An OK, but too mainstream adaptation - that actually declines by the last quarter of the movie

Rating: 8/10 (5 July 2010)

After I read the comic book, I was convinced it was almost impossible to create a mainstream film based on it. The only way such brilliant comic could work as a movie would be by selling it only on underground markets.
I don't want to pose like a comic book purist, but I got to say that the original comic book idea was OK: Trying to be a vigilante is a dirty, damn hard job, and almost not fun. The comic book itself starts in the toughest part of the work, with KA being beaten to pulp by the mafia guys... I don't like much the extreme graphic violence, but in the comic book the idea is way right transmitted, since the violence is that extreme that disgust you until you want to vomit.
No; being a kid trying to be a vigilante is a suicide; being a hero equals being crazy.
In the movie the idea is a little less realistic; being a superhero works way cool, and you can even learn to use backpacks and bazookas in five minutes. The first half of the movie is kinda truth to the comic plot and most of the ambient, excluding -of course- the tough parts.
In the comic book, the final fight is a gore fest, literally, portrayed with realism and graphic violence; you can almost feel the terror and pain of the guys being killed; just like in the real life would be. In the film, the final fight is a Hollywood action video clip, with almost no "victims" and no actual pain.
I'd say the film picks up the idea of trying to bring justice, I mean, the original and innocent idea of the Kick-ass character, but it fails to portray the actual consequences: being beaten to pulp, your testicles crushed and electrified, more and more pain.
Of course, Hollywood would never be able to expose crude reality or portray kids (in the comic book, they're way younger than in the movies) as being victims -and now, protagonists- of the violence that impregnates society and entertainment, as school massacres in the USA had demonstrated lately. Having it turned into an X-Rated movie wouldn't have work either, since adults don't watch movies "with kids on it", while teenagers are the main consumers of entertaining violence. Kinda hypocrite, I think.
The movie is OK if you want to enjoy some action and funny plot (the movie plot works good for the first half, since it's almost totally ripped-off from the comic book), but at the point Kick-ass flies (literally) it goes stupid and totally unbelievable, it lose its point. Watching the movie is not, either, the best way to introduce people into the Kick-Ass actual message; they'd watch the movie and forget it soon, while the comic book gives you more to think about.
In conclusion, according to the movie, being a superhero is cool and easy; according to the comic book, being a superhero is hard and dangerous and you're nuts if you want to be one (just like in real life).
I recommend this movie for fun, but the comic book's original idea is way more thrilling.