Kick Ass: The Film Holds true to it’s name… And then Some!!

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Stars:  Aaron Johnson (Kick Ass/ Dave Lizewski)                     Chloe Grace  Mortez (Hit Girl/ Mindy Macready)

             Nicholas Cage (Big Daddy/ Damon Macready)              Christopher Mintz- Plasse ( Red Mist/Chris D’Amico)

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Any Film that can make a little 11 year old girl out to be the baddest ass in comics has the winning formula for a great comic book film.  Tarintino, Rodeiguez, Snyder & Raimi can currently all suck it, there is a new king in the genre of comic book films and he hails from the merry old land of England….. Mr. Matthew Vaughn, who comes from the Guy Ritchie world of  gangster films takes a fresh stab at the quickly dwindling world of comic book adaptations.

Kick ass is the moniker of comic book aficionado & wanna be super hero Dave Lisewski. Always curious why average joes never took to the streets in costume to right wrongs and help the helpless. After a bystander watches and does nothing as Dave and his friend get mugged  he decides to Armed with a wet suit & good intentions  he tries to do just that. With a few road blocks in his path he still doesn’t let that get him down. After intervening in a gang fight that is captured on film  his popularity skyrockets and becomes intertwined with the D’Amico crime family.

Now for the review, this film kicked fricken ass!!  It was hilarious, violent and action packed.  I really connected with the character of Dave, being a nerd, always craving respect and attention, and I thought scenes & the dialogue between Dave and his friends ( Clark Duke & Evan Peters) was hilarious and brilliant.

The action scenes had a good mix of style and substance. While they were crazy violent, bloody and a tad over the top, they were well choreographed, and  shot with a slick style like in 300 or watchmen. I really enjoyed how Vaughn wasn’t afraid to go over the top and didn’t restrict  the film in terms of language or violence, he went straight for the jugular and went for the 18A/ R rating. 

Kick Ass, Hit Girl and Big Daddy. A first meeting of the minds

 

I also really liked the actors, and how they weren’t the A listers, they were just right for the part.  Aaron Johnson ( Dave) had this awkward sensibility and was not very handsome, at least in the classic way.  Unlike Toby Maguire in Spiderman you actually buy Aaron as an award outcast with little going on in his life.   Cloe Mortez ( Hit Girl) had the attitude and spunk needed for a bad ass super heroine.  She’s the anti Dakota Fanning, she was crude, confident and pulled it off fantastically.  My favorite part of the movie was Nick Cage, his parody of the Adam West 60′s batman was hilarious and campy and  Cage was able to work with it. It was a welcome back  to good roles for the talented Cage.

I Know the film differed from the book a little bit, but It was great in spite of that. No film follows the book to the letter and I felt that the  changes made the film a little better, I think the film would have been a bit too dark and  went against the new tone of the film.  I couldn’t find any problems with this film, it was funny, fun and filled to the brim with action and will give Iron man 2 for the best comic book film of the year.