There is a definitive line on what a superhero film is based off of, between caped crusaders, men of steel and avenging super forces. One thing about these films are that they stick to a restrictive boundary that is given for a feel good, warm hearted outcome and overall propriety of the respected film or franchise.
This film is not one of them.
When Mark Miller and John Romita Jr. created the comic book by the same name, they incorporated the
real life aspects of what a teenager would endure if he decided one day he would throw on a costume and fight crime. The outcome was severe as the overtone of violence would be brutal and shocking to the readers.
Kick-Ass 2 attempts to take a page from the comic but takes a little off the fastball, in a good way. The film continues where the first movie left off. Several years may have gone by but the plot line still remains. Though main character Dave Lizewski, Kick-Ass, played by Aaron Johnson (Godzilla, Savages) and his young ally in crime fighting Mindy McCready, Hit-Girl, played by Chloë Grace Moretz (Carrie, Let Me In) continue to do what they do best, to fight the good fight and thwart criminals who prey on the helpless.
Vigilantes begin to appear in the wake of the first Kick-Ass movie, patroling the streets and safe guard the New York City’s citizens. But a new kind of terror arises as Chris D’Amico, Red-Mist, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Super Bad, Role Models), is still the same under-appreciated rich kid that starts a super villain empire as he seeks revenge. With his father’s untimely death at the hands of Kick-Ass, D’Amico has since inherited the mob boss’s fortune. His liaison played by comedian John Leguizamo (Miracle at St. Anna and The Lincoln Lawyer), who surprisingly does not have any comedic aspect in this movie.
The majority of the film is about the main characters learning about themselves. We see an ongoing adolescent battle with Mindy as she figures out what she wants as a young 16 year old girl. She has to decide what’s more important, being Hit-Girl or living her life as a normal teen, which has many funny and awkward situations as she gets involved with an adult oriented version of the Mean Girls. Even Kick-Ass briefly goes through similar situations as well.
Actor comedic Jim Carrey (The Truman Show, Dumb and Dumber), who is more infamous now due to his public scrutiny of Kick-Ass 2 and the movie’s excessive violence, plays Colonel Stars and Stripes. He has brought together a band of superhero vigilantes which include Donald Faison (Scrubs) and Clark Dukes (Hot Tub Time Machine). They want Kick-Ass to join their team.
After a few trial and errors, and even tragedy, the group has to come together and face the new threat in the form of the Red-Mist the first self proclaimed super villain who is now dubbed The Mother-#@$%&! He invokes his super villain tyranny with his hired muscles which includes Ukraine body builder Olga Kurkulina who does majority of the climactic and violent overtones of the movie.
If there was anything that bothered me in the film, it was from actress Lyndsy Fonseca (Nikita) who reprises her role as Kick-Ass girlfriend, but unlike the long onscreen supporting role she played in the first film, she has such a quick dialogued sequence with Dave Lizewski and just like that, she’s gone. After her character build up in Kick-Ass it was surprising that she didn’t have a bigger role.
Detective Marcus Williams, Mindy’s legal guardian,is recast with actor Morris Chestnut (The Call, The Game Plan). Garrett M. Brown also reprises his role and motivates the progress of the film as Kick-Ass’s father Mr. Lizewski.
The movie is entertaining! Funny as a movie with crude, obnoxious and overly excessive cursing would be and just like the first movie has the action with terrific choreographed fight scenes and over the top sequences.
For fans of the first Kick-Ass this is definitely over the top and in my opinion is one of the best Rated R superhero films thus far. For fans of the comic book, due note that the Kick-Ass 2 comic book has very little to do with the film. Unlike the limb chopping head decapitating comic we’ve grown to love, this movie is violent but not to the level of its source material. Which is a good thing in my opinion.
Directed By: Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carry, Clark Dukes, Donald Faison and Morris Chestnut.
Rated R for: crude humor, mild sexual references and intense violence
Run time: 103 minutes
After Credits Scene: Yes. Definitely stay after the credits more morbid hilarity!
Out of 5 Nerdskulls
Story: 4/ Acting: 3.5/ Directing: 3.5/ Visuals: 4
OVERALL: 4 out of 5 Nerdskulls
Check out the trailer below:
