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To quote the main character in the latest attempt at a revisionist comic book movie, Kick-Ass, "Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" Indeed, when you view this film's incredibly clever premise, which finds an ordinary kid trying to do extraordinary things (and more or less failing miserably), you see a million untapped 14-year-old daydreams come magically to life. Based on the Marvel title by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., this story of champions and chumps, great deeds and glorified geek ambition makes for a terrific pre-Summer blockbuster. It's so much fun, in fact, it ought to be illegal.
Comic book aficionado Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) has always wondered why no one in the real world has taken up the crime fighting mantle of this favorite pen and ink avengers. So he dons a lime green wetsuit and christens himself Kick-Ass, defender of justice. Naturally, he gets his own butt beat. But he soon learns that he is not alone, as the father and daughter duo of Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) take him under their wing. They are off to destroy the drug kingpin Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), the man responsible for undermining their quiet family life. When it looks like Kick-Ass and his companions will succeed in shutting him down, the mobster gets his eager-to-please son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to help destroy these do-gooders once and for all.
Kick-Ass is one of the greatest post-modern superhero movies of all time, to rank alongside the realism of Christopher Nolan's amazing The Dark Knight and the historical reinvention of Alan Moore's Watchmen. This tale of teen angst and scuba gear self-actualization is ultra-violent wish fulfillment at its very best. In the hands of Layer Cake's Matthew Vaughn, we get the requisite action flourishes and over the top stylized set-pieces. But there is more here than just gunplay and delusions of masked vigilante grandeur. Kick-Ass contemplates the reasons behind such foolhardy individual choices and argues that, sometimes, it's more heart than head which guides them.
The film basically boils down to two competing character arcs. Our nebbish hero has spirit and a lot of good intentions, but no basic physical skills to speak of. His nickname, Kick-Ass, is more of a personal pipe dream than a true fisticuffs reality. For Dave, it's a question of empowerment - and possibly, getting the hot chick (Lyndsy Fonseca). On the other hand, Hit-Girl is all pint-sized power and knife throwing, automatic weapon wielding efficiency -- and she's a tween. She has the steely eye and swiftness of a highly trained killer and yet, sadly, that's all she is. When we learn how she came to be such a foul-mouthed fighting machine, the truth is even more upsetting.
Add in Cage doing his best Shatner/Adam West riff, Strong as a despotic villain, and the artist formerly known as McLovin' as a brilliant bad guy wannabe and you've got the makings of a stand-out celebration of all things caped and crusading. Vaughn understands that nothing beats the battle between good and evil told in an energetic and exciting manner, and he constantly delivers the splashy, stunt-filled goods. Moretz is destined to be singled out, as much for her salty language as her battle skills, but without someone like Vaughn behind the lens, making us believe in her abilities (and her sobering backstory), it would seem artificial. With him, Kick-Ass does just that.
Along the way there are huge laughs, edge of your seat thrills, moments of celebratory crowd pleasing, and enough stored up potential for a dozen similarly styled sequels. Kick-Ass may be the first of his kind, but thanks to this terrifically entertaining movie, he definitely won't be the last.
Comic book aficionado Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) has always wondered why no one in the real world has taken up the crime fighting mantle of this favorite pen and ink avengers. So he dons a lime green wetsuit and christens himself Kick-Ass, defender of justice. Naturally, he gets his own butt beat. But he soon learns that he is not alone, as the father and daughter duo of Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) take him under their wing. They are off to destroy the drug kingpin Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), the man responsible for undermining their quiet family life. When it looks like Kick-Ass and his companions will succeed in shutting him down, the mobster gets his eager-to-please son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to help destroy these do-gooders once and for all.
Kick-Ass is one of the greatest post-modern superhero movies of all time, to rank alongside the realism of Christopher Nolan's amazing The Dark Knight and the historical reinvention of Alan Moore's Watchmen. This tale of teen angst and scuba gear self-actualization is ultra-violent wish fulfillment at its very best. In the hands of Layer Cake's Matthew Vaughn, we get the requisite action flourishes and over the top stylized set-pieces. But there is more here than just gunplay and delusions of masked vigilante grandeur. Kick-Ass contemplates the reasons behind such foolhardy individual choices and argues that, sometimes, it's more heart than head which guides them.
The film basically boils down to two competing character arcs. Our nebbish hero has spirit and a lot of good intentions, but no basic physical skills to speak of. His nickname, Kick-Ass, is more of a personal pipe dream than a true fisticuffs reality. For Dave, it's a question of empowerment - and possibly, getting the hot chick (Lyndsy Fonseca). On the other hand, Hit-Girl is all pint-sized power and knife throwing, automatic weapon wielding efficiency -- and she's a tween. She has the steely eye and swiftness of a highly trained killer and yet, sadly, that's all she is. When we learn how she came to be such a foul-mouthed fighting machine, the truth is even more upsetting.
Add in Cage doing his best Shatner/Adam West riff, Strong as a despotic villain, and the artist formerly known as McLovin' as a brilliant bad guy wannabe and you've got the makings of a stand-out celebration of all things caped and crusading. Vaughn understands that nothing beats the battle between good and evil told in an energetic and exciting manner, and he constantly delivers the splashy, stunt-filled goods. Moretz is destined to be singled out, as much for her salty language as her battle skills, but without someone like Vaughn behind the lens, making us believe in her abilities (and her sobering backstory), it would seem artificial. With him, Kick-Ass does just that.
Along the way there are huge laughs, edge of your seat thrills, moments of celebratory crowd pleasing, and enough stored up potential for a dozen similarly styled sequels. Kick-Ass may be the first of his kind, but thanks to this terrifically entertaining movie, he definitely won't be the last.
