Kick Ass was pretty kick-ass.
There, pun complete. I'm happy, and you don't have to wonder when I'm going to work it into my review. Now lets move on.
I'm not going to lie to you, I really didn't have any high hopes walking into Kick Ass. I tend to be a very reluctant fan of Mark Millar, in that his hucksterism gets to me and turns me off his stuff, but I'll be damned if the majority of his stuff isn't pretty awesome. Kick Ass was exactly that, pretty awesome.
The story goes that one day, perpetual every-teen Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to become the best citizen ever and through on a mask to take on crime head on. Along the way he becomes an internet phenomenon, inspiring others to take up the fight only to raise the ire of the resident drug kingpin. All this is done, of course, with the typical Millar flair for violence and crazy action, which was the real selling point for me.
Turning it up a notch were all the performances. From Johnson's nervously confident Kick-Ass, to Nic Cage's as the Daddy-Dearest-with-a-shotgun superhero Big Daddy, everyone was perfectly cast. My favorite character though, and the one that surely steals the movie, is the spry tough-as-nails 12 year old Hit Girl played by Chloe Moretz. Her scenes are by far the best things in the movie, full of the craziest of crazy action and one of the best lobby scenes since the Matrix. She's probably the main reason I want to see it again, I was so pumped up by all that.
This stuff isn't Shakespeare, but it still never failed to entertain me. I don't know if I was just in the mood for a superhero adventure with a side of crazy violence or what, but it just blew me away with how much fun it all way.
I honestly haven't been blown away by a movie in this way in long time. You know that feeling you get when a movie just grips you and you're taken for a great ride, only to be tossed aside as the movie ends? That ragdoll-whiplash of emotions? That's how I felt after Kick Ass.
With such a fantastic start, I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings. Now the bar is set even higher for Iron Man 2.
I actually cheered out loud for Hit Girl! The movie changed quite a bit about the ending, but some things just don't translate to film. Kick-Ass, the movie, was still an absolute blast.
ReplyDeleteI heard somewhere that the end of the comic was similar to the end of Wanted, which wasn't very good, in my opinion(take that internet acronyms!).
ReplyDeleteWas it worth it? Should I check it out? I'm really on the fence about the book, but I'm totally convince-able.