JohnDoe
Bryn
Brenton
Kick-Ass (2010) - Trailer Included
Punting the butt of all Super hero Jokes.
Director:Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth McGovern, Mark Strong, Chloe Mortez, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Flemyng, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
The postmodern superhero has to be grounded in the real world. It’s all about that verisimilitude that Richard Donner craved. Adapted from the original graphic novel written by Mark Millar, Kick-Ass continues where Watchmen, Unbreakable and the first season of Heroes left off, toying with the hypothetical of caped avengers in our present day reality.
Tickling our inner film and comic book geek the central protagonist Dave (Aaron Johnson) is a gawky, social reject who escapes his mundane existence within the delusions of his imagination. Favorably warped by years of comic book obsession he tires of being the victim and with only the best intentions and a pair of sticks for weapons he decides to become a masked savior of the people.
Lacking appropriate artillery and unsupervised, soon Kick-Ass is getting his own torso and skull brutally smashed till death in the line of duty seems inevitable. Enter 13 year old Hit Girl (Chloe Mortez) and parental unit Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) a highly trained father daughter crime fighting duo capable of gleefully spilling evil fiend’s blood, amputating limbs and executing the scourge of the criminal underground with finesse.
These vigilante law warriors are regular people lacking superhuman abilities or radioactive spider bites. They are not lone deity alien refugees from extinct civilizations, nor multimillionaire play boys with a vendetta against the scum of Gotham…well maybe there is some revenge involved, but that’s another subplot.
But what do you do when your good Samaritan fantasies and instant celebrity status are crushed by the cold truth? In order to triumph you must master the violence your enemies thrive on and detach from the society you strive to defend.
John Doe says:
Struggling to fully explore the depths of its purpose Kick-Ass still excites with its vibrant action scenes and entertains with exuberant humor and tantalizing characters. Amusing while never slipping into clichéd teen comedy, the costumes, production design and manic awareness all work to let the audience in on the brain byte setting required for maximum effect.
Writer/Director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust) is obviously passionate about the material and his choices elevate a lot of scenes, be it through thumping musical selections or strategic graphics. Restraining the pace earlier on and only cutting loose once we are invested, the comedic timing and energetic editing making it easy to have a good time. Shocking with a violence that reinforces consequences, dusting it with a wink Vaughn’s skills may have been underestimated until now.
All the cast fit their metaphoric uniforms well, filling their parts with knowing performances. Nicholas Cage (Red Rock West) does his best Adam West impersonation. A sly move to comment on what Big Daddy represents in the grander scope of the superhero mythology with which the film is toying.
Chloe Mortez (Let Me In, (500) Days of Summer) dominates as the up to the minute, psychologically burdened, lethal Lolita. Maybe its the purple hair and hip persona that allow Chloe to own her place in the frame.Fearless, Hit Girl doesn’t see the recklessness of her behavior yet and Chloe brings a child’s sense of play that is infectious.
Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) has that Jesse Eisenberg (Roger Dodger) thing going on, just not as honed. Playing it a little too extroverted, his is the part that is meant to be the most grounded. The cynical, self aware voice, instead it’s every bit as animated as the rest.
Jason Flemyng (Below, The Bunker, Bruiser) is wasted in a part that serves as a mere punchline. Mark Strong (Body of Lies, Syriana) is effective as the head bad guy...even if he does seems to be doing an Elias Kosteas impersonation.
All positivity aside, John Doe does have a gripe. Suffering from the same contradictions as its source, the first half plays with a level of authenticity that sets up loyalty to the laws of physics and science. Not to be taken deadly serious overall but to establish that “real world” tone. Problem is that in the second half gravity defying slo-mo acrobatic feats are delivered with tongue in cheek exaggeration and characterizations. The whole thing lacks consistency.
This may sound like a complaint, but it actually is said to highlight just how much enjoyment these dexterously choreographed combat sequences deliver. They make criticism a mute point because of the giddy entertainment factor.
Kick-Ass achieves as a worthwhile silver screen addition to the comic to film genre. It offers escapism and bloody amusement, it’s just a shame that the definitive exploration of the deeper themes will have to wait until another writer truly commits.
The official Kick-Ass trailer
Poster for Kick-Ass
Director:Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth McGovern, Mark Strong, Chloe Mortez, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Flemyng, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
The postmodern superhero has to be grounded in the real world. It’s all about that verisimilitude that Richard Donner craved. Adapted from the original graphic novel written by Mark Millar, Kick-Ass continues where Watchmen, Unbreakable and the first season of Heroes left off, toying with the hypothetical of caped avengers in our present day reality.
Kick Ass's secret identity hidden in the fortress of knowledge.
Lacking appropriate artillery and unsupervised, soon Kick-Ass is getting his own torso and skull brutally smashed till death in the line of duty seems inevitable. Enter 13 year old Hit Girl (Chloe Mortez) and parental unit Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) a highly trained father daughter crime fighting duo capable of gleefully spilling evil fiend’s blood, amputating limbs and executing the scourge of the criminal underground with finesse.
These vigilante law warriors are regular people lacking superhuman abilities or radioactive spider bites. They are not lone deity alien refugees from extinct civilizations, nor multimillionaire play boys with a vendetta against the scum of Gotham…well maybe there is some revenge involved, but that’s another subplot.
But what do you do when your good Samaritan fantasies and instant celebrity status are crushed by the cold truth? In order to triumph you must master the violence your enemies thrive on and detach from the society you strive to defend.
Hit-Girl at play
John Doe says:
Struggling to fully explore the depths of its purpose Kick-Ass still excites with its vibrant action scenes and entertains with exuberant humor and tantalizing characters. Amusing while never slipping into clichéd teen comedy, the costumes, production design and manic awareness all work to let the audience in on the brain byte setting required for maximum effect.
Writer/Director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust) is obviously passionate about the material and his choices elevate a lot of scenes, be it through thumping musical selections or strategic graphics. Restraining the pace earlier on and only cutting loose once we are invested, the comedic timing and energetic editing making it easy to have a good time. Shocking with a violence that reinforces consequences, dusting it with a wink Vaughn’s skills may have been underestimated until now.
All the cast fit their metaphoric uniforms well, filling their parts with knowing performances. Nicholas Cage (Red Rock West) does his best Adam West impersonation. A sly move to comment on what Big Daddy represents in the grander scope of the superhero mythology with which the film is toying.
Chloe Mortez (Let Me In, (500) Days of Summer) dominates as the up to the minute, psychologically burdened, lethal Lolita. Maybe its the purple hair and hip persona that allow Chloe to own her place in the frame.Fearless, Hit Girl doesn’t see the recklessness of her behavior yet and Chloe brings a child’s sense of play that is infectious.
Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) has that Jesse Eisenberg (Roger Dodger) thing going on, just not as honed. Playing it a little too extroverted, his is the part that is meant to be the most grounded. The cynical, self aware voice, instead it’s every bit as animated as the rest.
Mark Strong threatens to explode in a tantrum.
All positivity aside, John Doe does have a gripe. Suffering from the same contradictions as its source, the first half plays with a level of authenticity that sets up loyalty to the laws of physics and science. Not to be taken deadly serious overall but to establish that “real world” tone. Problem is that in the second half gravity defying slo-mo acrobatic feats are delivered with tongue in cheek exaggeration and characterizations. The whole thing lacks consistency.
This may sound like a complaint, but it actually is said to highlight just how much enjoyment these dexterously choreographed combat sequences deliver. They make criticism a mute point because of the giddy entertainment factor.
Kick-Ass achieves as a worthwhile silver screen addition to the comic to film genre. It offers escapism and bloody amusement, it’s just a shame that the definitive exploration of the deeper themes will have to wait until another writer truly commits.
The official Kick-Ass trailer
Horrorphile
Screen Adventure
Great how you highlighted it's inconsistency - I was having too much fun to notice at the time
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Bryn, seriously mate, you need to go and see this on the big screen!! No more procrastination!!
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
I just find it curious, fascinating really, how main stream US cinema continues to revolve around war, revenge and vigilantism.
Methinks it is a sad indictment of their society, or more likely, the power brokers who run it, I see it as a soft form of brainwashing. It is no surprise I suppose, considering the USA gets its big bucks out of making war.
cheers
fog
Film & TV on DVD
Kick-Ass does warrant a visit to the cinema, but Iron Man 2 is the more traditional big budget spectacle so I understand if that makes the shortlist....that being said I still haven't seen Iron Man 2 yet and it does have Mickey, Sam and Don.
Film & TV on DVD
Great how you highlighted it's inconsistency - I was having too much fun to notice at the time
Hi Shaun,
Did my review not make it clear that I enjoyed it? I thought that aside from the last few paragraphs it was a rather gushing critique...besides you know me I only review films I like on the site anyway.
Next time we chat we can discuss the things i dig about it a little more...you have me second guessing the quality of this post.
Film & TV on DVD
Hi Deni,
Another comment that makes me think i wasn't clear about how much i liked the film. It was great mindless entertainment and satisfied. Just it had the potential to be exceptional, I still plan on owning the DVD and watching it several more times.
I found the whole thing rather hilarious and enjoyed the use of extreme violence to reinforce the pain of our world that doesn't generally exist in the mythology of traditional superheores.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you drop by again.
Film & TV on DVD
Bryn, seriously mate, you need to go and see this on the big screen!! No more procrastination!!
Hi David,
I did have fun with it for sure, just for me the set up was to enticing to forget when the bombastics started amping up. Didn't ruin it for me but my observations needed to be expressed in hindsight.
I imagine it will take a few screenings before this one loses lustre.
Film & TV on DVD
I just find it curious, fascinating really, how main stream US cinema continues to revolve around war, revenge and vigilantism.
Methinks it is a sad indictment of their society, or more likely, the power brokers who run it, I see it as a soft form of brainwashing. It is no surprise I suppose, considering the USA gets its big bucks out of making war.
cheers
Living in the US I see the propaganda machine working towards the goals you mention. saw it long before moving here and I am equally fascinated with its culture of black and white justice.
This film does try to work against the formula but in the end does glamorize vigilantism and violence despite the best intentions. Still its not to be taken seriously and Im sure there is a lot in Kick-Ass that would entertain you.