Unexpectably Kicked My Ass into the seat.

Rating: 9/10 (29 May 2010)

When a friend called me on a wet, cold, rainy day to watch this movie "Kick Ass", my first reaction was slightly hesitant. The reason being that the only information in which I had heard about this film was that it was a comedic superhero medium film with this "new teenage awkward nerdy character being the protagonist", in which yes is funny but I believe this type of film could be wearing a bit thin in my taste. My preconceived notion that I was preparing myself to sit through two hours of Seth Rogan puffing and yelling in amazement that he got out of a some ridiculous situation somehow and talking in his blunt humorous voice to some sort of funny secondary character, or Michael Cera talking awkwardly to some unbelievable good looking American teenage girl. The movie would be funny yes, but I wasn't in the mood, as I had kind of already seen this movie in my mind, if you know what I mean. But how wrong I was.
Enough of my story, the movie started and the narration by the protagonist clearly showed that the writer knew his/hers comic books, not that I know a whole lot but enough to understand this movie will create a fine comic movie, as it is a hard thing to do and there are various ways in which to attack this genre (also that Rogan and Cera were not casted). And I was right as the movie provided iconic references and provides us with a new feel to the comic book stories. The story line is quite simple but retains originality; nerd kid wants to be superhero but is falling and eventually succeeds, ruthless drug dealer villains whom which a man on a quest of revenge with his daughter and is all combined quite well. At the beginning of the movie the comedy of the teenage nerd and his friends was fairly prominent and I thought that this would be the extent of the film. The usual predictable things were happening, e.g., glorifying that dressing up as a hero is idiotic and we laugh at this boy trying to become a superhero, etc. For me so far the movie was OK to watch, but as soon as the protagonist attempts to stop a carjacking and is actually brutally stabbed in the stomach, the movie turned and started to become a real comic book action movie started to emerge as we met other vigilantes, Nick cage (this role was probably his dream role and provided a great performance) and his daughter and their very exaggerated was of killing, moving, planning and access to resources, which we all love in the fantasy world of superhero stories. Other great aspects that indulge us into the comic book world such as long shots of New York, the media's reaction to these heroes, explanation of subplot and some of the cinematography looked like we were watching Batman.
I will try not to reveal any more about the plot of this dark comedy in which I originally thought will be a "Judd Apatow" comedy. The characters and their stories play an integral role into which why we laugh or do not turn away as the absolute brutal violence is thrown in front of us. It may be the "cool" feeling we receive with the "cool" weaponry (strobe light gun), the secondary characters providing as good comedic reliefs, or just the director manages to let us actually go into the world of comics, (where the exaggerated violence is acceptable) as the violence might even go past the movies limits but no one would ever feel it. Maybe all three? Either way the film is a brilliant dark comedy in my opinion, as at times I even forgot it was a comedy and felt quite tense. I still prefer my serious superhero movies and my Coen Bros dark comedies, but in terms of if you're looking for something a little more whacking, having a few more laughs and some really, really cool, action scenes and soundtrack (Titoli- Ennio Morricone, (A Few Dollars More) caused me to sit up in excitement as the 11 year old girl guns her way through some expendable villains), this movie you will enjoy immensely.
8.5/10