It kicks at least one cheek of the ass.

Rating: 6/10 (18 April 2010)

I am a big comic book and action movie nerd, and in no way am I a movie snob to the action genre. I'm the kind of guy who let things like the dance sequence in Spiderman 3 not get to me or the nuke the fridge scene in Indian Jones 4 bother me. Even though those scenes are incredibly stupid I try to look at the film as a whole, and worry more about story, characters, and action to be the big factor of whats good and whats bad. With that said Kick-ass has some of the best ideas, and characterization of any super-hero movie.
The main character Dave who becomes Kick-ass, is the likable nerd that we've seen in a hundred movies. However, it makes him very relate-able, and it makes the idea of being a real life super hero seem more realistic. His love interest thinks he's gay and only hangs out with him because of sympathy, and he only becomes a super hero just to see if it could be done. The action scenes with Kick-ass are great, because it truly looks like somebody not knowing what their doing trying to fight street thugs, and every hit looks painful, brutal, and realistic. The story gets really interesting seeing him fighting crime, because it brings on a chain reaction through the media, his social life, other heroes, and organized crime. There are some very serious and shocking moments and some highly comedic moments in the film which help give it even more realism. Real life isn't always comical or serious it is a blend of both.
So where does this movie go wrong for me? Two words. Hit Girl. Before you start flaming me hear me out. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong with the film until every problem I could think of generally came back to her. For one thing she completely steals the show. She gets the most action scenes by far, and making her 11 years old adds to the shock value of her fowl mouth and her massacre of bad guys. To me it started losing it's charm once she was killing waves and waves of people. I understand it is supposed to be ironic, satirical, and funny but neither of those things work for me. Not only that but it takes away from the realism and the humor of Kick-ass's story. Everything seems to be in the realm of possibility. I could see an average high school student wanting to be a super-hero. I'm sure it has crossed a lot of people's minds. But having a 11 year old girl being trained her whole life to kill is suddenly thrown in to that plot really breaks up the rhythm of the film.
I also found the ending entertaining and funny, but I didn't think it was good. It just got even more ridiculous, and I didn't like what they did with Red Mist's character, but I don't want to spoil it for you. So bottom line. This isn't the new Dark Knight, or Citizen Kane of Super Hero films some people are making it out to be. It is simply a good action movie with some cool ideas, and some enjoyable yet completely ludicrous scenes. I think other film makers should take some ideas from the good parts, and people who like these movies and just want to veg out should see it.