When you were a kid, did you ever want to dress up like a superhero and fight crime? Well in the new movie “Kick –Assâ€, that’s exactly what one kid did. Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) was just your average kid, who went through all the normal problems of being an adolescent. Then one day while talking with some friends, he asked; “Why doesn’t anyone actually try to be a superhero?†The answer was simple, without super powers, no one would survive trying to fight crime. That didn’t faze Dave, and so he got himself a suit and mask, and went out to look for crime in the streets.
While trying to help a guy out who is getting beat on by three guys, Dave’s exploits are video recorded by a teenager watching the scene. When it’s all over the kid asked; “What do you call yourself†Dave answers; “Kick –Assâ€. The video of the incident becomes an overnight success and catches the attention of some other non-power wielding superheroes. They call themselves, Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) & Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) and they have a personal vendetta with the city’s crime boss Frank D’ Amico (Mark Strong) and have been taking out his drug operations. Frank gets word that someone dressed up in a costume has attacked his mob, and he believes it is the one called “Kick-Assâ€. Now with gun totting criminals after him, Dave is way out of his league and he must rely on the help of Big Daddy & Hit Girl, if he wants to survive.
I am a big fan of comic books and I too use to dream of being a superhero as a young child. I always wanted the super powers to go along with it though, not like Batman, who was just a human with gadgets. That’s the basis of this movie. They are just regular people fighting crime. I thought this movie was really fun and entertaining. It had a lot of action and wasn’t your normal teenage movie, hence the “R†rating. Yes this movie takes full advantage of that rating, and I guess that’s why adults can enjoy it as well. The action is brutal and the language is harsh. Most of this comes from the child actress, Chloe Grace Moretz. This little girl steals the film, hands down. In today’s movies it has become very common to hear brutal language coming out of the mouths of children. Jodie Foster did it in “Taxi Driverâ€. Natalie Portman did it in “The Professional†and new child actor Bobb’e J Thompson from “Role Models†has the foulest mouth out. With Chloe though, she also had to learn to do some awesome fighting moves in this movie. When it came to the action scenes it this film, she stole every single one she was in. This little girl has a bright future. Aaron Johnson who plays the title role, is actually a well known actor in England, but never got his big break in America till this movie. He has already finished production on his next movie, a drama/thriller due out this year called “Chatroomâ€. Nicholas Cage was pretty funny in this film as the only adult superhero. Every time he was his alto ego, Big Daddy he would start talking in a monotone voice like Adam West from the old Batman TV show. It was hysterical. Christopher Mintz-Plasse also stars in this movie as Chris D’ Amico aka “Red Mistâ€. He had some funny scenes as well, but I know he’ll play a bigger role in the next film. Yes I said it! There will be a sequel to this movie.
Overall I thought this movie was worth the price of admission, especially for comic fans, which it was geared towards anyway. I gave this movie 2 ¾ superpowers out of 4. I was content with just watching Chloe Grace Moretz kick adult ass all through this movie. The movie is rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and drug use – some involving children. It ran 1 hour and 57mins. It was directed by Matthew Vaughn. It was written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman from source material from the comic “Kick –Ass†by Mark Millar and John S. Romita. The film was produced by MARV Films, Plan B Entertainment. It was distributed by Lionsgate.
If you see a crime in progress, go kick some ass. Ezo
Next week review: TBD
