A hard-ass dumb-ass.

Rating: 7/10 (8 April 2012)

I loathe the fact that every summer for the past decade has been infested with comic-book superhero movies aimed at teenies with ADHD. Kick-Ass seemed to be an antidote for all that. It has enough self-aware humor without breaking the fourth wall (which I hate) but it superficially breezes through so much potential that, by the end of it, you don't feel like enough has happened.
Aaron Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a totally average high school schmo who decides that there is too much apathy in world and that someone needs to stand up and be a real superhero. The problem is that zeal is his only weapon. He becomes Kick-Ass, and tries hard, and very gradually hones his skills while beating up petty thugs, before being noticed by Big Daddy and Hit-Girl (the ever-eccentric Nic Cage and Chloe Moretz); a father/daughter duo who are far more efficient at annihilating New York's mafioso. Kick-Ass' public appeal and media profile skyrocket while crime boss Frank D'Amico scours the city looking for him.
There are some plot holes that bug me. I don't usually care much for nit-picking but Dave Lizewski doesn't appear to go to school with Chris D'Amico, though he recognizes him at the comic-book store. Then how on Earth does he not work out that Red Mist is Chris in disguise, thus leading to him willingly walking into a trap at the lumber yard? The film is very bright and colorful, shot in anamorphic Panavision, and it looks a hundred times better than most other comic-book movies shot in Super-35 (those awful Fantastic Four movies, Iron Man). Kiss-Ass also has re-watch value too, which sets it apart from the rest of the comic chaff. I just wish there was a bit more to it.
Matthew Vaughn is also a far superior director to his chum Guy Ritchie.