KICK ASS

So, Kick Ass. What can I say...it was an all around good time. Sort of Super Bad meets Super Heroes. If Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, and Robert Rodriguez had a movie love child this might be the result. For the unfamiliar, check out the trailer.

It is an ensamble cast but the story revolves mostly around Kick Ass himself and his dreams of being a super hero and getting the girl. Surprisingly I was quite invested in the romantic relationship between Kick Ass and his dream girl Katie (played by the charming Lyndsy Fonseca who HIMYM fans may recognize as Ted's future daughter who appears at the beginning of several episodes.)

But while the RomCom stuff between those 2 is highly enjoyable this is Hit Girl's movie. Played by the young Chloe Moretz She steals every seen she's in as you can see here...

And of course, this being America, people are very uptight and easily offended so this movie, and Hit Girl especially, have created some controversey. Even Australia got squeamish about this one...

"In January 2010, an uncensored preview clip of the film was attacked by family advocacy groups for its display of violence and use of the line "Okay you cunts, let's see what you can do now," delivered by Chloë Moretz, who was 11 at the time of filming. Australian Family Association spokesman John Morrissey claimed that "the language [was] offensive and the values inappropriate – without the saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes". In response to the controversy, Moretz stated in an interview, "If I ever uttered one word that I said in Kick-Ass, I would be grounded for years! I'd be stuck in my room until I was 20! I would never in a million years say that. I'm an average, everyday girl." Moretz says she cannot bring herself to say the film's title out loud in interviews, instead calling it "the film" in public and "Kick-Butt" at home. Christopher Mintz-Plasse expressed surprise that people are angry about the language but do not seem to be offended by the many people killed by Hit-Girl."

It's not a movie for little kid's...it's rated R for a reason. So the outcry seems silly. The "saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes" doesn't exist in the movie becasue that's not the kind of movie it sets out to be. It's a movie about what would happen if real people tried to be super heroes...sort of. The first time Kick Ass tries to "fight crime" he gets a knife in the gut and almost dies. This isn't Spider-Man so keep the kids at home if you think this isn't for them. It definitely earns it's R rating, which is what makes it so enjoyable. Besides, any movie being protested or surrounded by controversy is just that much better. Case in point...

My favorite part of the whole thing was perhaps somewhat subtle and would go unnoticed by most people I imagine. Nicolas Cage makes a birrliant acting choice with his "Big Daddy voice". It is a spot on impression of Adam West from the 1960's Batman. If you've never seen it check it out below before you go see Kick Ass.

I'm sure people in the theater thought I was crazy when I laughed at everything Big Daddy said but if you are and old school Batman fan you will love it just like me.

My main complaint with the movie was they didn't give Christopher Mintz-Plasse, (aka "McLovin") who plays the "villain" Red Mist, enough to do. I guess it was nice to see him do something a little different this time (HINT HINT Michael Cera) but he was not nearly as funny in this as he has been in Super Bad and Role Models. But it appears there will be a sequel so maybe he will have more time to shine there.

Overall I highly recommend this one. See it in theaters if you can, it's worth it. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 76% and calls it, "Not for the faint of heart, Kick Ass takes the comic adaptation genre to new levels of visual style, bloody violence, and gleeful profanity."