Just Super (4½ Stars)

It's Sunday. Like most Sundays I went to the cinema with my grandson Oliver. Today we went to see the animated Norwegian film, "Just Super".

The problem with Sundays is that public transport doesn't run as often as other days. The local train (the Strohgäubahn) only runs once an hour, not the usual twice an hour. According to Google Maps, we'd arrive at the cinema at 1:28 pm, two minutes before the film started. That was okay, I thought. We already had tickets. It was better than having to wait more than an hour.

Then catastrophe struck. The connecting train in Zuffenhausen was ten minutes late. Okay... so we had to rush from the station to the cinema. The adverts before the film usually last 15 minutes, but they're sometimes a bit shorter before children's films. So it was a risk. To make it worse, Oliver insisted on buying a packet of M&Ms when we went in. So we rushed into the cinema hall, entering just as the adverts ended. The room was dark, so I didn't find our row  immediately. And what did I see? A woman and her daughter were sitting on our seats. She made a motion to stand up. She'd probably only moved into our good seats when she thought nobody was coming. I signalled to her to stay where she was. I was happy with the not so good seats at the end of the row.

So we sat at the end of the row, and I realise that I've probably written more about the cinema attendance drama than I'll write about the film itself. Let's see.

The film is about Hedvig, a normal 11-year-old girl who lives in a small Norwegian town. It isn't named, but based on the mountainous scenery it could be somewhere near Bergen. Hedvig might be normal, but her family is far from normal. Her father is a superhero called Super Lion. Before him his mother was also a superhero. The superpowers have been handed down from generation to generation in the form of a suit. The suit amplifies the natural abilities of whoever wears it. Hedvig will inherit the suit one day when her father retires, but that's a long way off. Or is it?

Hedvig accidentally washes the costume at 90 degrees, and it shrinks. Her father can't wear it any more, so he gives it to Hedvig. The trouble is that it doesn't give a person abilities he doesn't already have. Hedvig isn't athletic or intelligent. The only thing she's good at is computer games, and wow! If she wears the suit at her computer to play a game she's unbeatable.

Hedvig's father decides to give the suit to his nephew Adrian, who's an outstanding sportsman. He has all the qualifications needed to become a superhero, except one. He has no modesty. He's arrogant, and the costume amplifies his arrogance. Hedvig sees the danger, so she visits her grandmother in the old people's home and begs her for help.

This is a wonderful film. Oliver loved it, and so did I. Why can't Marvel make superhero films like this?