You take the good with the bad and what do you get?

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2010)

You get Kick-Ass. Definitely a movie with more good than bad, Kick-Ass is far from a perfect film.
Let me start by saying that this film is great fun, but not for everybody. While I personally had a fantastic time watching some of the more gratuitously violent scenes in film history, I would encourage anybody with a weak constitution for blood and dismemberment to skip this one (it is rated R for a very good reason).
What Kick-Ass offers is a surprisingly intelligent take on the idea of costumed heroism and an incredibly violent spin on your typical coming of age teen comedy. Throughout the wry satire movie patrons will find themselves on a roller coaster of crime fighting fun. Unfortunately this works to the films disadvantage. Kick-Ass is ultimately too concept driven for mass appeal, and when you couple the movies bipolar jumps from ultra violence to teenage sexual frustration with a rather simple story and you have a film that will be incredibly hard-pressed to win over the art house film buffs. Kick-Ass is (much like the films protagonist) in an awkward spot between mature and adult and trite and juvenile.
But if you fall into the films demographic you will find a very enjoyable experience. The acting is largely fantastic though I did find Christopher Mintz-Plasse's (Red Mist) performance to be very weak when placed next to Chloe Moretz (Hit Girl), who steels the show, and Nicholas Cage (Big Daddy), who delivers one of his best performances in recent years.
Ultimately Kick-Ass is a fun violence filled romp that I personally look forward to adding into my movie collection. That being said it's a move that keeps closer company with Transformers than The Dark Knight. I cannot stress enough how this film is violent but if the idea of an 11 year old girl slaughtering people amuses you than Kick-Ass just might be the best way to spend your day at the moves.