There isn’t a kid out there who hasn’t thought what it’d be like to become a superhero. This inherent desire is the basis for Mark Millar’s latest comic book to movie story, Kick-Ass. Inspired by his own ideas about giving superheroism a go, Millar wrote a comic book about an average, awkward teen who does just that. Now the story has come to the big screen.
Aaron Johnson (The Illusionist, Nowhere Boy) plays Dave Lizewski, a.k.a Kick Ass, a high school comic book nerd who gets inspired to make himself into a super hero. After his first vigilante success is caught on tape, Kick Ass becomes an internet phenomenon. When the girl of his dreams casually mentions she could use Kick-Ass’s help with one of her problems Dave heads out to defend her honor only to find himself in a little over his head. Luckily, a pair of seasoned vigilantes, Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), arrive at the scene to show the rookie how things are done. Dave struggles to balance school, a social life, and maintaining the Kick-Ass alter ego while fighting the city’s drug lord.
With all the hype and buzz around this film there are a lot of expectations, however, Kick-Ass falls short in many aspects, most glaringly of which is in its plot development. The first hour is extremely slow and lacks action and character development. I will say though, the last thirty minutes do an adequate job to save the story and give us the good amount of ass kicking we expect.
I wouldn’t call the violence in Kick-Ass over the top or excessive, but watching an eleven year old looking girl get stomped on and beaten by grown men gets disturbing, no matter how much ass kicking skill she has. There is always something a little uneasy about an R rated film in which a central character isn’t even old enough to get into one. The unmasking of the vigilantes is also an uncomfortable spot for audiences. A movie about teens, for teens isn’t something we watch expecting scenes that make us naturally turn our heads and close our eyes in pity. I won’t give away any spoilers, but when you watch the film, you’ll see why the setting the writers choose for the unmasking portrays a raw and devastating reality that’s inappropriate for a fantasy world like the one portrayed in Kick-Ass.
For those of us who love our big guns and killer technology, Kick-Ass does offer some nice aesthetics. There is no denying the presence of some impressive moves and creative use for weapons throughout the film. Another commendable feature of Kick-Ass is that all of the actors bring a good chemistry to the screen, which was a must considering the lacking relationship development in all aspects of the plot.
Kick-Ass suffers from a classic identity crisis. It isn’t funny enough to be an R rated action/comedy. There isn’t enough violence and vulgarity (or boobs) to make it a trashy action flick. And there isn’t enough intelligence to make it a story capable of sending a deeper message. The mix of movie trailers, posters, and the film’s R rating give Kick-Ass an ambiguous identity that you can’t expect to be resolved on screen either. Overall the story is quite underwhelming, and you’ll probably realize why Batman is the only masked vigilante anyone truly cares about.
