Kick-Ass Review

Kick-Ass Review


Kick-Ass is based upon the comic of the same name by Mark Miller. I had read the comic before watching the film and was a fan of it, so as with anything you've read being turned into film i got a it worried. Especially with Kick-ass,i had such a love for what the comic represented and said i didn't want some Hollywood film ruining it. Luckily Kick-Ass isn't some Hollywood film, its actually a British film from director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) who co-wrote the script with Jane Goldman (Stardust.)

The story follows Dave Lizewski played by Aaron Johnson (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging), a nobody teenager in High school who doesn't really succeed in anything and spends his days reading comics and masturbating in his room. Dave asks the question, why hasn't anyone tried to be a superhero before? Seeing no real logical answer as to why not he becomes one in the persona of Kick-Ass.

The plot is a lot gritty than you're average Superhero movie, this isn't Superman or the Fantastic Four, this is more The Dark Knight feel, expect a lot more violent. Its strange that a plot like this can also feel a lot more realistic than it seems, you don't question the characters or the world you're in and accept this world so easy.

Aaron Johnson does an outstanding job as Dave pulling of the realism of the world in his character but creating the un-realism of his mind. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) and Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) both play well as there respective characters as father and son but the real team thumbs up goes to Chloe Moretz (500 Days Of Summer) and Nicholas Cage (Bangkok Dangerous) who create two very good characters and work very well on screen as father and daughter. You wouldn't expect someone as young as Chloe to pull of one the best performances Ive seen in recent memory but she does, her ability to put different elements between when shes Mindy and her Superhero persona Hit-Girl is amazing. Nicholas Cage gives in my opinion his best performance since Adaptation, Cage's Adam West character in Big Daddy is hilarious but he also creates a lover bull dad even when you know what he's doing is wrong.

Kick-Ass contains both a good score and soundtrack and the two mix up well. The themes created by the several composers that worked on Kick-Ass are memorial pieces you'll pick up when you hear them. The soundtrack is a mix of techno to punk rock with Joan Jett and The Prodigy both featured on the soundtrack. Along with some very cool fight scenes and special effects makes for one good looking and sounding film.

Kick-Ass is not you're average comic book to film, film. If you're thinking you're eight year old son liked Spiderman so this would be good for him, walk the other direction. Kick-Ass is strong on violence, which is good as it stays true to the feel of the comic. Kick-Ass has the feel of the comic and comic books in general but anyone with a fun button can enjoy this film. Kick-Ass is one of the most memorable movies in recent time, but with this one i can expect a either love it or hate it reaction.

Acting: 9.0

Writing: 8.5

Direction: 9.0

Production: 8.5

Overall: 8.75