Kick-Ass

Summary: Dave Lizewski is an average high school student that goes around unnoticed by his peers thus making him and two close friend’s pariahs. Infatuated with comic books and the role of superhero’s Dave is shocked that no one has ever taken up the role. Since he is so disgusted with society’s lack of morals he decides to take things into his own hands and creates a “super-hero” identity known as Kick-Ass.

Plot (B): I found the story to be very light and comical with heavy overtones of kick ass action. The story is more than just the Kick-Ass character itself. It also focuses on fellow crime fighters Big Daddy and Hit Girl and their vendetta against crime boss Frank D’Amico. Instead of commenting on the rest of the plot I’m going to go a different way for minute. After thinking over what Dave said it does puzzle me that in a world where millions read and adore comic books and super-hero’s no one has ever actually done it. While I have seen recent news reports of average people donning costumes to help society it has never been carried through to the max. Not a single person has dedicated their life to fighting for the great good while expecting nothing in return. What does that say about society? I mean there are people out there who do very bad things and get away with it. I know what I’m saying is crazy all together but it’s still food for thought. You can argue that they are law enforcement officials in the world and I’ll agree with you, but even some of them are corrupt. Bad guys don’t fear cops because they work within the law and they know the limits. If someone was to work outside of the law, on the side of good, perhaps things may be a bit different.

Action (A-): My youngest brother told me before I saw the movie that Kick-Ass is more of action than comedy. He was right. Watching Kick-Ass get his skull beaten in several times was very entertaining and comical….what can I say I’m a Jackass fan I like watching people get hurt. Kick-Ass shows all the signs of an amateur at work with no style or grace. However, the father and daughter team he works with, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl have all the right moves and are highly trained in various forms of combat. It’s slightly weird though watching an 11 year old girl butcher a room of grown men, even if it is a movie.

Acting and Dialogue (B+): I’m a big fan of narrated movies. I feel that they pull the viewers into the story even more and allow you to establish a relationship with the narrator/main character. Aaron Johnson, who played the title role, did a very good job. Before his character became Kick-Ass he portrayed Dave as the typical teenage boy who stutters when a hot girl looks at him and who is so horny all he can do is constantly jerk off (now that’s very typical). Afterwards, the confidence he exudes provides good character development. Do you remember what I wrote about Nicholas Cage and how he sometimes has it and other times doesn’t? Well, in Kick-Ass he’s fucking on it. While his performance doesn’t have a bulk load of screen time it’ still very good. Since his character was a former cop he raised his daughter to love guns, knives, explosives, etc. but speaks to her with such innocence and love you can’t help but laugh. What’s even better is that when Cage is Big Daddy he talks almost like a robot. I guess that’s a spoof on Christian Bale from The Dark Knight. Chloe Moretz, who plays Hit-Girl is also very good and made a strong impression and is definitely the star of the film. She speaks, acts, and kick’s ass like an adult but she’s 11. Mark Strong was very good as usual and is doing a good job making a name for himself. Finally, there’s Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin), plays Red Mist (worst name ever) who isn’t as funny in this movie and I feel he’s being type-casted with these nerdy roles.

Sex Appeal (7): There were two parts where I thought I was going to see boob action but it didn’t happen. However, there was some nice side boob and cleavage shots .

Director (B+): This is Matthew Vaughn’s third film as a director and this guy seems to know what he’s doing. His first film was Layer Cake (2004) with Daniel Craig, which I haven’t seen but I hear it’s very good. He also directed Stardust (2007), which looks very cheesy but according to IMDB it’s a good movie. I’m going to chalk that up to Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer’s performances though. Vaughn kept the pace of the movie moving. When the film did start to slow down an action scene immediately brought things back up to speed. With all the other characters within the story he never lost sight of Dave and his quest for justice.

Overall: B+