Friday 2 April 2010

Kick Ass

Another comic book adaptation in an already bloated genre, but does this new Matthew Vaughn flick kick some ass or compared to achievements like The Dark Knight and Iron Man, have it's ass well and truly kicked?

Matthew Vaughn's previous director credits have done well (Layer Cake, Stardust), but this is arguably his first big Hollywood picture and it seems that it won't be his last. Not only for the fact that Kick Ass has already got a sequel and a prequel in the works before it was even released, but because it's bloody great!

The main reason I like this is because Kick Ass himself, is shit. He might be full of bravado and have a brief spell of being numb to pain after getting shanked, but he is constantly getting beaten up and is well out of his depth - which makes him even more likable. It's almost a parody of the original Spiderman film, the geeky guy who fancies the hot girl, experiments with his powers (or lack thereof with hillllllaaaaarious results) and takes on some bigwig criminal, but it's taken all the good bits of it and made it better by making it completely 'normal'.

The story is quite basic in that Kick Ass wants to do some good, but instead becomes a YouTube sensation and gets mixed up in the exploits of real superheroes Big Daddy and Hit-Girl who are causing the real chaos. Bad guy Frank D'Amico blames Kick-Ass and soon his son, the wonderfully geeky Christopher Mintz-Plasse, takes on the moniker Red Mist to lure Kick-Ass into a trap to prove he can be as evil as his father. That's basically it. Simple and it works. Side stories such as Kick-Ass pretending to be gay to spend time with his crush, his two mates as more comic relief and Big Daddy's haunted past are given adequate enough time without pulling away from the main plot and shows that big movies can still have a great script.

The acting is also great - Nic Cage works wonderfully as the action-hero father, Chris Mintz-Plasse does his usual thing which always works, Aaron Johnson as KickAss is perfectly balanced between geeky, brave yet believable but the real stand out is Hit-Girl actress Chloe Grace Moretz. The best action is with her involved and she also gets the best lines, her character arc is much more interesting and you can actually believe in a weird way that a little girl like her might exist and she's like what ... eleven? Incredible.

The music is great, the palette, cinematography and general vibe of the film is fun, energetic and yet still has it's more dark and sinister moments. By no means is this one of the best superhero films ever, but it's a hell of a lot better than most of them out there and it's not afraid to take the piss out of itself either. The minor flaws that do exist aren't the fault of anyone involved but rather being picky about what I wanted to see (more action, more Big Daddy, more of an ending) but I'd definitely watch it again and would recommend it to anyone young or old. Now go kick some ass!

Rating: 8/10

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