Movie Review Monday: Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass starts out with a young, costumed figure standing atop a skyscraper as the hero narrates about why no one ever thought to be a superhero before him. With all of the comic books, movies, and TV shows out there, he figures someone, one eccentric loner, would have made himself a costume. He continues to wonder if everyday life is so exciting, if schools and offices are so thrilling, then how is it he’s the only one who fantasized about this?
He finishes the opening monologue by saying that, at some point in our lives, we all wanted to be a superhero.
And Kick-Ass does just that. It makes you want to be a superhero. To go out and buy a costume and take some martial arts classes and learn how to use some nunchucks. It makes you want to go out and kick some ass.
Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake) and starring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from Superbad), Kick-Ass is one of the best superhero films I’ve ever seen. Why? Because it’s not overacted or overproduced or overdone with special effects. It’s not about mutants with unusual abilities or millionaires who feel the need to save the world. Instead, it’s about real people trying to do extraordinary things, with some of them realizing they’ve gotten in over their heads. And that’s what gives the film its heart.
The script is fun and filled with action, the acting solid, the characters engaging, and the story inspiring. What more do you want in a superhero movie?
Oh, and Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall is scheduled for release in 2012. I’m going to make sure to catch that one at the theaters.
This is one I keep meaning to rent, but I wasn’t convinced based on what I’d heard. Now I’ll definitely get it!
Comment by Melanie — February 2, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
I had no desire to see this when it came out, but then I saw it listed in a couple of places as one of the top 20 films of 2010 and decided to give it a look and I wasn’t disappointed. I will add that it definitely earned its R rating for violence and language.
Comment by admin — February 3, 2011 @ 7:39 am