Kick Ass

How is it possible to top superhero movies that have come out recently with the likes of Dark Knight, Spiderman trilogy (somewhat bad but still a money maker), and yeah I'll even put in Avatar.  Well, it doesn't do that, but the truth is, it wasn't trying to.  I felt this movie was more of a mix between Watchmen and Zombieland.  Weird combo right? Yeah, the truth is, even a day after seeing it I still am trying to figure out the central theme of the movie.  Was it a comedy? Was it an action movie? Was it an overly dramatic sentimental piece about father and daughter? To be honest, this movie tries to be all of these, and yet, it tries to be none of these in the way it is depicted.  You may be asking, "But Justin, how is this possible?" Well I'll feed you baby birds.  The fact is that this movie tries to revamp the style of superhero movies in a geeky perspective.  It poses the question of what would come of a normal comic book nerd putting on a scuba suit who tried to fight crime in his spare time.  Well in the words of Nicholas Cage, his name should be more like "Ass-Kick" than "Kick-Ass." To find out why, you will need to see the movie.

This movie really does have unpredictable parts, and after hearing about the controversial nature of the film while being made (children smoking, cussing, 10 year old girls killing people), I knew I at least was in for something somewhat original.  Well, points for originality, that's for sure.  Seeing the daughter of Nicholas Cage's character Big Daddy, the pint-size "Hit Girl" literally makes you think of something out of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong days.  It is surreal, unexpected, and absolutely entertaining.  "Big Daddy" played by none other than the seemingly desperate for roles Nick Cage, actually does a great job as a loner father hell-bent on revenge but who immerses his daughter in the darkness of revenge as well. Cage also does a great job as a really creepy father who seems (and looks) like a serial killer, with his plaid shirts and cardigans, and creepy 70's mustache.  But the fact of the matter is: it works.

Move on to D'Amico.  The villain.  The bad guy.  Mark Strong, after making his name in the terrific Sherlock Holmes (see Jet's earlier posts), shows his versatility in this movie as a tough New York drug-dealer (who did a fantastic job on the accent, hard to believe he's a Brit).  His son, the nerdy "McLovin" from the movie Superbad, shows his layers as the lonely geeky son of this powerful guy who just wants to be included and be an equal in his father's eyes.  Meet "Red Mist." The costume alone is hilarious.

Move on to the relationship between the lovely Lyndsey Fonseca (who played the love interest in Hot Tub Time Machine), who plays the love interest here as Katie Demeaux, and Kick-Ass.  Kick-Ass, or Dave, has a huge crush on Katie, but like most nerds, thinks she's way out of his league.  Not until a certain fateful day however, when Katie approaches him and asks him to coffee.  The reasoning is absolutely hilarious, and I am not gonna spill here.

All in all, this movie was entertaining.  Repeat ENTERTAINING.  But I agree with my friend when she said, "One second it is trying to be funny and hilarious, and the next is really serious and overly melodramatic."  This is the only downfall of the movie in my opinion.  It's like the levels of comedy and hilarity come in waves, with serious dark aspects of the movie (sometimes reminding me of the darkness of the Dark Knight even at times) filling in the gaps.  Overall, funny movie with a refreshing look on the superhero movie, but just a forewarning, do NOT take any children to see this.  I saw a parent or two take their kid out of the theater during the movie.  It is raunchy, very gory, and action packed. See it just to see "Hit-Girl" annihilate like 30 guys.  That's more than worth it.  My main question is, why weren't we seeing a movie entitled "Hit-Girl"? Now she was the one who kicked ass.

7.8/10.