Kick-Ass Review

Author: Tom

Source: http://www.boxofficebuz.net

BUZ Rating: Perfect

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Kick-Ass is really Kick Ass!

Giddy-Nihilism may be an oxymoron but it's the best suited term to describe this delightfully twisted and I dare say fantastical film. Kick-Ass, an adaptation of the best selling albeit shortly run graphic novel by the same name written by the ever popular/infamous Mark Millar, is easily the best superhero movie and quite possibly the best film I've seen in half a decade. There are many things to love about this movie as a comic-book fan and as movie watcher in general. The action is intense, the character development of the central five characters fantastic, the soundtrack flows phenomenally well and the film has more OMG-YESH moments then I can count on one hand.

Nicholas Cage is the only real big name actor present and thankfully, this time he isn't wearing a terrible wig. Maybe its' Cages' recent financial troubles or perhaps the comic book fan boy in him, because for some reason Cage doesn't sleep walk through Kick-Ass as he has the previous decade of his career. Cage portrays Big Daddy, a self-styled Bat-Man esque hero with the proficiency of the Punisher. Quite mentally unstable, he raises his daughter to be a lethal purple wig sporting anti-heroine Hit-Girl. Chloe Mortez is all kinds of awesome as Hit-Girl, the Robin to Big Daddies Batman. Much hub-bub has been made about this particular characters extreme violence and colorful vocabulary, mostly by a segment of the population who tend to get upset about fictional characters. The crude and hardness of Hit Girls character is a clever parody of classic Dick Grayson Robin with his quirky happy-go lucky attitude. Any child around the kind of violence and death that Robin faces would, in a more realistic setting, become terribly disturbed, hence Hit-Girl. However despite being a one tween killing machine ala Kill Bills "The Bride", a great deal of pathos and actual character development is given to Hit-Girl. Despite her seeming invulnerability you still feel more concern for her than more "Authentic" superheroes ala X-Men, Spiderman, Superman. Just for this character the ticket price is more than worth it.

That being said the films titular character, Kick Ass, played by Aaron Johnson is also quite fantastical. I've heard some people decry him as a lame character towards the end of the film, but really, Kickass is just an awkward overly optimistic 16 year-old. That is where the genius of the character lies. Johnson portrays one of the most realistic teenagers on film in years. McLovin erm, I mean Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse performs a similar feat. Mintz-Plasse easily the weakest part of the film primarily because he spends the first half of it muddling about as McLovin' with a different name. Towards the second half of the film however he begins to portray what is clearly a much more frightening character, but I won't give too much away. Mark Strong returns as yet another antagonist. This time a rather stereotypical Italian mobster who becomes increasingly unlikable throughout the film. As for the choreography and action, it's zany, over the top but not in an overly fake kind of way. Every fight sequence is actually shot in a noticeably different style as well (Including one super awesome FPS style action scene) keeping each and every single fight scene fresh and without numbification.

Probably the greatest surprise Kick-Ass has to offer is just how it manages to run on more then just extraordinary action, but phenomenal acting as well. This film somehow achieves the impossible by presenting a superhero satire that carries emotional heft. I went into Kick-Ass with high expectations and it more then delivered. If you love comic books you need to see this movie, if you like good movies you need to see this movie, if your not at all interested in Superheroes or action films and want to see a movie with your children...go see How To Train Your Dragon. That movies also pretty awesome.

***** 5 STARS or BETTER THEN SEX! (But not really, it's just an expression.)