Kick Ass Review: Truly A Flawed, Bloody Mess
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 11:43PM
Isaiah T. Taylor in Cinema, Comic News, Criticism, Reviews
Chris Hansen Is The Name Of The Gun.

I didn't walk away from Kick-Ass feeling good about myself -- actually, I didn't feel emotion of any kind post-credits rolling. Knowing of Mark Millar's graphic novel of the same name, I'm always interested to see how R-rated "comic book movies" hit an audience. Unfortunately, Kick-Ass will fall into the category of Watchmen and Punisher: War Zone. Great movies despite their glaring flaws, but the goals of movies like Kick-Ass are often muted by bad editing, plot-holes and lopsided performances. At least there was a lot of well choreographed action to make Kick-Ass worth the watch.


I Must Say, This Is The Best Role I've Seen Cage In
How adorable are Big Daddy [Nicolas Cage] and Hit Girl [Chloe Moretz]? Though the concept of a father teaching his daughter deadly combat and the illegal use of high-caliber guns may seem far-fetched -- its the one storyline that actually delivers. The main character, Dave Lizewski [Aaron Johnson], transforms into Kick-Ass and serves as our relatible teen everyman whose read one-superhero-comic too many. Creating a persona which was easily purchased via the internet, Kick-Ass is written to show why becoming a superhero is just as crazy as becoming a criminal.

How Comic Book Movie Is Your Comic Book Movie? Our Movie Has References That Not Even We Know
When Hit Girl and Big Daddy aren't stealing the show, Kick-Ass references the many pitfalls that plague the averagely written superhero comic. To the movie's detriment, it establishes how idiotic it is to use something like the internet and social networking sites in order for our superhero to stay connected to his fans [and their many problems]. Kick-Ass loses steam when not only does the movie heavily rely on the internet, but insults the audience's intelligence by thinking we forgot the scene not-thirty minutes ago that told us how stupid it is for a hero to use the internet! Luckily Aaron Johnson has puppy-dog eyes and takes beatings so brutal, getting an audience to empathize is easier than explaining why Yancey Butler played the wife of the mobster and had little to no dialogue.

Is He In A Dumpster With Newspapers And Headless Chickens?
Once the extraneous cast begins to have an effect on the direction of the movie I began to care less about the main characters. I didn't care about Red Mist's [Chris D'Amico] conflict between pleasing his father and obtaining a friend in Kick-Ass. I didn't worry about the relationship between Kick-Ass and his high-school sweetheart nor his father. However, this movie is completely redeemed with an emotional scene between Hit Girl and Big Daddy.
 
For better or worse, there are scenes that will drop your jaw. Though most of the fight scenes have a fair amount of computer aided movie magic they work well with the foul-mouthed, over-the-top ultra-violence. It is unfortunate that all the winks and nods to our iconic superheroes and super-villains, Kick-Ass story didn't rise above what restricted those movies and serials from being held to a higher standard of film. Our heroes are captured and covered in gasoline. Why doest it make sense to have a gun fight in a dark warehouse? Why wouldn't the mobsters just shoot our heroes and cut their losses? When in close quarters, Kick-Ass will narrowly escape the bad guys because they all collectively decided to use knives instead of guns. Kick-Ass [the character and the movie] isn't perfect. For such an off-the-wall action-comedy, this fun movie may feel way too familiar for those wanting a truly different kind of superhero experience.

I Give Kick-Ass...

Warburton Smiles Upon Thee

The "Smirk Of Idiocy" Award
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