I didn’t think Kick-Ass really needed a sequel, but it turns out I enjoyed seeing Kick Ass and Hit Girl again. The first movie was a dirty romp of a comic book movie that ran it’s story in a complete beginning to end arc. K-A2 brings us back to the life of Dave Lizewski who hung up his spandex suit after blowing up Red Mist’s father in the first movie. With his crazy idea of being a super hero put to rest, he goes back to being a high school kid, but soon finds himself bored of the mundane. He approaches Mindy Macready again who has yet to put her knives and nunchakus away as Hit Girl. She trains him again to hit the streets as Kick Ass and after a change of heart, she hangs up her cape and Kick Ass goes off to join a like minded vigilante super hero group. This stokes the fires of Red Mist again who is bent on revenge for his father. Donning a new name moniker, he makes his own super villain group to destroy Kick Ass and the city.

A lot of what made the first movie stand out is back, the cursing, the laughs and the violence and the moral fiber of what it means to be a real hero. The main cast is all back with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. CMP really goes for it, pushing Chris D’Amico as far into insanity as he can go. If Lex Luthor was a stupid kid with uncontrollable rage, he’d be Chris D’Amico.

While I liked seeing these guys again, I was left a bit ambivalent in the end. While not a bad movie, it didn’t do anything too great either. The characters are the best part, some good action scenes (the green screen work is rough), but it’s an easy movie to skip. I think I missed director Matthew Vaughn from the first movie the most as he had a much more interesting and kinetic eye for the material than Jeff Wadlow. Too been there, done that.

The Lone Ranger got brutal press reviews when it came out in the summer of 2013. It was like the gates of hell had been opened in a theatre and humanity had to condemn it. Going in, I tried to keep an open mind and I pretty much got what I expected.

First, let’s look at the big names behind The Lone Ranger. Directed by Gore Verbinski and Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, two guys known for huge summer blockbusters. Main star Johnny Depp in another character roll (Jack Sparrow being the other character roll that gave him a massive career resurgence 10 years ago) in a summer blockbuster. If anything, which I think is what bothered most critics, this is a really bombastic and excessive movie. Two huge action sequences set on a train (where it looks like most of the budget was spent) that are really over the top with a few rather violent smaller action set pieces in between. This is a Western so shoot outs are expected and it isn’t gory at all. A lot of people do go mowed down. In the end I really liked the story, but it takes a long time for the movie to get on with the revelation of who all the villains are (which wasn’t a surprise) and their motive. I think the end motive is good, as is Tonto’s backstory. It clocks in at almost 2 and a half hours so it did feel drawn out. The easiest cut would be the odd scenes with the boy and old Tonto, I don’t understand why that was in the movie let alone written. That would shorten the movie by maybe 5 minutes which isn’t a whole lot, but those scenes added nothing and wouldn’t have been missed. Plus all of that make up work on Depp would have been skipped.

The other problem I think is in the general tone of movie which was a bit schizophrenic. A lot of it is played straight and realistic, but Depp’s Tonto goes for comedic relief with almost every line of dialog he has. Plus, Lone Rangers’ horse pretty much has magic powers. He has no problem getting onto the roof of buildings at the most convenient of times. He drinks booze too. Silver is a deus ex machina with 4 legs.
That brings us to the acting which was great all around. Armie Hammer did a good job as John Reid (Lone Ranger) and he had great chemistry with Depp. I really liked William Fichtner as Butch Cavendish, he plays a filthy outlaw with great aplomb. Johnny Depp did what I though he was going to do, it’s a cartoonish spin on a Native American. He made a flamboyant pirate with Jack Sparrow and for Tonto he moves and reacts like a silent film star. I don’t think it was a bad choice, but I don’t think he’ll be remembered for this roll.

In the end, The Lone Ranger isn’t nearly as bad as many made it out to be. I’d say it’s just a good movie…just the thing to watch on a cozy snow day.