'Kick-Ass' Movie Review

Kick-Ass invites controversy, courts it in fact, as director/co-writer Matthew Vaughn refused to compromise in bringing the comic book series to the big screen. Vaughn went outside the studio system, obtaining his own financing and going through the entire production without knowing whether his hard R-rated film would ever find a home. He kicked up interested in Kick-Ass at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, unspooling clips he hoped would get fanboys and fangirls worked up into a frenzy, and would get the attention of a major studio.

Lionsgate eventually snagged the rights to distribute Kick-Ass and Vaughn was able to release his version of the film without having to delete a major character, something that most likely would have been required had there been studio involvement early on. The fact that major character, Hit Girl (played by the astounding young actress Chloe Moretz), is in the film intact makes Kick-Ass the most kick-ass comic book adaptation in film history. Not the best - I still swear by The Dark Knight - but it's right up there in the ranks of the most memorable, entertaining, and conversation-inspiring comic book adaptations ever made.

Oh yes, Kick-Ass is going to offend people like nobody's business. As Hit Girl, Moretz delivers lines that would make a sailor blush. No cuss word, no matter how crude, is left unuttered. And while her verbal attacks are lethal, her ability to take down bad guys using all manner of weapons is equally as vicious. This 11 year old is one fierce costumed fighting machine, a fearless vigilante on the warpath, and that's going to make some adults - particularly parents - appalled and outraged. And I can understand where that outrage is coming from.

However, taken in context and in the spirit in which the scenes are delivered, I say not only was Vaughn justified in leaving Hit Girl in the film, she's the reason to go see it in theaters. That, and Nicolas Cage as Hit Girl's father, Big Daddy. Channeling his best Adam West impersonation while in a knock-off Batman costume, this performance represents the best of what Cage can do when he's in his element, given the right material, and allowed to take that material wherever it urges him to go.

The Story

Aaron Johnson (The Greatest and the upcoming John Lennon film Nowhere Boy) plays Dave Lizewski, an easily forgettable, geeky type who hangs out with his buddies at the local comic book store and spends a good amount of time in front of the computer looking at comics and porn. Dave wonders why no one has ever made themselves into a superhero in real life, and after some consideration and a good time spent designing what he'll look like, he buys a green wetsuit online and creates a costume.

Kick-Ass is born, but he's not fit for action and no amount of intense working out is going to take this average teen from zero to hero overnight. Still, he thinks he's ready to do battle so he tries his superhero stuff out on two gangsters. That doesn't go well at all.

Waking up in the hospital with dozens of broken bones doesn't dissuade this would-be hero from his path to becoming a real life superhero. No, he puts himself back in danger again, taking on a group of thugs beating up some guy in front of a convenience store. His just-healed injuries have left him unable to feel much pain, so though his body is being beat to hell, he fights on. His exploits are captured by cell phone cameras and placed on YouTube for the world to see, legitimizing his efforts and vaulting Kick-Ass, but not Dave, to fame. His costumed alter-ego even becomes fodder for a line of comics.

But actions aren't just noticed by those who applaud his efforts. Crime boss/drug lord Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) mistakenly believes Kick-Ass is putting a crimp in his business and tells his thugs to take him out. But, actually, D'Amico's drug business is being disrupted by two other costumed crime-fighters. Damon Macready and his daughter Mindy (Moretz) fight the good fight while dressed as Big Daddy and Hit Girl. They're the ones killing off D'Amico's people, but Kick-Ass is the one who's making all the noise as a YouTube phenomenon embraced by his fellow New Yorkers.

While all this is going on, Dave (sans costume) is trying to hook up with a cutie from his class without spilling the beans that he's Kick-Ass. Not even his two closest buddies and fellow geeks know his little secret.

Meanwhile, with D'Amico calling for his head, Kick-Ass teams up with the much better prepared, infinitely better equipped Hit Girl and Big Daddy to get to D'Amico before he gets to them.

The Acting

Aaron Johnson is terrific as the geek who transforms himself into a killing machine. Johnson looks right in the role (he's totally believable as an average high school virgin) and he gets into the spirit of the part with boundless enthusiasm. As Chris, Frank D'Amico's son and criminal-in-training, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (best known as McLovin in Superbad) is just hilarious. In order to infiltrate the good guys, Chris becomes the costumed supervillain known as Red Mist. One of the film's funniest scenes - and it's hard to single one out because 90% of Kick-Ass works incredibly well - involves Red Mist and Kick-Ass rocking out in Chris' car while cruising the streets for bad guys.

Mintz-Plasse's onscreen dad, Mark Strong, steals every scene he's in, playing Frank D'Amico with a comical manic intensity and an abundance of bravado. Strong's simply brilliant.

But, no slight intended whatsoever to the rest of the cast, this film is Cage and Moretz'. Big Daddy and Hit Girl need...no, deserve...their own film. As good as Kick-Ass is, it would have been even better had the side stories involving Dave's attraction to the hot girl (played by Lyndsy Fonseca) and the time spent at the comic book store with Dave's buddies (played by Clark Duke from Hot Tub Time Machine and Evan Peters) been cut down a bit to wedge more Hit Girl and Big Daddy time in. I love these two characters and I love what Moretz and Cage have pulled off here.

The Bottom Line - Continued on Page 2