Kick-Ass

2010
I resisted watching this movie for the longest time, despite some decent word-ofmouth, because a glance at the graphic novel revealed it to be dripping in blood, and I frankly had an icky feeling about the sexualization of such a young female character. On top of that Im tired of comics and comic-related movies trying to be dark and cool; you read comic books, youre not hip, accept it. I know theyre more socially accepted than when I was the target demographic for this movie, but it still rubs me the wrong way when comic-book projects try to be ironic or hip. Maybe thats just me. But I overcame my reluctance because I had seen Chloe Grace Moretz in both Hugo and Texas Killing Fields, two very different roles, but she had been terrific in both, and as Kick Ass was what landed her on the map, well, ok, lets take a look. You all probably know the deal by now; nerd teen Dave (Aaron Johnson) wonders why no one ever tries to be s superhero in real life, so he tries it, and he gets his ass whooped. He suffers nerve damage that virtually eliminates his ability to feel pain, and so he continues to fight crime in a green wetsuit with the caveat now that he can take a serious beating and keep going. His actions attract the attention of two other would-be superheroes, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl (Moretz), who know real martial arts and train with weapons and are much closer to real superheroes. They like Dave but are wary of his sloppy approach, and decide to try to train him. However, when local crime boss Frank DAmico (Mark Strong) keeps losing drug shipments at the hands of Big Daddy, he mistakenly blames Kick Ass, and sets his own son Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) up as a faux superhero, the Red Mist, to entrap the well-meaning Dave. The film cant decide if it wants to be a spoof or an homage or a straight superhero movie. The first part, where Dave works on his own, is amusing, and is mostly a spoof on the whole getting to learn my powers bit that we see in most superhero origin films. Once Big Daddy (an obvious Batman fanboy homage) and Hit Girl enter the movie, however, we shift into more of a mainstream super-hero film, save that their father-daughter relationship consists mostly of him training her to be a killer, and her swearing inappropriately. And as the movie goes on, it loses most of the humor and opts for being just another superhero film where the heroes must get revenge on the amoral villain blah blah blah. This shift in tone makes the movie less enjoyable as it goes. Johnson is likable enough as Dave; we sympathize with him even though they are using the old movie trick of put glasses on a good looking person and that makes them a nerd. Despite that, Johnson turns in an earnest performance, and hes fun to watch, especially when he is trying to win over classmate cutie Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca). Mintz-Plasse is good as well; his Red Mist is a douche, and he almost sort of knows it, but the character is too dim to realize his own shortcomings. Nic Cage has wanted to be a super-hero for years (he was almost Superman, and hes tried

out for a number of other roles), and this is probably the closest hell ever get to playing Batman. Hes perfectly fine for this type of role, though you didnt need someone with his skill for the role. Moretz sort of steals the show; despite her potty-mouth, Hit Girl is a ball of energy, and she livens things up whenever shes on the screen. It can require a little suspension of disbelief to accept an elevenyear-old girl beating up fully grown men, but Moretzs charm and screen presence help carry us through the less believable parts. Ive read there will be a second movie, because, well, you cant say no to a sequel when a film makes any money, but I felt two hours of this was more than enough. The tonal shifts help to sink what could have been a fun and original approach to a superhero film, and while there is more you could do with both Kick Ass and Hit Girl, I dont know that trying to stretch this concept another two hours is the wisest of choices but then, Hollywood never met a superhero movie it didnt like. September 6, 2012