Matthew Vaughn's bold, bravura adaptation kicks ass

Rating: 10/10 (16 August 2016)

In a golden age of superhero movies, new is in short demand. Produced on a slim budget, peppered with awesome sight gags, featuring a blistering soundtrack and incredibly gory violence, Kick-Ass is new. Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn teams once more with Stardust scribe Jane Goldman for a sporadically entertaining romp.
Newcomer Aaron Johnson stars as our hero and high-school dweeb Dave Lizewski. Dave isn't a normal teen though, as he fights crime in his spare time, as the eponymous Kick- Ass. But battling crime kingpin Frank D'Amico wasn't supposed to be on the cards for our young hero, and soon he's way out of his league. At this point in the movie, violence and profanity are being thrown around without question - but even this irresistible subversity is pedestrian to the horrors that are awaiting the audience. And the long, long list of horrors begin with Chloë Grace-Moretz's 11 year old pocket-rocket Hit-Girl. Her arrival heralds a small glimpse of the original and sensational career Matthew Vaughn has in front of him. The scene pits Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl against a small group of mercenaries in a manic battle to the death inside an apartment. What ensues has to be one of the most bloody, bruising, bonkers scenes ever committed to the silver screen. Scored shrewdly to Banana Splits (The Tra La La Song), Moretz hacks, slices and chops everyone in that apartment.
But the real magic of Kick-Ass is that the same madcap, bombastic brilliance is served upon you time and time again - most notably in the fiery, bazooka-filled finale. Kick-Ass really works under the mirth though, with Nicholas Cage and Moretz's father and daughter double act winning over cynics. Brimming with gore, grime and perfectly tuned black comedy, Kick-Ass is a blast.