Every so often, a movie comes along that is taken from a comic and does the story justice. Kick-Ass manages that feat in spades.The story opens with Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a high school student and comic book fan, as he ponders why no one has tried being a super hero. After a quick purchase online, Kick-Ass is born and the story starts to unfold quickly.
Let me be blunt, this movie is not perfect, it’s not going to win an Oscar, but the unadulterated fun more than makes up for its shortcomings.
The action sequences and shootouts were top notch from beginning to end. Combining the action with music that sounds like it’s from Saturday morning cartoons, was odd at first, but after a few seconds it feels like a natural combination with Hit Girl’s (Chloe Moretz) antics.
Which brings me to the next point, Hit Girl made this movie. Her action sequences topped all the others, which were great too. When she hit the strobe light later in the movie, I was blown away by the sequence. In addition, that sequence pulled off first-person shooting that didn’t feel forced and hokey, ala Doom.
Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) was another highlight of the characters. This role fit almost flawlessly into Cage’s skill set, being weird but still, somehow, pretty cool.
The story of Kick-Ass was extremely gritty, which played into the overall feeling of the movie perfectly. The whole package pulled me in from early on in the movie and did not let go until the explosive ending.
Yes, the movie is very violent with coarse language from numerous characters, but it is directed, as the comic was, at adults. And, that being said, the Crazy 88s sequence from Kill Bill or any of the fights from 300 are far more graphic.
I had a few minor problems with the movie, namely Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist) who just doesn’t seem to be any different from McLovin from Superbad.
The only major downside for me was that the Cookeville theater decided not to carry this movie. But, it’s well worth the drive up to Crossville or even Nashville to see this flick.
Don’t take your kids and if you can’t handle some graphic imagery then pass. Everyone else, give this movie a shot, you’ll probably enjoy yourself.
MPAA: R
Final Grade: A-
