hour in the middle of the movie. But that says quite a bit in itself, because I have a high tolerance for terrible movies. I'll give Green Lantern credit for having one of the best lines ever uttered in a superhero film:

What do you mean? I've known you my whole life! I've seen you naked! You don't think I would recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones?

Of course, it is said by Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, ace fighter pilot and successful business woman. Blake tries her hardest, but she's not very convincing as the tough-as-nails Carol. She comes off as a bit of a marshmallow. As for the central character . . . Hal Jordan has never been my favorite Lantern. And the movie takes way too long to make Hal seem like a good candidate for the ring. As for the daddy issues everyone in the film is suffering from: Iron Man did it better.

I love superhero movies. I love black comedies. I love parodies. I love deconstruction. I love Ellen Page. Super should've been right up my alley. For a while, it was. It was over-the-top and made me squirm, but the ugliness of Frank's (Rainn Wilson) actions as the Crimson Bolt made a fair point about the likely mental state of people who decide to don a costume and fight crime with a wrench. But the violence kept going beyond my comfort zone and I found Page's psycho Libby funny at first, then extremely off-putting. Can we all agree that rape isn't funny, even when it's female-on-male? And, for the people arguing all over the internet that it wasn't rape, it was. Frank said no. That's all it takes. The actively resisting and throwing up afterward were the icing on the terrible, no good, very bad cake. So despite what I thought at the beginning, Super was very much not my thing.

(ETA: Super is considered a 2010 movie because it premiered at TIFF that September. It didn't release in the US until April 1, 2011.)