Spawning with audacious humor, gleeful profanity, and over-the-top violence, this film sets stone to a subversive turn in the superhero genre

Rating: 9/10 (4 August 2017)

Kick-Ass is not a superhero film that will leave parents ecstatic of taking their children to. It is a violent, profanity-charged action spectacle that pulls no punches when exercising its hard R-rating. By many means, that is the good news. Adapting from the pages of the comic books series of the same name by Mark Millar, this subversive action flick embraces its anarchic spirit with its gleeful use of profanity and stylized violence to portray the genre in ways many forms of the media have never found the guts to do before. With English director Matthew Vaughn in the operator's chair, the movie offers a witty question and places it into action: How come no one's ever tried to be a superhero in real life? This question is put into a context in a form that is not meant to be firmly realistic, but to grip viewers in an unapologetically raunchy, yet wildly fun time. That is if you can handle the offensive edge to its brutally irreverent material. This film follows Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a high school comic book geek who asks his best friends Todd (played by Evan Peters) and Marty (played by Clark Duke) "How can no one's ever tried to be a superhero?". While the answer becomes obvious that being a superhero in real life would be dangerous, Dave nonetheless orders a wet-suit online and decides to become a superhero. There is no problem, of course, he does not have any superpowers. After stopping a vicious mugging near a local convenience store while recorded by a bystander via cellphone, Dave becomes a viral internet sensation and adopts his superhero name "Kick-Ass". His fame inspires 11-year old Mindy MacCready (played by Chloe-Grace Moretz) and her father Damon (played by Nicolas Cage) who join in the life of crime-fighting as Hit-Girl and Big Daddy respectively, in attempt to seek revenge of the city's drug dealer Frank D'Amico (played by Mark Strong) who has his teen son Chris (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) suit up as his own superhero Red Mist to lure them in a trap.
Is this movie realistic? No. Is it meant to be? Absolutely not. What one of the most respectable aspects of this flick is being self- aware of itself while energetically poking fun at the superhero genre. Matthew Vaughn's ability to showcase the genre in a rebellious fashion without fear to pushing the boundaries of its mean-spirited humor is where the source of fun lies. Vaughn effectively crafts a story of a young teen who grows to extreme measures to fulfill an unrealistic dream of becoming a superhero, while spacing enough room for some stylized, effectively shot action sequences and gunplay to result in plenty of gunfire and blood splatters all for the sake to provoking both laughter and adrenaline. And the main figure in the action is the eponymous character played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson breathes plenty of charisma and humanity in the role. However, there is a bigger show stealer in the crowd, and that is Chloe Grace-Moretz in her relentlessly bold role as Hit-Girl. If you capable of handling an excess of F-bombs spewed from the mouth of an 11-year old girl who slices and kills people with a katana, you are in for a joy ride with a performance that have people talking about it for quite some time. While the role has been subject to some controversy, there is no doubt that Moretz hits the jackpot in the character. So brace yourself! Mark Strong, playing the villain Frank D'Amico, is no game changer, but makes for an interesting portrayal of a man burning with corruption. And the good news is that the cast does a magnificent job at contributing to the comedic tone of the film, as opposed to the more somber moments that come occasionally during the proceeding.
Kick-Ass is a subversive superhero action thrill ride that nicely opens doors to directions the genre has rarely gone before. It is funny, wild, but brutally violent and offensive to the point that will leave some sensitive viewers, particularly the conservative right, uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it makes for a wildly entertaining good time.