"Adapted from Mark Millar's hyper-violent comic book of the same name, director Matthew Vaughn's (Layer Cake) vigilante superhero film tells the tale of an average New York teenager who decides to don a costume and fight crime. Comic book geek Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) may not have good coordination or special powers, but that doesn't mean he isn't a fully capable crime fighter. After purchasing a flashy wet suit on the Internet, Dave starts busting up baddies with nothing but brute force. He calls himself Kick-Ass, and he can take a beating as good as he can dish one out. Before long, Kick-Ass has become a local sensation, and others are following his lead. Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) are a father-daughter crime-fighting duo who have set their sights on local mob heavy Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong). They're doing a decent job of dismantling Frank's sizable underworld empire when Kick-Ass gets drawn into the fray. But Frank's men play rough, and his son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), is about to become Kick-Ass' very first arch nemesis. When Chris assumes the persona of Red Mist, the stage is set for a superhero showdown that could spell the end of Kick-Ass once and for all." - Plot taken from Fandango
I alway wait with baited breath for the works rota to see if I have a Wednesday night off, because if I do it means we'll take advantage of Orange Wednesdays to go to the cinema. Even though it's always full with idiots and young kids (last nigth was a prime example) I struggle forking out the £7 odd to go on other days. Not that I can't afford it but because I don't want to pay £7 to sit in the dark for a few hours. I can do that in a power cut! So having a Wednesday off is a real treat especially since there are so many films I want to see right now. And after managing to convince the boy to wait until Wednesday this week, we finally got to see Kick Ass, and as cheesy as it sounds it was pretty Kick Ass.
From the director who brought you Stardust and Layer Cake, Kick Ass is a superhero film with a difference, the super hero isn't exactly super. Dave Lizewski is just a normal teenager who always wondered why ordinary people didn't become super heros and he of course becomes one. Next ensues twenty funny minutes of him trying to become one but then the movie takes a more serious and interesting turn. Dave, now known as Kick Ass, an internet star gets caught up in some real vigilante justice in the form of Big Daddy and Hit Girl who are trying to take down the NY mob run by Frank D'Amico. D'Amico caused the death of Big Daddy's wife and he's slowly been taking out the whole mob along with his 11 year old daughter. Once Kick Ass is caught up in it, everything starts going wrong for everyone and by the end of the film I was confused to whether I should be happy or sad! Not that my confusion made me feel like it was a bad movie, quite the contrary actually. Oh yeah and there was the hot girl, there is always the hot girl the hero has to get.
So moving onto what I thought of it rather than ruining the whole film for everyone, as I mentioned before I thought the film was awesome. The violence was quite bloody and graphic but since it only showed you a split second of it and the blood looking incredibly fake (along the lines of Watchmen and Sin City) it didn't phase me much (I did hide if I suspected something gory was going to happen!). It was almost every super hero film rolled into one, mixed in with Tarentino's Kill Bill, which no one can dispute is a pretty awesome mix. I laughed out loud quite often and I also welled up for a moment, I enjoyed the action, the story and the subtle superhero refernces (because I'm a geek). I felt the story worked well, I did at some points think "where is this going?" but the end was nicely wrapped up but with what felt like the opening for a sequel (or perhaps that was intentional as most superhero films leave themselves open for a sequel?). The humour was a step up from that found in Stardust but similarly they both masquerade as films that could appeal to younger audiences (I'm not saying children because Kick Ass is definitely not for children) but they're both more catered to adults.
The characters were excellent, but I think what made the characters so good was the acting. The girl who played Hit Girl, Chloe Moretz, was awesome and her chemestry with Nicholas Cage was really funny but sweet. They were an odd pair. The guy who played Kick Ass, newcomer Aaron Johnson was so much fun to watch and also quite adorable. Christopher Mintz-Palasse better known as Mclovin' did make a believable stuck up son desperate for daddy's affection, I didn't think he made a very good Red Mist though, but I'll admit that could of been the whole point.
All in all I can't wait to get Kick Ass on DVD to watch it again. It was so much fun just to watch and felt much more fresh than the bog standard Superman, Spiderman ect (I'm not saying Iron Man because I cannot wait to see the sequel!).
Best Moment: Hit Girl trying to save Big Daddy & Kick Ass, so sad but so awesome at the same time.
Best Line: "you just contact the mayor's office, he has a special signal he shines in the sky! it's in the shape of a giant cock" - Hit Girl
Would Recommend For: Superhero movie fans, comic book lovers, anyone who enjoyed Watchmen, Sin City or Stardust.
Rating: 8/10
From the director who brought you Stardust and Layer Cake, Kick Ass is a superhero film with a difference, the super hero isn't exactly super. Dave Lizewski is just a normal teenager who always wondered why ordinary people didn't become super heros and he of course becomes one. Next ensues twenty funny minutes of him trying to become one but then the movie takes a more serious and interesting turn. Dave, now known as Kick Ass, an internet star gets caught up in some real vigilante justice in the form of Big Daddy and Hit Girl who are trying to take down the NY mob run by Frank D'Amico. D'Amico caused the death of Big Daddy's wife and he's slowly been taking out the whole mob along with his 11 year old daughter. Once Kick Ass is caught up in it, everything starts going wrong for everyone and by the end of the film I was confused to whether I should be happy or sad! Not that my confusion made me feel like it was a bad movie, quite the contrary actually. Oh yeah and there was the hot girl, there is always the hot girl the hero has to get.
So moving onto what I thought of it rather than ruining the whole film for everyone, as I mentioned before I thought the film was awesome. The violence was quite bloody and graphic but since it only showed you a split second of it and the blood looking incredibly fake (along the lines of Watchmen and Sin City) it didn't phase me much (I did hide if I suspected something gory was going to happen!). It was almost every super hero film rolled into one, mixed in with Tarentino's Kill Bill, which no one can dispute is a pretty awesome mix. I laughed out loud quite often and I also welled up for a moment, I enjoyed the action, the story and the subtle superhero refernces (because I'm a geek). I felt the story worked well, I did at some points think "where is this going?" but the end was nicely wrapped up but with what felt like the opening for a sequel (or perhaps that was intentional as most superhero films leave themselves open for a sequel?). The humour was a step up from that found in Stardust but similarly they both masquerade as films that could appeal to younger audiences (I'm not saying children because Kick Ass is definitely not for children) but they're both more catered to adults.
The characters were excellent, but I think what made the characters so good was the acting. The girl who played Hit Girl, Chloe Moretz, was awesome and her chemestry with Nicholas Cage was really funny but sweet. They were an odd pair. The guy who played Kick Ass, newcomer Aaron Johnson was so much fun to watch and also quite adorable. Christopher Mintz-Palasse better known as Mclovin' did make a believable stuck up son desperate for daddy's affection, I didn't think he made a very good Red Mist though, but I'll admit that could of been the whole point.
All in all I can't wait to get Kick Ass on DVD to watch it again. It was so much fun just to watch and felt much more fresh than the bog standard Superman, Spiderman ect (I'm not saying Iron Man because I cannot wait to see the sequel!).
Best Moment: Hit Girl trying to save Big Daddy & Kick Ass, so sad but so awesome at the same time.
Best Line: "you just contact the mayor's office, he has a special signal he shines in the sky! it's in the shape of a giant cock" - Hit Girl
Would Recommend For: Superhero movie fans, comic book lovers, anyone who enjoyed Watchmen, Sin City or Stardust.
Rating: 8/10
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