It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the movies and Kick Ass brought me back to the picture house.
Based on the Mark Millar (many Batman books, Sin City…) comic, Kick Ass is the story of Dave who is your average kid who wonders why no one has tried to be a real super hero. One day he gets the courage to try it out, makes a costume out of a wet suit and proceeds to get his ass kicked.
This movie was a ton of fun, just what I was looking to watch. Funny, exciting, crude and rude. There’s a solid dose of violence (that has been hyped up much higher than it really is) and the action is really well done. I really enjoyed the direction and cinematography. The movie looks great outside of some rough blue screen and CG, but there are some great transitions and set ups. The 3D comic back story of Big Daddy and Hit Girl was terrific, the fight choreography was really well done and one of the better soundtracks I can remember in quite some time.
Kick Ass is just short of 2 hours long and the story hits a lull half way through. But the characters really kept me engaged, the entire cast was really good. And that includes Nicolas Cage! His resume is filled with craters but he was really enjoyable here, his Adam West homage as Big Daddy was brilliant. He had a real chemistry Chloe Moretz who plays his 11 year old daughter Hit Girl. They are in every major action scene together and their last one was actually really touching at the end of all the carnage (which oddly enough had both the best and worst looking sections of the movie). I’ve never heard of Aaron Johnson (a bloke from the UK) before but I gotta say I’m a real fan now. His American accent is perfect and he made Dave into a completely realistic and likeable person. Dave isn’t a complete nerd, he’s not obnoxious and I could really relate to him. When he gets beat up you feel sorry for him and when he gets the girl you’re totally psyched for him. And Christopher Mintz-Plasse (of Superbad fame) is great, as always, as Chris/Red Mist.
Kick Ass is one of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile. It takes the standard comic book conventions and mixes them up to keep it new and interesting. The characters are great, the action fun, everything I really look for in this type of movie. It’s been getting shit reviews from old critics, but this movie isn’t meant for them. It certainly isn’t perfect. It pushes for shock value that often times doesn’t work, but it’s a small complaint in an otherwise terrific movie. The audience I was with really liked it. I’m thinking this is going to have a terrific opening weekend and beyond as the release was timed perfectly.