DIRECTOR MATTHEW VAUGHN ("Stardust") has made an independent movie that is exciting, very violent but a darkly hilarious comic book fantasy flick (based on the work of Mark Millar) about unlikely superheroes. The central character is a geeky teenage boy, Dave Lizewski (Johnson) who decides to fight crime by becoming a costumed vigilante called Kick-Ass, with him buying his wetsuit Power Ranger-like costume on the web. But he ends up being severely beaten up by thugs who also stab him and have him run over by a car.
The unfortunate incident gives him metal plates in his bones and deadened nerve-endings that make sure he can no longer feel when he is being physically hurt. He returns to crime fighting and becomes an internet celebrity as a masked crusader. He gets into conflict with a local mobster, Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), whose henchmen is being killed by someone. D'Amico thinks it's Kick-Ass who's doing it so he hunts him down with the help of his own son who also wants to be a superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz Plasse).
But the real culprits are a father and his 11-year old daughter who comprise a superhero vigilante team, Big Daddy Damon Macready (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl Mindy (Chloe Moretz). It's this team that actually propels the plot and provides a lot of slambang action sequences. Big Daddy is a former hero cop who spent many years to train his daughter to become an Angel of Death for crimedoers. Viewers first see them while Dad is shooting Mindy at close range then buying her some ice cream. The situation may look crazy but it's definitely a hoot. They eventually team up with Kick Ass.
This is one movie that knows it's a comic book flick so there are many elements that pay reference to or do sendups of other superhero flicks based on comic books, like "Batman", "Wolverine", "Spiderman", etc. Nicolas Cage is much better here than in "Ghost Rider". It's obvious he's having lunatic fun doing many scenes, like when he takes on so many bad guys in a single-shot action scene or doing an Adam West impression when he talks as Big Daddy, as when he tells his daughter, "Good call, Baby Doll."
But still, he's upstaged by Hit Girl. Her character is definitely something shocking for an 11-year old, no matter how precocious she might be, and we're sure self proclaimed moralists will be offended by her outrageous violence and lack of responsibility. But the violence in the film is obviously cartoonish, just like the heroine in that Japanese actioner, "Machine Gun Girl", where the over the top nayhem is really out of this world. And Chloe Moretz ("500 Days of Summer") is cast perfectly. stealing all her scenes as the devilish Hit Girl who's mature beyond her years and is a ruthless expert with knives, even delivering her funny one liners with aplomb and great comic timing. She also has great chemisty with Cage.
This is not to say that Dave is forgotten as Jane Goldman's script make sure that we also remain interested in following his story, making his feelings of teen angst rather forceful in a way that Spiderman failed to achieve. Aaron Johnson plays him to perfection, bringing a lot of heart to the character he plays. He should thank Director Vaughn for coming up with a smart parody movie that seems to have been made with the combined talents of John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, and the Wachowski Brothers. The film is wildly entertaining, successfully combining humor and world class action, especially the shootout sequence involving strobe lights that reminds you of a kinetic video game.
The unfortunate incident gives him metal plates in his bones and deadened nerve-endings that make sure he can no longer feel when he is being physically hurt. He returns to crime fighting and becomes an internet celebrity as a masked crusader. He gets into conflict with a local mobster, Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), whose henchmen is being killed by someone. D'Amico thinks it's Kick-Ass who's doing it so he hunts him down with the help of his own son who also wants to be a superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz Plasse).
But the real culprits are a father and his 11-year old daughter who comprise a superhero vigilante team, Big Daddy Damon Macready (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl Mindy (Chloe Moretz). It's this team that actually propels the plot and provides a lot of slambang action sequences. Big Daddy is a former hero cop who spent many years to train his daughter to become an Angel of Death for crimedoers. Viewers first see them while Dad is shooting Mindy at close range then buying her some ice cream. The situation may look crazy but it's definitely a hoot. They eventually team up with Kick Ass.
This is one movie that knows it's a comic book flick so there are many elements that pay reference to or do sendups of other superhero flicks based on comic books, like "Batman", "Wolverine", "Spiderman", etc. Nicolas Cage is much better here than in "Ghost Rider". It's obvious he's having lunatic fun doing many scenes, like when he takes on so many bad guys in a single-shot action scene or doing an Adam West impression when he talks as Big Daddy, as when he tells his daughter, "Good call, Baby Doll."
But still, he's upstaged by Hit Girl. Her character is definitely something shocking for an 11-year old, no matter how precocious she might be, and we're sure self proclaimed moralists will be offended by her outrageous violence and lack of responsibility. But the violence in the film is obviously cartoonish, just like the heroine in that Japanese actioner, "Machine Gun Girl", where the over the top nayhem is really out of this world. And Chloe Moretz ("500 Days of Summer") is cast perfectly. stealing all her scenes as the devilish Hit Girl who's mature beyond her years and is a ruthless expert with knives, even delivering her funny one liners with aplomb and great comic timing. She also has great chemisty with Cage.
This is not to say that Dave is forgotten as Jane Goldman's script make sure that we also remain interested in following his story, making his feelings of teen angst rather forceful in a way that Spiderman failed to achieve. Aaron Johnson plays him to perfection, bringing a lot of heart to the character he plays. He should thank Director Vaughn for coming up with a smart parody movie that seems to have been made with the combined talents of John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, and the Wachowski Brothers. The film is wildly entertaining, successfully combining humor and world class action, especially the shootout sequence involving strobe lights that reminds you of a kinetic video game.
