Kick-Ass

"Kick-Ass" kicks ass!  Director Matthew Vaughn adroitly turns the comic-book superhero genre on its ear to create a film with depth that is both humorous and deceptively dark.  Geeky loser Dave Lizewski (played by refreshing newcomer Aaron Johnson) is struggling with his mundane high school life and desperately wants to break free from his teenage averageness.  Inspired by his love of comic books, Dave decides to become Kick-Ass, a masked alter ego in green spandex.  His first venture out as a crime-fighting vigilante goes horribly wrong, but soon he becomes an internet sensation with throngs of adoring fans.  What Dave doesn't know, however, is that there are "real" superheroes out there doling out true street justice and pissing off the local mob, and it's just a matter of time before Kick-Ass becomes the next target of drug kingpin, Frank D'Amico (the always pitch-perfect and chameleon-like Mark Strong).  The movie asks an interesting question: What makes a superhero?  While most superheroes have some type of heightened ability, there are those without any special skills - like Batman, for example.  Some are just regular guys who have had enough and decide to take matters into their own hands.  What makes Dave such an interesting and real character is that he is just a dreamer who aspires to be the best "Dave" that he can be, and he tries to achieve that by becoming Kick-Ass.  Even in the face of adversity and utter terror, Dave holds onto his hero-identity through sheer will.  His need to become a hero is very different from that of Damon Macready (a.k.a. Big Daddy) who, accompanied by his 11-year old daughter, Mindy (a.k.a. Hit-Girl), is on a mission of vengeance.  The juxtaposition of Dave's modern superhero notion and the Macreadys' more traditional approach lends an interesting dynamic to the story and helps balance out the heavy action and violence that you expect from a comic-book movie.  Nicolas Cage as father Macready is Cage at his wacky best; the stilted speech pattern that emerges only when Macready is Big Daddy is an especially genius touch.  As for Mindy/Hit-Girl (played by the precocious Chloe Moretz), I have to admit it is jarring and disturbing to say the least seeing Hit-Girl delivering bad guy after bad guy to their early graves... I mean, how weird and inappropriate is it to watch a prepubescent girl slaughtering people in such a calculated manner?  But once you get over that, you can't help rooting for Hit-Girl and being completely wowed by her overall badass-ness.  Vaughn's direction is a fluid blend of the comic-book vividness and grittiness with the realistically complex life of the average teenage kid.  "Kick-Ass" will not only kick your ass, but melt your heart a little too.


4 out of 5 stars