Inception and Toy Story 3 seriously have their work cut out.

Rating: 10/10 (31 March 2010)

I'm not going to repeat the plot outline because that's been done in all the other reviews so I'll make this short and sweet. Kick-Ass has raised the bar for the rest of the summer films headed our way. If any of them are as entertaining as this, then I'll sell the computer I'm typing this on. Every character is so well done, the action is top-drawer and the dialogue, well, it's razor sharp. Especially anything that comes out of Hit-Girl's mouth.
And it really is her movie. Chloe Moretz is one hell of a discovery and is destined to be forever remembered for this role, her debut, and THAT line. She simply dominates every scene she's in and is one-to-watch for the future. Her along with Nic Cage are simply outstanding and it's so nice to see an actor of his calibre doing something decent after what seems like an eternity of making dross. Mark Strong is also brilliant and actually gets some of the films best lines.
I can't find fault with this film. As well as being a)very, very funny and b)a corking action picture it is also a very subtle critique on the whole notion of celebrity and wanting to be famous and the crazed impersonators it encourages and the resulting swamp of money that can be made from it. But that's not really the point of Kick-Ass now is it? It's an entertainment first and foremost and I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a film that was this much fun. The blackest of humour, the slickest comic-book violence - all put together with oodles of confidence by Matthew Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman, who after Layer Cake, Stardust and now this, are fast becoming the best creative double-act in Britain. It only makes you wonder what Vaughn could have done with X-Men 3, considering the budget for that was about $150m and Kick-Ass had a budget of $28m. After Kick-Ass, the movie world will hopefully be his oyster, and rightly so.
Kick-Ass is out in the UK already but to readers from the US, you should be very excited, because you're about to get your ass kicked by the first genuine candidate for film of the year!