Kick-Ass (2010)

Kick-Ass (2010) dir. by Matthew Vaughn

Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

I am a huge fan of the Kick-Ass comic and I couldn't wait for this to be on the big screen. So days prior to watching it, I managed to clear my head from all thoughts, and avoid reviews for it. I had a blast, and if it is a precursor to the rest of the summer- its going to be a great summer for movies. I though the movie was amazing and I haven't had that much fun in a movie for a long time. There is one thing I do need to say right away before getting into this review. Just because you may like the comic doesn't mean you are going to like the movie. The movie doesn't really have a whole lot in common with the comic, other than the characters. The movie does lack the level of gore, sickness, and disturbing characters that the comic has developed. Big Daddy is a much better father in the movie than he is in the comic. I won't go into comparing all the characters. I just wanted to give people a warning.



That being said, I really did enjoy this film. Where Aaron Johnson lacks in acting ability, he makes up for it in nerd ability. He is just like any other nerdy guy I grew up with including myself, and it makes his character easy compare to. The supporting cast is amazing on this film, with the exception of Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who just plays another version of character he played in Superbad. That never deterred me from the film, as Chloe Moretz pretty much takes control of the film. Her foul mouthed violent Hit Girl characters ends up being what the movie drives on, and its a good thing she is in it alot. Understanding her relationship with her father plays a large part in coming to terms with her potty mouth extremely violent nature. I really enjoyed the comedy of the film as it wasn't shoved in my face. The comedy was extremely subtle, and very dark comedy at times. I love dark comedy! Kick-Ass's two friends did help a bit as well, as I like both actors ( Clark Duke, Evan Peters) and things they have done in the past. Mark Strong was forgettable as the bad guy, but he doesn't actually play as much of a role in the film as you would think. He is pretty much there just to give the plot a general course of action. He is center piece to the film, but a small one at that.

I think Matthew Vaughn is probably the biggest winner here, as he creates an adaption that does take away from the comic, but he replaces those things brilliantly, and almost so you didn't notice. It took so long to get this movie green lit because of the content of the comic, i'm sure he had to tone this movie way down from what he originally wanted to show. He manages to please critics, the MPAA, and viewers all at once. I do think the low numbers for opening weekend were mostly due to a lot of underage fans. I know the theater I was in actually had a hired bouncer, and he would walk through the theater randomly, and take out youngers to check their ticket stubs. I know it happened at least four times during the course of the film. I expect this movie to continue strong for at least the next three weeks. Some of the shots the Vaughn pulls off were breath taking with the cheesy aerial exception. You will know which one I'm talking about. I would have to say my favorite part of the film is actually the 2D/3D comic style background to why Big Daddy is the way he is. It was short but amazing and definitely payed tribute to comics as a whole. Some of his video game style action was so much fun to watch, and a certain night vision scene double-tapped me in to grinning goosebumps.



With the only exceptions of weak villains and a less than stellar lead, I would have to say the soundtrack could have been a little bit better, as it went almost completely unnoticed. I recommend this film to almost anyone of age, as it is definitely a fast paced, violent, funny, action movie that kept me excited through the majority of the film.

Entertainment Value: 9/10 Batons
Cinematic Value: 7/10 Batons