Movie Review: Kick-Ass: The Movie

Going into this I had a general idea of what it was about; a dude decides to try to be a superhero in the real world, and inspires others to do it too, while getting in trouble with the Mafia, and chaos and superhero-esqe things ensue.

I'd been putting it off because of the vastly mixed reviews and my sad lack of interest, until the night I saw the movie I happend to pick up the first volume of the comic and read random bits out of it, and seeing how that was I decided to finally give the movie a try.

Story: It's a bare bones origin story that's brutal and has a quirky sense of humor. It's pretty straightforward if you pay attention and the telling of it is pretty good. But somewhere in the gut it feels a little chaotic, maybe it was the way it was edited, or there's the occasional loophole in logic (sublte but still there), or sometimes I feel the motivations of the characters are really shallow, that is until it becomes something more than getting the bad guy, and that's when it gets really good.

Production Values: This movie was well cared for from costumes, to setting, props, the works. It showed a love for the type of movie that was being produced. Although some of Hit Girl's fight scenes were a tad matrix-y, they wren't nearly as bad as I first thought, so I was pleased.

Acting: The quality of the acting was top notce, and I think my sentiment is the same when I say that Hit Girl just about, if had not, stolen the show from the main protagonist, Kick-Ass, and I look forward to seeing her do other things. Nick Cage was oddly charming but yet had this deep layer of hatred and insanity underneith that fatherly face.

Comic to Movie: This is where things greatly differ, and probabily center around where the film gets the most critizism. The book, oddly enough, was being written as the movie was being produced, and to keep a simple narrative had to cut out and change a lot of things from the book (i know some of these thigns because I glanced at the book before seeing the movie). Here's the kicker, take each medium by itself and you're fine - trying to compaire them is like compairing apples and oranges in most ways - the same skeletal story exists but is told in a different way.

Final Verdict: Kick-Ass was a fun action pack movie, and although most find the tender moments to be a little out of synic with the rest of the film, you have to do some critical thinking and look beyond the moment to pull in the seriousness of what's been going on in thse peoples lives, and once you do that, you get the emotional core I think they were going for. It's not Oscar winning script material, but I think the performances and production values make it a worthwhile flick in a sea of flicks that takes themselves too seriously.