Culch.ie

Being A Superhero May Be Bad For Your Health But It’s Totally KICK ASS!

The last time I had anticipated a movie so much was back in 2008 when Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight hit cinema screens with an unrelenting, unapologetic thwack. Now, I never deluded myself into thinking that another hero action flick of Dark Knight standard was going to fall off the shelves of a Hollywood studio anytime soon but Matthew Vaughn’s KICK-ASS really had me interested.

I must be honest, I have never read the KICK-ASS comics and was indeed entirely oblivious to the concept until Summer of last year and even then I scoffed at the concept of Nick Cage in a faux Batman role and imagined a re-telling of the under-rated 1999 movie Mystery Men but the more I heard about the tone of the movie, the outlook, then the posters I was hooked.

“Okay you cunts… lets see what you can do now!”

Like Batman, the heroes of Kick-Ass lack an actual super powers*. Good intentions and foul mouths to make Tarentino blush, sure, but no super-strength, x-ray vision or bullet-like speed to assist in their vendetta against evil and general apathy.

The story is narrated by Dave Lizewski played by Aaron Johnson (see below for random factoid). Dave is an average high school teenager, not doing so well with the ladies, feeling a little overwhelmed by the general state of the world.  So Dave decides to actually do what so many comic book geeks have at least considered: get himself a costume and dress up like a superhero in order to fight crime.  However being untrained and lacking any combat skills whats ever Dave’s alter ego – Kick-Ass – spends most of his time merely getting his ass kicked at one point almost getting his ass killed.

Dave Lizewski: “How do I get a hold of you?”
Hit Girl: “just contact the mayor, he has a special signal that shines in the sky! It’s in the shape of a giant cock”

Enter Big Daddy (Nick Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), father and daughter vigilantes on a mission of revenge. For me, Moretz is the real draw of this movie, its best asset and perhaps it’s weakest link*  from a purely plot point of view for at the tender age of 11 years old, Hit Girl is pure comic book fantasy and well and truly somersaults across the line between a well trained real-life hero and a fictional super-empowered wonder-girl.

Many are calling Kick Ass the best Superhero movie in years. IGN say that Kick Ass is “a superhero movie unlike any that has gone before. A spectacular flight of fancy that takes genre conventions and turns them on their head. One that pays tribute to the rich history of the comic book movie, and yet in the process manages to create something wholly fresh and original. And quite possibly the benchmark against which future such efforts will be measured”

I completely agree that Kick Ass is something new, something brave for Superhero movies, a required if not natural evolution for the genre since the exciting days of Tim Burton’s Batman right through to the tame cringeworthy Spiderman 3.  Go see it, go see it soon, go see it many times, I know I will.

Photos from Universal’s Preview screening on 15th March 2010.

Silly random factoid:

Dave Lizewski is a real person who won the chance to name the lead character in Millar’s story.  Whether it was ego,  genius or a lack of any imagination that inspired him to name the character after  himself I guess his name will live forever in the annals of Superhero geekdom.

Kick-Ass is on general release in Ireland and the UK from 26th March 2010.