AUSTIN -- Moving the fanboy wish--fulfillment scenario of "SpiderMan" a couple of steps further toward the real world (though certainly not all the way there), "Kick-Ass" delivers an awkward Everykid who succeeds (eventually) as a crimefighter without the benefit of superpowers or, frankly, a whole lot of smarts.
If the film's extreme violence will counteract its good-natured humor for some multiplex audiences (since when do caped crusaders go out of their way to kill the bad guys?), its balancing act between innocence and gore perfectly matches the expectations of genre fans, who should embrace the movie.
Shot in an artificially sweetened color palette by DP Ben Davis, the picture introduces a bit of "American Pie" to the comics world: Horny and hapless Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), in between fantasizing about his English teacher's breasts, wonders why no comic-book fan has ever been moved to make his own mask and give crime-fighting a try.
Fashioning a costume out of a green scuba suit and dubbing himself Kick-Ass, Dave goes in search of evil schemes to foil and nearly winds up dead. But he attracts the attention of more gifted crimefighters--a combat-trained preteen girl (Chloe Moretz) and her dad (Nicolas Cage), a former policeman--and the villain they're stalking (Mark Strong), whose rich-kid son (Christopher Mintz- Plasse) wants in on the mask--and--cape game as well.
Johnson, true to his character, lets himself be upstaged by his costars--especially Moretz, who with "Kick-Ass" has gone from voicing Winnie the Pooh cartoons to slicing up drug dealers with a samurai bloodlust Quentin Tarantino would appreciate. Although the movie initially wants to stay rooted in the real world, it stops trying when her Hit Girl is onscreen--the tween character is straight out of "The Matrix" and only Moretz's likably ludicrous tough-girl act holds things together. (As her dad, Cage bolsters his portfolio of quirky performances and might make viewers wish he had been allowed to play Superman for Tim Burton way back when.)
The pic's nearly two-hour running time would fit a conventional comic-book action film, but "Kick-Ass"--closer to a goofy teen comedy than an operatic hero franchise--feels a bit stretched at that length. Closing scenes, naturally, pave the way for a sequel, but it's difficult to believe the filmmakers could keep the balancing act going for another installment.
BOTTOM LINE Funny, unexpectedly violent romp lets a regular kid play superhero for a while.
VENUE: South by Southwest Festival. OPENS: Friday, April 16. PRODUCTION: Mary Films, Ran B Entertainment. CAST: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage. DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn. SCREENWRITERS: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn. PRODUCERS: Adam Bohling, Tarquin Pack, Brad Pitt, David Reid, Kris Thykier, Matthew Vaughn. DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Ben Davis. PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Russell De Rozario. MUSIC: Ilan Eshkeri. COSTUME DESIGNER: Sammy Sheldon. EDITORS: Eddie Hamilton, Jon Harris. Rated R, 117 minutes.
Named Works: Kick-Ass (Motion picture) Movie reviews
Source Citation
DeFore, John. "'Kick-Ass'." Hollywood Reporter 413.39 (2010): 8. General OneFile. Web. 7 May 2010.
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