Is the Film Any Good? The Title Says It All.

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2010)

Everything you need to know about this movie is right there in the title. From start to finish, this movie is loaded with enough action and humor that I never got bored. It grabs your attention the moment the movie begins with a wanna-be superhero diving off a skyscraper with his makeshift flight suit, leading into the initial realization of our main character Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) that no one's ever tried to be a superhero. Inspired by his favorite comic heroes, Dave throws together his own costume and takes to the night streets to fight crime. It's not long before he finds himself in over his head, attracting the attention of both a father-daughter crime-fighting duo and the city's biggest drug kingpin.
For those who haven't seen it yet, do not go in expecting your average comic book film. This film is brutal. It doesn't pull punches are there the violence isn't limited to the blood-less beatings you find in Spider-Man or Iron Man. KICK-ASS is loaded with bloody bullet hits, impalings, hacked limbs, and unapologetic gore. And the best part, most of it is dealt by a 10 year old girl. I know that part's made a good amount of people angry and has surely stopped plenty of people from even giving the movie a chance. Roger Ebert was so put off by the concept of a kid committing acts of graphic violence that he gave it the worst review possible. When you watch this film, you just need to have fun with it. From the moment I heard of this movie, I knew what to expect and I had a blast watching a kid slice-n-dice and drops F-bombs. Some might argue that it sets a bad example, but seriously...who in their right mind would let their kid watch this movie?
Director Matthew Vaughn (who did the equally awesome LAYER CAKE) did an awesome job with this film, and he collected the best people for the job. Aaron Johnson is the high school geek with delusions of grandeur and is hilariously uncoordinated in his superhero efforts, enjoying the perks of fame despite getting his butt kicked regularly. He did a good job but he was often out-shined by his friends, played by Clark Duke and Evan Peters. The best part of the movie was Nicholas Cage and Chloe Moretz as Big Daddy and Hit Girl. I'm sure I'm the minority opinion but this was one of my favorite Nic Cage roles ever. As Damon Macready, his goofy demeanor reminds me of a father you'd see on a 50's sitcom but once he dons his costume as Big Daddy, he's a violent vigilante who dresses like Batman and sounds like Adam West. He is teamed with his daughter, Mindy, as Hit-Girl. Just like Cage, she's got dual personas...as Mindy she's freakin' adorable (it was funny watching her get super-excited about trading an extra bullet to the chest in her training for a trip to the bowling alley) but as Hit-Girl she's downright sadistic and growls like Dirty Harry.
The villains in the film were great. Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are Frank D'Amico and his son Chris. Frank is the city's top crime boss and his son wants nothing more than to be a part of his business. Chris finds his way in when he convinces his father the best way to bring down Kick-Ass is to pose as another new superhero, Red Mist. Mintz-Plasse is at a disadvantage because I still see him as McLovin from SUPERBAD but I suppose it works for this character, contributing to his nerdy awkwardness as he tries to enter the world of crime.
All right, I've written more than enough about how much fun this movie was and how great a job the cast did, but the whole movie can be summed up with it's title. It doesn't lie and anyone who's a fan of superhero films should give this film a watch. It takes a classic template and warps it into something brutally entertaining.