Very awesome, but not for the faint of heart

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2010)

I can't tell you how excited I was to see Kick Ass, from the minute I saw the trailer I just couldn't stop laughing. I didn't even know it was a real comic series, I just thought it was a good idea for a satire. How many comic book nerds exist and why haven't they thought about being an actual superhero? That's the basis for Kick Ass. I've been reading a lot of different reviews on this movie and it seems that the main focus that every critic was freaked out about is the extreme violence and foul language, especially coming from an 11 year old girl. I'm warning you in advance, this is a pretty graphic film, but I loved the character Hit Girl. It was a breathe of fresh air that little kids are not always portrayed as little sweeties in film, but I saw this as a fantasy and enjoyed seeing a little girl so charismatic on screen and giving the audience such energy and excitement for the story. I loved all the characters surrounding the story, they seemed to wash out Kick Ass Now there are certainly flaws that come with this film which I will explain in a minute.
Dave Lizewski is an average teenager who wonders why nobody in real life has ever decided to become a superhero like the ones in the comic books, so he decides to become a real-life superhero himself, despite having no superpowers or training of any kind. After his first attempt to fight crime Dave is beaten, stabbed, and hit by a car. Undeterred by his earlier setback, and discovering that he has a new found high-tolerance for pain due to his accident, Dave uses two modified night sticks to defend a man from three attackers. A bystander records the event, as well as Dave calling himself "Kick-Ass". The video becomes a YouTube phenomenon, and Dave sets up a MySpace account so people can contact Kick-Ass. During a later mission where he is about to fail again, he is rescued by child costumed vigilante Hit-Girl, who kills his attackers and then leaves with her father, Big Daddy. Together they try to join forces and defeat an evil mobster that Big Daddy has some personal issues with.
So there are flaws with the film, one thing I didn't like was how the film kind of steered another direction, it started out as "What if someone decided to be a superhero?" to becoming a clichéd comic book story again. Nerd gets the girl once again, good always triumphing over evil, unbelievable moves coming from the average human being, not to mention how they would be dead or massively injured yet can still move somehow. I would have loved if this had continued into seeing Kick Ass just trying to be a superhero. But speaking of which, I hated the actor that they picked, Aaron Johnson. He was just so dull and I couldn't wait to see someone beat the crap out of him. Nothing about him stood out and he couldn't lift an eyelash to Christopher Mintz-Plasse or Chloë Moretz, they completely stole the movie with their great energy. Even Nicolas Cage, the one actor in the world who ALWAYS puts me to sleep, he was actually good in this movie! I couldn't believe it, it was like he took a caffeine pill and read the script. Christopher Mintz-Plasse has come so far since Superbad, I love this kid and can't wait to see him in future projects, he has great potential. I nearly died laughing at the scene with him and Kick Ass in the car blasting the song Crazy and they started doing their own little dance. Kick Ass is a very fun movie if you are looking for a fun adventure fantasy gore fest, I highly recommend it. I do agree with the critics on one thing, if you're very sensitive to a child behaving in a how do I put this delicately? A raging psychopath then definitely skip it, but personally I had a blast even with a dull lead. All the other characters made it worth the watch.
7/10