Mark Miller has got to be one of my favorite comic book writers at the moment, and with one of his comics already being made into a successful movie (Wanted), there's no surprise that Mathew Vaughn's Kick-Ass adaptation follows in its footsteps. I mean in all honesty, I’m pretty convinced that Mark Miller writes his comics with the intention that they will very soon become movies. Kick-Ass is the most realistic, funny, relateable, yet funny comic book movie I've ever seen, and trust me it's going down in my book as a must see for all you comic fans out there.
In the first half of the movie it's all about Aaron Johnson and his hilarious and relatable character Dave Lizewski. Everything from the way he acts with his friends, to his normal high school problems really feels genuine and not as corny or stereotyped as a character your usual high school movie would be. He is a pretty funny guy and offers some great awkward scenes as Dave, while providing great drama as Kick-Ass. It's now clear to me why he was contender for the Spider-Man reboot.
But once you get to the second half it's all about Chloë Moretz as Hit Girl. Her fight scenes are spectacular and her lines are jaw dropping. Some might not like the idea of an eleven year old slashing heads off and cursing away, but I don't mind. She offers some of the best lines and action of the movie, and she practically outshines Kick-Ass himself at that point. There’s also the supporting cast that includes Omari Hardwick, Evan Peters, Clark Duke, and Lyndsy Fonseca, who all do a good job in the roles, and contribute a lot comically and dramatically to the main characters and their story.
Then there's Big Daddy played by Nicolas Cage. He does an okay job in the role, but nothing special really, nothing compared to the rest of the cast. Cage basically does an impersonation of Adam West’s Batman, and his alter ego just isn’t an interesting enough character in comparison to the others. You really don't get very attached to his character, and as far as the character's back story, it doesn't really follow the comics very well.
Then there's the villain. I really loved the character of Red Mist, and his secretive friendship with Kick-Ass. Christopher Mintz-Plasse does a terrific job at portraying him as the geeky son of crime king pin Frank D'Amico. Speaking of D'Amico, Mark Strong (Who has no experience playing a mafia) executed the role perfectly, making him a perfect match for Kick-Ass and his fellow heroes and someone that you'll really hate.
I'm pretty big on music in movies and their scores, especially when it comes to superhero movies. I feel a superhero needs an iconic score to go along with it like Danny Elfman’s Spider-Man score, or John Williams’ Superman score. I wasn’t expecting much for a lesser known superhero like Kick-Ass, but the OST really blew me away. There's is some cool scores mixed in from John Murphy that offer a lot of drama, as well as some fun songs from the band Prodigy. Henry Jackson provides a spectacular score for the film, including a very catchy and iconic main theme that has had me humming all day.
The action scenes, especially Kick-Ass's street fights, are extremely accurate and realistic. Kick-Ass doesn’t get out of a fight without a scratch, and not without making a few mistakes, which is really what makes Kick-Ass so different from all of the other indestructible superheroes out there. Big Daddy’s hand to hand combat is amazing, and there’s an amazing shot of him taking out some goons that’s sure to be praised by any action fan. And of course Hit Girl provides the best action and combat, and the action scene that involves her fighting while a strobe light is flashing is probably one of the most awesome and dramatic action scenes in any superhero film. But unfortunately the action scenes lose their realism later on in the film, taking some of the over the top stuff from the comic.
The costume designs were pretty cool and creative in the film, while keeping the authentic look since they are just supposed to belong to a bunch of ordinary people. Kick-Ass’s costume has the right blend of realism and yet still a comic book feel, and it’s very realistic how he actually gets the suit (He buys a scuba suit on eBay). Big Daddy’s costume is also pretty great poking fun at Chris Nolan’s Batman with the same sort of look and while it’s different than its comic book counterpart, I’d say it’s a major improvement. Both Red Mist and Hit Girl’s costumes are more generic, but still offer a pretty cool and creative look to them.
The real impressive thing about Kick-Ass is how Matthew Vaughn was able to blend so many different elements into one film. He managed to get completely unrelated characters with very different back stories and motives, and most importantly personalities, and really make them all have their moments to shine and get you to get to know each of these characters in their own way (Something a lot of directors can’t even do with just one characters), and eventually intertwine their stories into one superhero epic. He’s also able to give a pretty entertaining and creative origin story to these characters, while poking fun and some of the stereotypes of superhero films while not making it into a parody. Kick-Ass is a fun twist on the superhero genre, but it still stands its ground as a creative realistic story, very similar to what Zombieland did for the horror genre. Vaughn is able to balance the humor and drama in the film, so it’s not like the movie is too over the top and doesn’t take itself seriously, something that I credit the script writers and Vaughn for doing, since the actual comic didn’t exactly do that.
This movie is definitely one I'd like to keep in my house and show to any guests who come over and wow them. It's got an amazing plot, great acting, and a sense of realism that not many other comic book movies do. I highly recommend Kick-Ass to teens and superhero fans alike.
I give Kick-Ass 4.5 Out of 5 Stars
And here's the Kick-Ass trailer:
