Superoheroes without Superpowers

Rating: 9/10 (16 September 2010)

¨ Had I ever been a real super hero? The most I'd ever had to offer the world was good intentions and a slightly elevated capacity to take a kicking. With no power comes no responsibility, except that wasn't true. ¨ (9/10) Director Matthew Vaughn has done a fantastic job once again directing this super hero movie, where these heroes actually don't have anything super about them. This is Vaughn's third feature film after directing Stardust and Layer Cake, and both films were received warmly by the critics and audiences alike. I have to admit that I really loved this ultra-violent movie and was really entertained throughout the entire film. Hit-Girl makes Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill look like an amateur. Of course we don't have the Tarantino dialogue with this film, but the action and the performances are highly entertaining. Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn adapted the screenplay from Mark Miller's comic book of the same name. Miller's previous comic book, Wanted, was also made into a film starring Angelina Jolie, but I think Kick-Ass is far more superior and probably one of my favorite movies of the year. Yes, the violence is gratuitous and the language is strong, but watching this 11 year old girl fighting all these criminals is just priceless. She steals every scene she is in. This is not your regular super hero movie and definitely not one you will want to miss because it is an extremely fun ride. In my opinion Kick-Ass is last year's Zombieland combining violence with comedy. Many people were turned down by the violence and the language in this movie, so I know it is not for everyone, but I think that what Matthew Vaughn did in this film was just brilliant, and one can tell he is influenced by his close friend Guy Ritchie.
Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is an ordinary kid who isn't very popular in school. He hangs around with two of his close friends, Marty (Clark Duke, Hot Tub Machine) and Todd (Evan Peters), reading and visiting comic book stores. Dave begins to wonder why no one decides to become a super hero and fight crime. Despite not having any special powers or any fighting abilities whatsoever he decides to become a masked vigilante and calls himself Kick-Ass. One day while he is on his super hero duty he encounters a couple of thieves and tries to stop them from stealing a car. Kick-Ass gets seriously injured and ends up in a hospital. Several metal plates are put in his body due to all his fractures, and they actually make him a little more resistible to punches. Little does Dave know that there actually two other masked vigilantes with vast experience on fighting organized crime. Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his highly trained eleven year old daughter, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) have been fighting against a mafia boss named Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong, Sherlock Holmes). One day the three masked heroes meet and they give Kick-Ass some advice on the business. Kick-Ass seems to have inspired other people to become super heroes and suddenly there is a new one in the streets who calls himself Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and is actually Frank's son. None of these super heroes actually have any special power and the violence begins to escalate as the movie progresses, but always combining it with a great dose of comedy.
The true star of the film is Chloe Moretz who plays the eleven year old Hit-Girl who is highly trained in fighting and instead of playing with dolls, she plays with knives. She is just fun to watch on screen and one of my new favorite characters. Nicolas Cage is also good playing the eccentric Big Daddy and Aaron Johnson is great in the lead role. Kick-Ass can be compared to Clive Owen's Shoot Em Up because of all the cartoonish violence on screen, but I found it more similar to Kill Bill, although with a much more climatic ending. I found the dialogue to be quite funny and mixed well with the action scenes. The movie isn't deep and you probably can't get anything out of it, but it is highly entertaining and such a fun experience. I haven't been this entertained in a long time and Kick-Ass is one of those movies I wouldn't mind watching over and over again. I definitely recommend this film and know it will be hard to top entertainingly wise.
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