Superheros minus the superpowers

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2017)

Fed up with the complacency of everyone around him towards spiraling crime, a teenager decides to become a superhero in this well-paced mix of comedy and action from 'Kingsman' director Matthew Vaughn. Long before winning a Golden Globe for his scary performance in 'Nocturnal Animals', Aaron Taylor-Johnson is well cast as the near polar opposite protagonist who narrates his adventures with wit and fun pop culture references. The film also takes a surprisingly down-to-earth approach towards his quest as he only ends up being as effective as a superhero without skills, training, weaponry and powers would be. This down-to- earth air sadly evaporates as Nicolas Cage and Chloë Grace Moretz enter the picture as father and daughter trained superheroes. Both Cage and Moretz are a lot of fun to watch though with great banter and repartee and therefore it is hard to resent these less realistic characters coming into focus. Moretz steals every scene that she is in and while some blaring songs subtract from the immediacy of her combat scenes, she makes for a convincingly dangerous character despite her sweet looks. Much of the action here might be over-the-top, but with the comedic potential of the action so deliberately pronounced, it is easy to sit back and enjoy this speculative take on what might happen if more ordinary citizens chose to fight back.