Comic book films are a funny genre of film, they can be camp, dark, violent and even funny, but what happens when you roll all of them together, you get KICK ASS.
The Comic film goes all the way back to the 40s with the likes of Dick Tracy, George Reeves's Superman films and even a very dodgy black and white Batman film but as the decades changed so did the comics and the films spawned from them, comics got camper and so did the film, Adam West's Batman being the case in point, but you also got films like Doc Savage, As the 80s approached, gone was the camp of the 60s and 70s, and in was the darkness, more violent comics emerged. Writer's such as Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Frank Miller (Sin City) were bringing their own unique and decidedly more adult styles to established characters. In 1989 Director Tim Burton brought Batman back to the big screen in a very different take and created the first blockbuster Comic book film. Now in the 21st century, Comic book films are the staple of the summer, this year alone we have Captain America, Thor and The Green Lantern, the films are huge money makers. But when a comic book that is barely a comic book, written by a Scottish writer is optioned for a movie to be made independently and written by the wife of Jonathan Ross and directed by the producer of Snatch, you's expect a miserable failure. What we got was an on the money, funny, Camp, Violent and Dark comic book film that stunned audiences making it a box office success, that film is KICK ASS.
Kick Ass' plot follows the life of Teenager Dave, A nobody, a Geek, who wonder's what it would be like to throw on a costume and fight crime like a real superhero. Unbelievably he puts a plan into motion and creates his alter ego...KICK ASS. The first time he attempts to fight crime, it ends badly with Dave getting stabbed and then hit by a car. The consequences of being a real life superhero, unlike the comics where the hero gets back upto his feet to fight crime once again. Dave doesn't let this deter him. He heads back onto the street and saves a man's life from a gang of thugs. After the incident is filmed and put on youtube, Kick Ass becomes a success. He catches the attention of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, an 11 year old John Woo type killer. Big Daddy's mission is to take down the gangster who killed his wife. The Gangster Frank D'Amico believes it's Kick Ass taking out his men and with the help of his son, Red Mist, sets a trap for kick Ass. When Red Mist discovers that it's not Kick Ass killing his father's men, but Big Daddy, they set another trap. After Killing Big Daddy, Hit Girl and Kick go after Frank D'Amico in a violent, bloody and bullet riddled finale.
The cast of Kick Ass is great, Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) play's Kick Ass, He is great, he's weedy, geeky and shy, but when he puts on the suit he's still geeky but takes on an almost different personality.
Mark Strong (RocknRolla) play's Frank D'Amico, a ruthless gangster and Strong is great. The most amazing thing about Johnson and Strong is that they're both British actors doing flawless American accents.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin' plays Chris D'Amico/Red Mist and he's really good, a long way from the nerd-tastic role he played in Superbad.
Nicholas Cage, the name attached to the film, is freaking awesome as Big Daddy, Former NYPD cop turned avenger. He's camp, serious and dark all at the same time, it's great to see Cage playing this sort of role. He's pretty funny too.
The film though, belongs to Chloe Moretz, The 13 year old plays Mindy aka Hit Girl, a character that doesn't think twice about killing someone and has the mouth of a fishwife. She's so badass and for a role like this and her age, I'm reminded of the very early roles of Dakota Fanning. Keep an eye on Moretz because she is definitely someone to watch.
Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn's script is spot on, you get an origin story and a great ending and everything in-between gels perfectly. But when you have a script based on a pre-existing story, it shouldn't fail. What Kick Ass does better than most superhero films, shows us the consequences of attempting to fight crime, Mark Miller's comic defies normal comic conventions just like his previous film Wanted. The film is violent foul mouthed and very very funny and you find your self relating to the character of Dave/ Kick Ass.
The direction is great and Matthew Vaughn seems to have a tight grip on confined action scenes such as the apartment battle and the penthouse shoot out. You can see the John Woo influences coming to the forefront as Hit Girl, armed with two hand guns takes out goon after goon after goon. For a man who had only previously directed two films, Layer Cake and Stardust, Vaughn, like Moretz is a film maker to watch and with his upcoming X-Men: First Class, could be the next big thing in Hollywood.
My Final Verdict:
The is review comes from a second viewing of Kick Ass, The first time I saw it, I loved it, The second time however, i really appreciated what the film was about and the way the film was made and enjoyed a lot more. Kick Ass, is a well made, well written and brilliantly acted action adventure comedy comic book movie that is funny, violent and at times pretty dark. A great entertaining movie that comes highly recommended from this guy, plus you get to see Nic Cage fire a gun at point blank range into the chest of an 11 year old girl...for practice.
MY SCORE:
FILM: 9/10
KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!
The Comic film goes all the way back to the 40s with the likes of Dick Tracy, George Reeves's Superman films and even a very dodgy black and white Batman film but as the decades changed so did the comics and the films spawned from them, comics got camper and so did the film, Adam West's Batman being the case in point, but you also got films like Doc Savage, As the 80s approached, gone was the camp of the 60s and 70s, and in was the darkness, more violent comics emerged. Writer's such as Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Frank Miller (Sin City) were bringing their own unique and decidedly more adult styles to established characters. In 1989 Director Tim Burton brought Batman back to the big screen in a very different take and created the first blockbuster Comic book film. Now in the 21st century, Comic book films are the staple of the summer, this year alone we have Captain America, Thor and The Green Lantern, the films are huge money makers. But when a comic book that is barely a comic book, written by a Scottish writer is optioned for a movie to be made independently and written by the wife of Jonathan Ross and directed by the producer of Snatch, you's expect a miserable failure. What we got was an on the money, funny, Camp, Violent and Dark comic book film that stunned audiences making it a box office success, that film is KICK ASS.
Kick Ass' plot follows the life of Teenager Dave, A nobody, a Geek, who wonder's what it would be like to throw on a costume and fight crime like a real superhero. Unbelievably he puts a plan into motion and creates his alter ego...KICK ASS. The first time he attempts to fight crime, it ends badly with Dave getting stabbed and then hit by a car. The consequences of being a real life superhero, unlike the comics where the hero gets back upto his feet to fight crime once again. Dave doesn't let this deter him. He heads back onto the street and saves a man's life from a gang of thugs. After the incident is filmed and put on youtube, Kick Ass becomes a success. He catches the attention of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, an 11 year old John Woo type killer. Big Daddy's mission is to take down the gangster who killed his wife. The Gangster Frank D'Amico believes it's Kick Ass taking out his men and with the help of his son, Red Mist, sets a trap for kick Ass. When Red Mist discovers that it's not Kick Ass killing his father's men, but Big Daddy, they set another trap. After Killing Big Daddy, Hit Girl and Kick go after Frank D'Amico in a violent, bloody and bullet riddled finale.
The cast of Kick Ass is great, Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy) play's Kick Ass, He is great, he's weedy, geeky and shy, but when he puts on the suit he's still geeky but takes on an almost different personality.
Mark Strong (RocknRolla) play's Frank D'Amico, a ruthless gangster and Strong is great. The most amazing thing about Johnson and Strong is that they're both British actors doing flawless American accents.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin' plays Chris D'Amico/Red Mist and he's really good, a long way from the nerd-tastic role he played in Superbad.
Nicholas Cage, the name attached to the film, is freaking awesome as Big Daddy, Former NYPD cop turned avenger. He's camp, serious and dark all at the same time, it's great to see Cage playing this sort of role. He's pretty funny too.
The film though, belongs to Chloe Moretz, The 13 year old plays Mindy aka Hit Girl, a character that doesn't think twice about killing someone and has the mouth of a fishwife. She's so badass and for a role like this and her age, I'm reminded of the very early roles of Dakota Fanning. Keep an eye on Moretz because she is definitely someone to watch.
Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn's script is spot on, you get an origin story and a great ending and everything in-between gels perfectly. But when you have a script based on a pre-existing story, it shouldn't fail. What Kick Ass does better than most superhero films, shows us the consequences of attempting to fight crime, Mark Miller's comic defies normal comic conventions just like his previous film Wanted. The film is violent foul mouthed and very very funny and you find your self relating to the character of Dave/ Kick Ass.
The direction is great and Matthew Vaughn seems to have a tight grip on confined action scenes such as the apartment battle and the penthouse shoot out. You can see the John Woo influences coming to the forefront as Hit Girl, armed with two hand guns takes out goon after goon after goon. For a man who had only previously directed two films, Layer Cake and Stardust, Vaughn, like Moretz is a film maker to watch and with his upcoming X-Men: First Class, could be the next big thing in Hollywood.
The is review comes from a second viewing of Kick Ass, The first time I saw it, I loved it, The second time however, i really appreciated what the film was about and the way the film was made and enjoyed a lot more. Kick Ass, is a well made, well written and brilliantly acted action adventure comedy comic book movie that is funny, violent and at times pretty dark. A great entertaining movie that comes highly recommended from this guy, plus you get to see Nic Cage fire a gun at point blank range into the chest of an 11 year old girl...for practice.
MY SCORE:
FILM: 9/10
KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!
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