Can't fault this flick - it's heart is more than admirable

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2010)

This is a crowd pleaser set in New England where the sometimes over-the- top action is populated with the kind of characters any great story needs. Haven't we all wanted to don a cape and mask and even the score? This amounts to a pleasant dream exploring the notion.
I'd heard a lot of grumbling about Hit Girl especially, but focusing on that part of this little tour de force is truly a mistake. This movie is a rousing ode to the sheer pleasure to be gained from stamping out bad people. Apparently most people don't understand Hit Girl's fairly obvious function here, she allows the whole exercise to seem lighter than air by putting a smile on our face and reassuring us they're not serious about wanting us to take matters in our own hands. It's way too dangerous and we've been made nearly useless from our sedentary lives.
Hit Girl's a delightful masterstroke and if Chloe Moretz were my kid I wouldn't have the least problem letting her take the role. After all, how many kids could have pulled it off as well.
But Aaron Johnson, the Kick Ass, is no afterthought either. He's completely believable and likable as the overly optimistic teenager. We ache to see him get in a few licks.