Rating of
3/4
Truth in Advertising
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/18/10
So what makes a superhero? Costume? Check. Name? Check. Secret Identity? Check. Super Powers? Not so fast.
Kick-Ass is what you get when you're Bruce Wayne with no money and no motivation. Just a regular kid who is tired of watching others do nothing - including himself - while the city is rife with crime. Of course the first thing that happens is he's severely beaten and nearly killed.
Lucky for us, it'll take more than a few weeks in the hospital to stop a would-be superhero. It also helps that most of his nerve endings were damaged enough that any future beatings will not feel so bad. When a fight is broadcast on the Internet, and Kick-Ass gains instant fame, he also gets in deeper than he could possibly imagine.
Aaron Johnson is great choice for the erstwhile hero. He's just like Peter Parker... if he had never got bitten. A comic geek with comic geek friends whose only power is "being invisible to girls". He only wants to make a difference and his lack of any fighting skills won't stop him.
When he gets to attention of a girl he likes - but only because she thinks he's gay - he tells her to email Kick-Ass about a problem. This problem leads to a local drug dealer whose about to off our hero when the real party arrives. This would be the duo of Hit-Girl and Big Daddy. She carves up the room like a pint-sized hurricane with a wicked blade. All Kick-Ass can do is watch in slack-jawed horror/amazement.
Chloe Moretz is a breath of fresh air. It doesn't matter if she's cussing up a storm and shooting the bad guys or having a father/daughter moment bonding over butterfly knives - if this role is any indication, she should have a bright future.
Nicolas Cage is in full nerd mode - channeling Adam West and Ward Clever (with a dark twist on both). Over the top? Sure, but so is pretty much the entire film. He's having fun, and he has a great timing with Moretz. It may not be the healthiest family relationship, but it has to be one of the most interesting.
The big bad is played by Mark Strong (see also Sherlock Holmes) - a drug kingpin. Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin plays his son - who has his own agenda to get into the "family business". Thinking Kick-Ass is responsible for the deaths of his men, he orders a hit and the games begin. Mintz-Plasse becomes the Red Mist in hopes of connecting with Kick-Ass - it works all too well.
It ends with a spectacular battle - and enough left over for a sequel. I've never read the comic, so I'm sure they added/subtracted as they saw fit, but I have to say the results are pretty good.
My biggest problem is that there isn't too much digging on the characters. A two-minute explanation is all that is given on the Big Daddy / Hit-Girl origins. The relationship angle also seems to be rather shoehorned into the story. It's not a bad aspect, just distracting from the story as a whole.
I would like to think that if you're a comic fan, and don't mind gratuitous language and violence from a young girl, then this will be right up your alley.
