Surprised At How Much I Liked It - mild plot spoilers

Rating: 9/10 (15 April 2010)

I attended an early screening of Kick-Ass last week, the new action/comedy flick based on a comic book written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr. Millar was also responsible for writing the comic book behind the 2008 Angelina Jolie vehicle Wanted. I had to look all that up on Wikipedia because I'm not a comic book nerd, I'm a movie nerd, and this review will be coming from that perspective.
Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave Lizewski and his alter ego, Kick-Ass, who was borne of a conversation he has with his two best friends at the comic book store. With the millions of people that have loved comic books throughout their history, why has not one of them attempted to become a real-life superhero? We soon find out as Lizewski dons a green body suit and mask then sets out to the streets of New York City (which sometimes looks suspiciously like Toronto) to fight crime and otherwise serve those in need. Kick-Ass's fame grows as he shows up on the evening news, YouTube and starts soliciting jobs from people through MySpace (MySpace still exists? Is their entire business model now just product placement in movies?) As he gets more famous he crosses paths with another pair of self-made superheroes who shun the limelight in service to the task at hand: revenge.
Nic Cage plays Big Daddy, the alter ego of Damon Macready. Chloe Moretz plays Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl, his daughter, in a surprising performance littered with wit, charm, poignancy and a physical presence one would not expect of an 11 year old (she was 11 when this was filmed, 13 now. Don't complain to me.) She is clearly the star of this movie. A precocious child that swears a lot and Nic Cage, either one of those things alone would normally have me avoiding that movie like I avoid vegetables. But somehow, together, they manage to pull out a great, singular performance that really draws you in emotionally. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I almost choked up a little at one particular line Hit Girl says to Big Daddy late in the movie. Or maybe I just had some dust in my eye.
The intersecting and eventual merging paths of these very differently motivated superheroes was well written and fleshed out and kept the pacing of the movie going at a steady clip. Add in Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico/Red Mist and you have yourself a movie. The masterful balance between comedy and action made it easy to overlook the clichéd mafia stereotypes and side-plot regarding Lizewski and his sexuality, perhaps the only two things I can nitpick about Kick-Ass.
The movie asks some interesting questions about the nature, motivations for and costs of fame. It doesn't necessarily answer any of those questions but exploring them from opposite ends of the spectrum at the same time made for a thoroughly entertaining movie.
What with all the hype around Kick-Ass I was expecting it to be somewhat mediocre but I was pleasantly surprised. I had lowish expectations and was not expecting to be so engaged from start to finish. We were not allowed to bring guests to the movie and I will be more than happy to pay to sit through this one again with my wife when it is released to theaters. This movie deserves to be a hit.
Some additional notes: Aaron Johnson is British? Really? Dang, great American accent. The acting all around was good. Nic Cage's real-life bat-s**t crazy persona translates well to a make-believe bat-s**t crazy persona.
The comedy to action balance was weighted toward action way more than I expected. The movie was funny, but it is essentially not a comedy. More of a comic book action thriller.
There is a lot of cartoon violence in the movie, it might not be for everyone. 90% of it comes at the hands of Hit Girl and people of weak constitution might take offense to that.
The action sequences were very well done. Although there were a lot of quick cuts I thought they were very well edited. I hate to sound lame and describe it as 'kenetic', but there was a certain energy to them that translated well from screen to eye. I most appreciated the smooth camera motion and lack of shake (I'm looking at you, Jason Bourne) which provided good flow to the action. The start of the final battle sequence in the movie used a particularly clever device that I've never seen used before, and will probably never be used again lest a director get accused of making a cheap Kick-Ass knockoff. I'll refrain from ruining the surprise here.
Kudos to the people that put together the trailers and commercials, they ruin nothing. There were a couple genuine surprises in the movie that could have easily been revealed by even the smallest clips.