I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of seeing Kick-Ass. In fact, I only went because Jon woke me up from a nap I was taking and rushed Nicole and I to the theater last night, effectively kidnapping us. Haunting presuppositions of a campy, Mystery Men-ish comic book movie flooded my mind when met with the prospect of seeing this film. However, as with most things Jon drags us to, he was completely right in doing so. In fact Kick-Ass was so Kick-Ass that it forced me to get that terrible line out at the beginning if the review instead of the end of the review. But it’s not enough to say that it IS kick ass, so hit the jump to find out why Kick-Ass comes out of the gates with fury, setting up the summer movie season in a big way.
Kick-Ass starts off following Dave Lizewski, your average high school geek who’s even more average next to his equally geeky friends. He splits his time fairly evenly between late-night sessions with internet porn and reading comic books. One day after being mugged while a bystander does absolutely nothing to intervene, Dave decides to put together a costume out of a wetsuit he orders online and begins his late night vigilantism (provided it isn’t a school night.) After a particularly brutal bust-up of a crime in progress, Kick-Ass becomes an overnight internet sensation thanks to witnesses uploading the video to YouTube. However, Dave quickly learns he isn’t the only super hero prowling the streets of New York as he pairs up with Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) who both have their own batch of justice to dish out. Dave also has to accept the flip-side of his heroics, the inevitably of a villain.
Kick-Ass doesn’t pull any punches whatsoever. The source material is a bit raunchy but rather than pare it down for broader appeal, Kick-Ass stays delightfully intact with its well deserved R-rating. Despite the youthful tone the previews display this is absolutely not a film for your little ones. Well, unless your 11 year old is extensively trained in hand to hand combat, ballistic trajectories, and infiltration. Kick-Ass is a twisted union of Superbad and Batman with a dash of Kill Bill. It starts off strong and just about doesn’t let up until the very end. Granted, it’ll take you a bit to get to the end as it’s every bit of two hours, but it very rarely drags.
I’ll say this now- Nicolas Cage’s performance is one of the most memorable in years. His alter ego, Big Daddy has a delivery that’s somewhere between Elvis and Adam West and it’s an absolute riot almost every time he’s onscreen. His chemistry with Moretz is fantastic as well as we’re treated to one of the most bizarre father-daughter relationships in recent memory. Seeing Big Daddy effortlessly train his little girl on the finer points of assassination and espionage and seeing how innocently she absorbs that training is equal parts chilling and hilarious. There’s been some media backlash about some questionable early videos of their relationship, but it’s nothing to be concerned about once you see the film in its entirety.
Really the only bad thing I can say is that ironically, Kick-Ass has a bit of an identity problem. It’s obviously marketed at the comic movie crowd, but to go in thinking Kick-Ass is only about a masked samaritan whooping ass would be a mistake. One because he doesn’t beat as much ass as you’d expect and two because you’ll get equal measures of teenaged self-discovery, incredibly over-the-top action, touchingly heartfelt moments and flat-out hilarious dialog. While it’s a bit scatter-brained at times, it doesn’t detract from the film because Kick-Ass is a well-rounded jack of all trades in its progression. The characters are solidly developed and have the same types of problems that any normal person would have because effectively (and this is something Marvel always got right anyways) they are normal people. It simultaneously draws you in to a world of rich comic fantasy while also allowing you to identify its characters. It just does so much right that it’s heroic on another level the way it fights back the injustices of some more lackluster comic book movies (looking at you, Daredevil).
Sure comic fans get relentlessly stereotyped, but it’s hilarious so I’ve no choice but to let it slide, especially considering there are just as many homages to a barrage of classic comics as there are jabs at their fans. Far beyond fan service though, Kick-Ass manages to wake up non-comic book fans to the fact that there is some real substance to be found waiting in those colorful pages. They aren’t always narrowly focused on good guy fights bad guy, but rather a whole world of deep and fulfilling literature is sitting and waiting to be unearthed at that comic shop you turn up your nose at on your way to work every day. It’s this kind of passion and dedication to the medium that got the whole comic book movie genre off the ground in the first place. It’s also refreshing to see that nearly a decade after they started coming out like clockwork every summer that some oft-overlooked titles like Kick-Ass are finally getting the screen time they deserve while simultaneously shattering perceptions about their original medium.
Kick-Ass gets 9 out of 10.
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