Kick-Ass

Matthew Vaughn, welcome to the big time. After two decent attempts and wild genre change in 'Layer Cake' and 'Stardust', he now, with his latest effort finds himself on the speed dial to every studio in Hollywood. Quite simply, this is a film designed to entertain, thrill, and provoke endless censorship debate in modern cinema. This is a film for the times and one that will be surely be remembered in many years to come as a sure sign of the zeitgeist at the early 2010's. And with it, Vaughn has sealed his place in A-List Directors to watch out for. Here he directs with such confidence and flair, you wonder why you haven't noticed it before in his movies. This is down to one major reason I believe. Vaughn funded 'Kick-Ass' independently thus alleviating himself from the constant strain of over bearing studios breathing down his neck. Incidentally, he ended up selling the film back to Universal for more than he initially asked from them to make it in the first place. As a result, he made the film on his terms and on every frame does this show. Where else would you see a foul mouthed 11 year old girl-assassin lay waste to a room full of drug dealers? As is befitting its source material, (the 2008 comic book series written by Mark Miller) the film pulls absolutely no punches. It is quite possibly, the most fun you might have in a darkened room full of strangers this year.

Dave Lizewski is an everyday normal teenager. Painfully normal. His humdrum boring existence (not to mention, a love of all things comic-book related) leads him to wonder why real life people don't don spandex and become vigilantes on the streets in the name of Superheroes everywhere. 'Because they would get their ass kicked', retorts one of his friends. Aside from this being true, this does not sway Dave and soon he is patrolling the streets and attempting to stop muggings and every day street violence in his own, E-Bay bought costume. It turns out Daves friend was right. Dave does certainly get his ass kicked. It's not long however before Dave makes a name for himself online as his Superhero alter ego Kick-Ass. This leads to a few copycat vigilantes in the name of Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and his daughter, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz). The difference here, is that these two are the real deal. They are the closest things to Superheroes the film has, albeit completely bat-shit crazy. While Kick-Ass has his sights on small time gang crime, the other two have their crosshairs set on Gangster Kingpin Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong)and it is in this that Kick-Ass gets involved and way over his head with.

The cast are all uniformly excellent. Without a single false note in it, everyone delivers very memorable work and manages to stand out amongst the mad cap profanity and violence. As the lead protagonist British actor Aaron Johnson handles a very tough job very well. It is in he, that the film must be grounded in order for all the craziness to lead from later. Christopher Mintz-Plasse proves he actually isn't the one note McLovin everyone had him initially pegged for as the (again, useless) Superhero Red Mist. Strong, playing the bad guy is going to get tiring quite soon as he has done it so many times before already, however here he is a very formidable threat to our heroes. And then there is Cage and Moretz, the movies secret weapons. Cage here is having a ball and seems to be having the most fun he's had in years. It is easily the best performance he has given in a very long time. Whether he is taking out an entire warehouse of goons or imitating Adam West (Big Daddy's costume bears a striking resemblance to one caped crusader) Cage excels in all his scenes. It might still be a while for him to crawl his credibility back, but on evidence here, it seems that all is certainly not lost from him. And now for Moretz. The character that will define the film for years and the one in which everyone will be talking about as they exit the cinema; she is a giddy riot. Whether spewing out filthy obscenities or mercilessly and fluidly taking out perps, Moretz proves she is now a name to watch out for. Her headline grabbing turn as Hit-Girl is sure enough going to have newspapers spewing out controversy over the moral deviance Vaughn has created by having a character like this in his film. She kills with no remorse, and is the most exciting thing in the films many excellent set pieces. An empowering female role to be proud of, she beats everyone to a pulp and is the strongest character in the film. She recalls the initial impact of originally seeing both Jodie Foster in 'Taxi Driver' and Natalie Portman in 'Leon' such is her impact. Moretz nails it, being at turns hilarious, threatening and tough while reminding the audience that she is only an 11 year old girl all the time.

With all this madness everywhere, a lesser director might have got lost in the mix. Not so Vaughn. This is a very ballsy movie in quite some time and both Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldsman should be applauded in their adaptation. The film is hilarious. It lampoons comic book movies while simultaneously being one. An off-the-wall 'Watchmen' if you will. It plays completely on its own terms and if you don't want to go along with it, then get out of its way. It is the ultimate fan boy movie writ large. Sure, the script, despite building excellently and being razor sharp does include a few small formulaic details here and there. I say put them aside; the film is there merely to entertain you, and is original in more than enough different ways to keep you watching. When something is so unabashedly crowd pleasing as this, you would be a fool not to go along with it as it breathes new life into the Superhero genre. It is violent and very morally questionable at times, but it's also a 'movie'. Are you really going to take something in which an 11 year old can kick the crap out of men twice her age as serious as that? Make no mistake, while it starts off as proclaiming a need for a Superhero in the 'real world', it is very much set in a 'movies' world. Vaughn as it turns out can have his cake and eat it. A sophisticated and funny satire of the genre yes, but also packed with enough action to keep everyone happy, lest those themes go over some peoples heads. Kudos also to John Murphy, for delivering another nuanced score to go with the picture, and Vaughn himself packing the movie with enough already known pop hits to rattle along to all the carnage. This is the 'Pulp Fiction' of comic book movies. It takes stale conventions and turns them on their heads. It is original when it needs to be, yet is wise enough to play to audience demands for entertainment.

The film is the definition of crowd pleasing. If it is possible, make sure and catch the movie with a group of mates or in a crowded theater to get the most out its charms. Laugh along to the jokes, cheer and whoop the violence (in all its comic, bloody glory) and wince as everybody at some stage gets their ass kicked. Our eponymous hero, lets not forget, is a crap Superhero after all and Vaughn gets great pleasure in repeatedly beating him to a pulp. So throw your morals out the window and go along with the fun this movie has to offer. It isn't going to win any awards, but I have the feeling that this will be remembered very fondly in many years to come. As for Matthew Vaughn, we intriguingly look on to see where he takes us next. After gritty, cockney gangsters, tongue in cheek fantasy and now, morally questionable and gun toting Superheroes, the sky is the limit.

Verdict: 79%

An hilarious script, genuinely exciting action, original characters and lots of violence added together a great movie makes. The true hero here is Vaughn who takes a very combustible concept and makes a classic, knowing comic book movie for the ages.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oy4IFvH2Tc