One of the perks about being a manager at a movie theater is I have to (get to) screen films. See, we get reels of film in that are then combined together to make a print. That print is what you see when you go to the movies. To make sure that each print is ready for audience viewing, one of the managers has to screen it before we ever show it to the public. So, the other night I sat down in a theater all by myself at 11:00 pm and got paid to watch Kick Ass. And that it did. This movie totally describes itself.
Somehow this movie manages to be a pretty awesome super hero origin story all the while satirizing the entire genre. While doing this it creates a super hero story that is completely thrilling, surprising and original. It is better than most super hero movies though (and by most I mean nearly all) because you feel that these characters are in legitimate danger the entire time. One major flaw in the super hero genre is how super these characters really are. I couldn't get into Superman Returns at all because anytime Superman would should up the day was saved. The dude's invincible. Or take X-Men for instance, you know they're not going to kill off Wolverine or Storm because they always want to make sequels, and Halle Berry would be mad pissed if she doesn't get the appropriate screen time or her new "sexy Storm" hair cut. There's no real danger and that completely diffuses the suspense. Even Spider-man or Batman who are the most human and deep in this genre, you know that no matter what they go through, they're going to win in the end. That is not the case in this movie.
Kick Ass takes place in the real world. The Narrator, Dave (Kick Ass) Lizewski, makes many references to famous comic books, movies and actors. This is not Gotham City. This is real life New York. These people have no super powers. They are vulnerable human beings. They have special skills sure, but no powers. When these characters suit up, they are risking their lives. The movie pull no punches about this early on. Kick Ass' first attempt at heroism ends pretty badly for him. Also, along this same line, it is constantly apparent that when these heroes kill a bad guys, they're legitimately ending a life. You get that feeling and it adds to the realism in a very interesting way. This isn't 2012 where billions of people are dying and you don't care as long as John Cusack is safe. No, you don't care about the bad guys necessarily, but you're constantly aware that when they die, they die. Throughout the entire movie, they most often die at the hand of an 11 year old girl.
Chloe Grace Moretz seems to be popping up everywhere. She was Joseph Gordon-Levitts younger sister/therapist confidant in last years (500) Days of Summer. I just found out she's playing the female lead in the new Let the Right One In American remake. I can't think of someone better. She's awesome here. She doesn't give an Oscar winning performance or anything, but for an 11 year old who kills scores of people and curses like a sailor, she does a pretty damn good job. Her father is played by Nicholas Cage who is better here than he has been in years (save for The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call- New Orleans which I haven't seen, but heard he's spectacular in.) Aaron Johnson who play Dave/Kick Ass is someone I had never heard of, but he does a pretty good job. He looks a lot like Tobey McGuire in a mask, though, which I'm sure helped him secure the job. He shows a vunerability with Dave that missed on a lot of these super hero performances. Especially when they're teenagers. It works really well. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is the biggest surprise of all to me though. I never would have thought after watching him in Superbad that he would be able to pull off a real performance with depth and nuance. He does that here. He did it in Role Models too. He's really a quite a good actor. His character works for me too, and it's not at all what I expected from the trailers. It's a very well written and well acted part, but I won't say anything more than that.
What really works in Kick Ass is the action. That's what won me over initially. It is expertly crafted and shot by director Matthew Vaughn. It's exciting, frenetic and fun. This movie is better than any movie called Kick Ass has any right to be. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.
A-
