The great movie about a dreamer who wants to be a hero and gets hit by reality has yet to be made.

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2011)

--- Spoilers ---
"Kick-Ass" was a nice success at the box-office but never reached the amount of money grossed by "Iron Man" or "Spider Man" in any way. The cash box ways are mysterious ways, and the audience's taste is uneasy to follow. Moviegoers might have felt a bit disappointed by the lack of big action sequences like explosions or car chases. There's no super-villain, and the happy ending is somewhat... not so happy. Maybe they start to feel tired of Hollywood comic books adaptations, as well. Or they felt "Kick-Ass" was not that appealing.
That makes this film even more interesting to write about. Because, to me, its pure value isn't in any climax sequences or big blockbuster gimmicks (even if you'll find the usual comic sidekicks situations, love affair, one-liners, fashionable soundtrack and so).
"Kick-Ass" has a social background and asks relevant questions.
What is a super-hero ? Why do people need to dream about heroes with costumes who can defeat bad guys ? Why some want to wear such a costume, even without super-powers or super-gadgets, which are used only to speed up story-telling anyway ? What's a bad guy ? And what is the frontier between a kind student wearing a green scuba-dive outfit trying to rescue a cat and a batman-like vigilante loaded with warfare weapons who applies his own justice and has brain-washed his own daughter ? The first three questions will find an answer in the movie, and that's its brightest part.
Kick-Ass/Dave Lisewski is perfectly well written and the movie gives his character the opportunity to go thru his daily life before the big adventure begins. That creates an empathy, which is the key element to identification. Dave is not a drop-out victim, he's just a young dude dealing with every day problems in a major American city, no more but no less. The schizophrenic background, which is usually the much-too-easy post-Frank Miller credo in super-hero stories, is replaced here by a social background, and boy, what an achievement.... The first and second acts are definitely excellent thanks to that.
Watching Kick-Ass putting himself in danger to defend a man getting beaten up by three hooligans while the customers of a diner nearby keep recording what's happening on their cell phones without making any move to try to help (but therefore, that will make him a YouTube celebrity), is a pure cinematographic joy as well as a strong adult statement.
Sadly, the movie won't keep that promise, the third act will wander thru the classic revenge / gunfight / get-ready-for-the-sequel flaws, and so much for the interrogations I was talking about at the beginning.
The great movie about a dreamer who wants to be a hero and gets hit by reality has yet to be made.