engaging... and substantial!

Rating: 8/10 (17 August 2010)

Kick-ass is one of those movies that has its tongue so firmly panted in cheek because of the years of video archives where superheroes were altruistic. Also, because of this fact, they are able to find the perfect cast to pull it off. The characters are interesting while also being somewhat stock. The nerd becomes superhero, the crime boss bad guy with lots of guns. His underwhelming son who wants more. The mentor hell bent on revenge and the protégé turned into the perfect weapon who never has questions because she finds herself protected from them by love. Its not the situations or the characters that mainly draw us in. Its the little nuances that they have managed to fit into the story without making it seem weighed down or unfocused. At one point kick-ass is using some heavy machinery and you ask why at first, but then u realize that its not a bad fit. Its just a fit. Everything seems to fit in the film. In one case you have the high school life, but then you have a very real life outside of the school. This is where kick-ass ventures into often with hilarious results and sometimes very real and intense results. When he is looking for the cat, priceless! And when he fights its comical but also seems very brave of him. He upholds the altruism of the classic superhero but he doesn't have the talent to beat his enemies if they decide not to listen. U never really feel sorry for him tho because he does tend to be somewhat lucky getting caught in the middle of a war between an entire crime syndicate and a father and daughter with lethal accuracy. If he has any powers whatsoever the power of being lucky would be it. The thing about this movie is after watching it I feel very entertained and not patronized. The movie just told itself. It didn't try to find solace in things. It didn't try to make u feel good. There's no way you can be 100 % comfortable with an 11 year old girl going through what she goes through in the story. And cage's character was very damaged. Its pretty clear what his intentions are and they sure are not altruistic. It was executed pretty much perfectly. Its larger than life but remains grounded. The crime syndicate doesn't overstep its dramatic bounds. Its the right amount of ineptitude and ruthlessness that makes them so real. Then we have a little girl killing them with great ease. One might say that takes away from the realness. But thats not true. Its believable that she can do such things. What they have accomplished is fleshing out a fantasy in a very mundane and dangerous world. The hero gets hurt, a lot, in this world, but thats what makes him so interesting, its what makes them all so interesting, that they are weak and they pretend to be strong. Most comic book heroes are strong but pretend to be weak. A hero without any threats is boring. If superman had no kryptonite there would nothing to stop him from boring the crap out of us. The more weaknesses the more interesting. Kick-ass may be the most interesting man in the world in that case. I had to give an 8. It was good and thought provoking, but it didn't blow me away.