Many before me have commented that Kick-Ass,
the movie, is also a kick-ass movie, and I'll just say that I agree with
that assessment. Having been a minor fan of the Mark Millar/John
Romita Jr. mini-series, which purports
to set the events in a real world where there are no people with real
superpowers, I enjoyed it for its semi-comedic tone and an organic story
independent of traditional comic book universes. It wasn't
"Watchmen" but it did stand out. But unlike
Watchmen, I
do think that the movie based on the comic actually manages to exceed
the entertainment value of its print counterpart. And it is a pure
piece of entertainment, not trying to bring home any morals, messages,
or change the comic book world in one fell swoop. It just wants to
razzle-dazzle up a comic book story, poking fun at teens, media, and
most of all, other comics in a way that delivers good-natured ribbing
for the medium that stands more as an homage without ridicule.
Kick-Ass is an action movie first and foremost, but unique in
that it is a raunchy teen/family values film part of the time -- except
one with heroes and criminals. Think part Tarantino (the constant
homage, especially in its soundtrack, is a dead giveaway, not to mention
the comic violence) and part Judd Apatow (sex, drugs, pop culture,
objectified hotties who love dweebs and keen observations on typical
male-centric problems). It's a copycat of a film, but it copies
from the best, and copies quite well. But even when in dumb teen
comedy mode, which it is about half of the time, it's never dumb, and
neither is it when in dumb action movie mode, which is the other half.
What it has are characters we come to care about, moments of danger that
are palpable even when undercut by silly humor, and a slick, sometimes
brilliant sense of visual and musical energy that pulsates at just the
right moments. But above all of this, it never loses its tone,
allowing the funny moments to not be lost amid the violence and allowing
the serious moments to not be undercut by its intentionally juvenile
earnestness.
Aaron Johnson (The Illusionist,
Shanghai Knights) stars as Dave, a misfit teen, not too popular with the
other kids. But this ordinary kid won't be ordinary long when he
makes the decision that he's sick of bullies and crooks and people who
take advantage of others while the community just looks the other way.
He decides he's going to emulate his favorite superheroes by becoming
one himself, but without powers, fighting skills, or even money for a
good costume (he uses a stylish wetsuit), it's going to be hard to strike fear in the neighborhood
gangs. He learns soon enough how to at least not embarrass himself in a
fight, and soon becomes an internet sensation after being filmed taking
on three thugs on his own. Soon he has a growing list in his inbox
of misdeeds to rectify, some of which begins to draw the ire of the
city's toughest crime boss, Frank D'Amico (Strong,
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), who doesn't like some kid
meddling with his business by giving the people a reason to believe.
There's more to the story than just being this generation's
The Last
Dragon. Interwoven in Dave's tale is the story of a more
seasoned duo of vigilantes known as Big Daddy (Cage,
Knowing) and Hit Girl (Moretz,
The Eye), who look and
act like an extremely deadly version of Batman and Robin if they were
armed to the teeth and absolutely ruthless. Turns out they have a
vendetta against D'Amico on their own, so their paths do cross with
Dave's often. Meanwhile, D'Amico's own son decides he's tired of
being taken for granted as not being old or ready enough to learn about
the "family business", concocting an alter ego of his own dubbed Red
Mist, who works as a sort of mole for costumed heroes in order to gain
information of use to his father's operation.
Credit solid casting on making these comic figures come to life.
Aaron Johnson is inherently likeable as a sort of Peter Parker-esque
dweeby outcast, played with a genuineness that is perfect for the part.
Nicolas Cage plays more sullen, burdened by the loss of his wife due to
circumstances that dictate his revenge story on D'Amico. When in
Big Daddy costume, Cage riffs on the old Adam West mannered and comical
style from the old "Batman" television series, which is apropos due to
the character so closely resembling Batman (a fact which doesn't go
unnoticed by at least one character). Hit Girl is the scene
stealing character played by Chloe Moretz, who looks like a short female
version of Robin, with the attitude of the Powerpuff Girls' Buttercup,
if she had an extremely potty mouth.
Kick-Ass is directed with perfect style by Matthew Vaughn, who
made the cult gangster film Layer Cake and the quaint fantasy
Stardust, which was also adapted from a graphic novel.
Vaughn shows an adeptness with visual imagery, especially comfortable
working with CGI and knows how to mix dark brutality with comic
vulgarity in a way that works well for people who aren't already upset
at the story for purely moral grounds (seeing a young girl trained in
the ways of killing and swearing alone probably will have some viewers
dismissive). It cribs Tarantino something fierce, but given that
Quentin himself is the master of lifting styles, it's difficult to call
Vaughn out for it. He doesn't match Tarantino at his best, but he
does sidestep the excessive length and gross indulgences of Tarantino at
his worst, so he comes out about even.
While Kick-Ass takes place in a world where there are no
superpowers, it very much plays in the world of comics, with plenty of
irony, homage, tongue-in-cheek style and ridiculous physics liberally
utilized throughout. It's a fun, irreverent film that delivers
very good cinematic thriller, comedy, action, and soap opera elements
that are part and parcel the appeal of comic books at their best.
It's not The Dark Knight in
terms of complexity or thematic resonance, but, if you can handle the
morally questionable child endangerment
subtext and extreme violence and language, it's easily as fun and invigorating as
Spider-Man
and Iron Man, if not more so.
-- Followed by Kick-Ass 2 (2013).
