Kick-Ass Review

 

        Now we are in the 2010s. Superhero films have  rebounded in popularity due to Iron Man and The Dark Knight. The former slowly establishing its interconnected cinematic universe with its sequel which debuted in 2010. In the midst of that, director Matthew Vaughn adapted one of the most creative superhero comics to film with Kick-Ass. Created by writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr. for Icon Comics in 2008. Kick-Ass is a literal bloodbath while being a deconstruction of what a superhero is. 

1. Dave 

        Dave Lizewski is an ordinary guy who loves comic books. He’s the invisible guy who has his own friends and is just the outcast. With the occasional moments of him having the hots for his teacher for two reasons. After being robbed by two muggers, he decides to become a hero. Albeit his origin is literally different from the other superheroes. He only loses one parent. And the girl he likes thinks he’s gay.

        Eventually he suits up to stop the same muggers from carjacking. It goes south as one would expect. Anyways, as he was in the hospital his nerves were gone which made him invulnerable. Soon, he stops a group of crooks and decides to go by the name Kick-Ass. Building an online presence to help people in need. Meanwhile, a mob boss named Frank D’Amico tries to find someone described as “Batman” from killing his men. 

        So throughout the film, Dave is exposed to the different heroes in the film which I’ll talk about in the next segment. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a good job of being the typical outcast in these stories. What I like about him is that he isn’t a normal hero in any stretch. He was partly inspired by the books and had enough of being mugged. I think what sold me is the narration from the beginning. Where we see a guy with a winged costume fall from a building and ironically crash onto a car. It sets up what kind of movie we’re expecting. 

2. The Deconstruction of Being a Hero

        This is one of those rare genre films where it is a deconstruction. Mostly that it means to call out how the whole situation in the movie or genre is going to be played out. It’s different from a parody movie where it goes out of its way to spoof how a film operates. This, meanwhile, shows what makes it work. While yes, show how the hero gets the suit, meet the bad guy, get the girl, and save the day. 

        With Kick-Ass the idea of being a hero is played straight alongside the hyper display of violence that is shown. Right when we see Dave fix a problem that affects his friend Katie. Dave is out of his league when trying to settle a dispute. When the new young hero Hit-Girl arrives, the level of violence is shown. Her appearance caused some controversy. Not with the violence, but when she says the forbidden “C”-word. 

        She doesn’t work alone, since she is the daughter of a former cop turned hero named Big Daddy. When the two train to have her feel what it’s like to be shot, it’s obviously supposed to represent Batman training Robin. Since, when reading the comics, no way would a grown up take a child in a potentially dangerous situation. One where Big Daddy saves her from a criminal she forgot to check. 

        The whole sequence is good too. Not too disorienting or too choreographed. Just showing how well-trained Hit-Girl is. All the while Kick-Ass just hides and is completely shocked by what he’s seeing. This becomes a real sticking point to him when he is seeing an actual crime instead of just petty thieving. He’s out of his league. More so that it makes Hit-Girl be just out of her mind. The only thing she can think of is her extensive training when she isn't the hero which altered how a regular 11-year-old is supposed to be. 

        It just builds this great moment for Dave. With everything he knows just by reading the comic books and having the actual event of being a hero be just too much for him. He feels that he’s not good enough to be in the same league as Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. Since the father and daughter train and have legitimate reasons as to why they’re heroes. At least it stems from Big Daddy being framed by the mob leader.

        Also, what I like is that D’Amico’s son Frank, who loves comics as well. He lives in a sheltered life and Dave wants to be friends. Chris is interesting since he wants to be like his dad. Although, much like Dave it’s too much for him to handle. Ultimately, he gets used by his father to bring in Big Daddy. I honestly thought Chris’ Red Mist was going to have a presence more. It works regardless, since he wanted to be friends with Kick-Ass when the heroes finally meet goes wrong.  

        Ultimately, the film is a superhero film. It progressively embraces itself when the film starts its individual acts. Like setting up just how ridiculous being a hero turns out to be. Dave meeting the others and realizing that it’s way too much for him too handle. Lastly, embraces the ridiculousness the only way Matthew Vaughn can show. With a jetpack with twin gatling guns, you can't say no to that. 

3. Legacy

        The film was a moderate success. With it having an R-rating showed that sub-genre of comedically violent comic book films can work given the right people to handle it. More films that had that level of violence would appear in both Deadpool films. There was a sequel, but it wasn’t as good as the first one. Matthew Vaughn continued to make comic book adaptations with his films X-Men: First Class, Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel. I feel that he’s an Edgar Wright type when it comes to adapting comic books to film. He embraces the zaniness of it without ever feeling that it’s cheap.

        I find it interesting that both Aaron Taylor Johnson and Evan Peters would appear in more comic book films. With the former appearing as the hero Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Although Peters beat him by portraying the same hero in X-Men: Days of Future Past. What’s even more crazy is that he appeared in Marvel Studio’s Wandavision. Which was supposed to have Johnson as the hero, but perhaps he was too busy.  

4. Overall

        Kick-Ass ushered in a new type of superhero films where it analyzed what it means to be a hero, and it succeeded. 

        Kick-Ass gets a four out of five.