A film that actually lives up to its title, this film actually does Kickass! Kickass is based on a comic of course, but this is quite a different type of Superhero film (and comic I assume). There aren’t any superpowers here, just a regular guy who wants to make a difference. Our main character Dave (Aaron Johnson) wonders why there aren’t actually anyone in costume fighting crime so he takes it upon himself to actually find a costume (its a wet suit) and beat up the bullies. It does not exactly work out at first but on a second attempt he gets filmed, it makes its way online and he’s all the rage. This leads him to father and daughter duo Damon/Big Daddy (Nic Cage) and Mindy/Hit Girl (Chloe Mortez), who have been doing the masked superhero stuff for awhile and the big crime boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) has mistaken Kick-Ass for them. This leads to his son Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) getting involved to help his father by becoming Red Mist. That is the basics of Kick-Ass but you can go into this knowing nothing at all, it all works so well.
I loved the performances in this film, the stand out being Nic Cage, he loved playing Big Daddy. Big Daddy is basically a Batman rip off with the costume and the accessories. The amazing father/daughter relationship between Big Daddy and Hit Girl is definitely the highlight of the film, Chloe and Nic had perfect chemistry. Chloe Mortez is quite a find, this girl should become huge if she keeps chosing great roles. I loved her and Hit Girl was easily my favourite character, this girl takes no BS what so ever. Mintz-Plasse is always going to be McLovin and it does feel like he plays the same character at least with Chris D’Amico we get something a bit different. Aaron Johnson was just right for Dave aka Kick-Ass, he’s the dork turned Superhero, got to love that. He hits all the right notes, and we really get to like this character, despite how clearly clueless he can be on certain things. I adored Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie the girl he likes, but she thinks he is gay. Makes for some great scenes, and she was great and very pretty too.
Kick-Ass was so well written, it really hooks you in right away and it is such a joy to watch unfold. This is a no BS film, it is violent and vulgar, it does not hold back on anything. You aren’t likely to see another film around that features a fight scene between grown men and a 12 year old girl. Our heroes get hurt, they have feelings, we see them for who they are and we really do care. The bad guys are perfect, Mark Strong is now the go to man for a villain and you can see why, he is damn perfect in that role. He is great here, you will loathe his character, and you’re supposed to. It has some fantastic dialogue, great twists and turns, there are significant changes from the comic from what I understand but it seems like it made it work better for the film. Matthew Vaughn should be proud of Kick-Ass, he did what he wanted to do and he has made an excellent film and one I cannot wait to watch again.
We disagree on this one. Well, at least partially. While I do applaud the makers for their balsiness to put all the violence in “Kick-Ass” and not remove the stuff deemed controversial, the impression it left on me was that of an average teen comedy with some action thrown in it.
Aside from Hit Girl and Bid Daddy, there was absolutely nothing I found amusing in this, most of all the typical high-school “humor” sported by Dave and his friends. And all the geek maturing and scoring the hottest chick in the school kind of stuff… I mean, they even had the scene when his friend gets his girlfriend’s friend. Now, if this were somehow a spoof of the genre (like “Not Another Teen Movie”, for example) then I’d have no problems with it. But it’s not. It’s a genuine teen film (and that is as far from my preferred tastes as possible)… with an awesome addition in the forms of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, which bring the film up considerably, but not nearly enough to make me watch it ever again.
I would’ve preferred they scrapped Kick-Ass altogether and opted for a “Hit Girl” film instead.
The Super Network 
Such an awesome movie, glad you liked it. I can’t wait for the DVD.
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Yeah apparently we’re getting the DVD next month, woo! This review I’ve been meaning to write since April, you can see how slack I have been.
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We disagree on this one. Well, at least partially. While I do applaud the makers for their balsiness to put all the violence in “Kick-Ass” and not remove the stuff deemed controversial, the impression it left on me was that of an average teen comedy with some action thrown in it.
Aside from Hit Girl and Bid Daddy, there was absolutely nothing I found amusing in this, most of all the typical high-school “humor” sported by Dave and his friends. And all the geek maturing and scoring the hottest chick in the school kind of stuff… I mean, they even had the scene when his friend gets his girlfriend’s friend. Now, if this were somehow a spoof of the genre (like “Not Another Teen Movie”, for example) then I’d have no problems with it. But it’s not. It’s a genuine teen film (and that is as far from my preferred tastes as possible)… with an awesome addition in the forms of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, which bring the film up considerably, but not nearly enough to make me watch it ever again.
I would’ve preferred they scrapped Kick-Ass altogether and opted for a “Hit Girl” film instead.
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