KICK-ASSDirected by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake)
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from Superbad), Chloe Moretz, and Nicholas Cage
From comic book to cult favorite to movie in hardly any time at all, Kick-Ass has laid down huge expectations. For those of you that live in a cave and have no idea what Kick-Ass is, I'll bring you up to speed: Dave Lizewski is your average nobody: not enough of a loser to get any attention, and not good enough at anything in particular to be a member of a clique. He just simply exists. One day Dave has a crazy thought: why hasn't anyone ever decided to become a superhero before? "Because it's f***ing impossible," his friend tells him. But that doesn't stop Dave - fueled by what he refers to as optimistic naivety, Dave orders a wetsuit and decides to don the alter ego "Kick-Ass". So a loser goes from zero to hero in a daring attempt to be something, right? Wrong. Kick-ass gets his ass kicked.
This dark comedy from the director of the British crime thriller "Layer Cake" stretches reality in every possible way - but that doesn't mean it's not based in it. Dave eventually becomes such a hit on YouTube and internet blogging that he becomes famous - grabbing the attention of two other local crimefighters, Big Daddy (played by Nicholas Cage in his best role since Adaptation) and his 11-year-old ass-kicking daughter, Hit Girl, in a star making performance from Chloe Moretz (some of you may recognize her as the little sister from (500) Days of Summer). Along with this dynamic duo, Kick-Ass also garners the attention of local crime boss Frank D'Amico, and his son/soon-to-be arch-nemesis of Kick-Ass, Chris, a.k.a. Red Mist. The great thing about Kick-Ass is that while the movie, as I said before, delves into a completely fantastical state of mind, there's always that cynical undertone buried beneath: these people don't have superpowers. They bleed miserably. They can't fly. They can't read your mind. But they can definitely kick your ass, as the posters say.
Now before I go on, I would like to address something: the character Hit Girl, an 11-year-old female, has pulled the movie into much controversy. A lot of people consider it inappropriate for a child to be brutally beating the crap out of and killing people in the way that Hit Girl so frequently does in this movie. One critic I read even called it sadistic. I can understand why a lot of people would feel that way, and I have nothing against that. But if you are one of those people, and can't accept that fiction is fiction, and that in ludicrous dark comedies those kinds of ridiculous events DO occur, then stop reading this review right now. Stop reading it, and don't go see Kick-Ass. Because you know it's there, so it's pointless for you to waste your time seeing it and our time complaining about it.
Still reading? Good. Because - and I really hate being this cheesy, but there's no way to say it better - Kick-Ass...KICKS ASS. Think teen comedy meets Spider-Man directed by Quentin Tarantino, and you just might get a feeling for how over-the-top, ludicrous, hilarious, original and entertaining this movie is. You will cringe and the comically fake ultra-violence, you will laugh at the dark, witty humor of the characters, and you will root your butt off for the protagonists in what ends up being a thrilling tale of revenge. That's one thing that really threw me off - don't expect jokes every other minute all the way through, because completely to my surprise, Kick-Ass takes off down a dark path in its second half, setting it up for a climax of redemption. That's not to say humor is thrown out the door, a comic undertone is constant, but it was very unexpected to see such a serious turn of events inspire a truly edge-of-your-seat finale.
Kick-Ass is a pretty kick-ass name for a movie, but honestly, the better title would be Hit Girl. While Nick Cage does an excellent job playing the looney Big Daddy, Mitz-Plasse is hilarious as the arch-nemesis Red Mist, and Aaron Johnson is perfect for the anxious protagonist himself, this movie truly belongs to Chloe Moretz. Her performance as the controversial, awesome, and violent yet absolutely adorable Hit Girl is one that will put her on the top of any child actor list. She nails every line, pulls off every expression, and while the young actress is a few years older than her 11-year-old character, Moretz blows you so far away that you will forget you're watching a child (in a similar way that Max Records did in Where the Wild Things Are, just in a completely different movie).
This movie ranks as a cult classic in the spirit of Tarantino: it will divide its audiences into the lovers and the haters, which shows that it actually means something. Unless you're one of the people I've already mentioned and are bothered by the content (which is handled in such an over the top and comic way that even though I understand some people's uncomfortability I still think it's a major overreaction) you would be absolutely insane not to go see this movie immediately. I like a lot of movies, but I rarely give away an "A"-grade to a film unless I feel it truly deserves it. Last year, even though there were so many fantastic movies, only 7 of them earned a full A. No such movie has arrived yet this year. No such movie usually does, since the spring is a wasteland for movies, recovering from the Oscar excitement and getting ready to explode in summer blockbusters. But I'm happy to say that 2010 is doing something right.
I give Kick-Ass a round of applause. Two thumbs up. Four stars. Ten out of Ten. Whatever. Again, I hate to be this cheesy. But it's a special occasion. Wannabe superheroes, unite. Because Kick-Ass really, truly, absolutely, kicks some serious ass.
A
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