Hello Streakers! Boog here, with a bit of a vacation piece. You see, after that week of pretty shitty horror films, I wanted to catch up a little on newer films I hadn't seen, and hell, maybe even one I'd enjoy. Hence today's review of 2010's hyper-violent blockbuster
Kick-Ass, based on the comic book from writer Mark Millar, and penciller John Romita Jr. Oh, and SPOILERS! Lots of them. There are two reasons I'm reviewing this beyond my own wanting to see this film. First, in a weird way, I have connected it to my next review, which is going to back to old school horror, and second, very few other reviewers I have read about this film seem to get it. I'll explain my point after the jump, but I will say this: in the end, this review is positive. I'm going to be as balanced as I can, but this film was, to me, rather enjoyable. It takes some rather bland beginnings, and with some dashes of violence that would make Tarantino wonder what the hell he was watching, manages to give you a message too.
Okay, so what do I mean about the reviewers? Well, as I have stated in
a previous review, sometimes a film comes along that no one knows what to make of it. As that review posited,
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was one such film. I now posit that
Kick-Ass is another. Yes, it made money. Made so much that the sequel storyline in the comics is also being made into a film, as is the third arc. Yes, it's an action movie, violence is to be expected, even applauded, as long as it's from the heroes. But I find a disturbing trend in with most when discussing or reviewing this film. One, everyone brings up Tarantino. I can understand, considering the subject matter, but come on. Tarantino, for the most part, well, for the ONLY part, actually, does crime film. Even
Kill Bill's revenge fueled storyline, and the characters he portrayed in
From Dusk til Dawn and
Sukiyaki Western Django involved, or were criminals, or at least mercenaries. Even
Inglorious Basterds succumbs to this. Tarantino uses violence as a plot device, something horrific and terrible to keep the audience focused while he sets up another well written dialogue exchange. Violence in these films are a means to an end, and is always shown as a bad idea. They linger on the violence to shock and sicken you, so that when the characters are talking again, it's more meaningful, because you know what's coming, and, even for the bad guys, it's something you don't want to happen.
Kick-Ass is compared to Tarantino, but unfortunately, in the wrong way. Most of the time, it seems that a person latches onto the violence, and because the film doesn't focus on the aftermath the same way a Tarantino film might, they complain about it glorifying violence, or saying it promotes violence as a way to solve problems, when I truly believe it's saying the exact opposite.
Our main character is your typical teenage high-schooler who has, here's a shocker, a completely freaking boring normal existence. He goes to school, talks to his father about inane shit, and hangs out with his friends. The only thing that would make him stand out, is a common geek/nerd trait of a love of comics, especially superhero comics(I still wish someone would have the balls to do a movie on
The Authority, but that's never gonna happen). Basically, this kid has a good heart, and comes from a place of genuinely wanting to help people, and, as he can see, there's no reason not to, so he does it. He buys a wet suit, gets some gloves and boots to go with it, and proceeds to nearly die in his first outing. He gets stabbed in the gut, and nearly bleeds to death from that and other injuries, including broken ribs, fractured leg and arm bones, and muscle damage. And this is where the film seems to shift. We are told that due to the extensive work needed to put him back together, out titular hero now has an increased pain threshold, and thanks to the metal in most of his body, a resistance to repeat bone breakage, giving him a damn near honest to goodness superpower. So he continues crime fighting.
But the focus of the story there isn't on that aspect of the character. It's on this typical kid, thanks to a very convenient misunderstanding, getting to spend time with his high school crush. This gets completely derailed for a while with the introduction of two other characters, that of Hit Girl and Big Daddy, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, and Nicolas Cage, respectively. Nicolas Cage is, for the most part, his crazy ass self here, but really, it only helps the role and his performance of it. Moretz, in comparison, steals every damn scene she's in, and based on this alone, I really hope she does a whole lot more movies, because I'll want to see every single one. These two are the violent centerpiece of the film, bringing the other characetrs of the film together through their actions. Director Matthew Vaughn shows off more of his by now trademark frenetic visual style, in part influenced from the heavily character driven, Guy Ritchie directed
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and
Snatch, both of which Vaughn produced, and honed in his first two directing efforts, 2004's
Layer Cake, a crime thriller starring Daniel Craig, and 2007's
Stardust, a fantasy adaptation of the Neil Gaiman book of the same name. Vaughn's directorial talents can also be seen in the recently released
X-Men: First Class. A small bit on the visuals and music here: I love Vaughn's storytelling style. Every little bit of film here exuded some kind of charm, shock, awe, or other emotion that really works to the benefit of the film, and to the benefit of what it's trying to convey. For that, I need to go a little in depth into the characters themselves. First, Kick-Ass. This kid is freaking tough, in that he really is someone who wants to do good, and shows how much good by being literally ready to lay down his life for a complete stranger. Big Daddy and Hit Girl, by comparison. are the 90s Rob Liefeld Image Comics crew to Kick-Ass' four color vigilantism. That means they kill every bad guy they see, with lots of blood, and lots of smiles while doing so. Hit Girl is 11, by the way.
So, then we get to the heart of the matter: Kick-Ass, the superhero, is just a normal kid fed up with the world around him and decides to do something about it, by becoming a costumed vigilante.
Kick-Ass, the film, is a cautionary tale of hope, and loss, and the uselessness of violence as a way to solve problems, especially when it comes to revenge. You see, Big Daddy is supposed to come off as a kind of villain in this piece. His obsession over the death of the wife has driven him to become the kind of gun toting killer he used to put behind bars as a cop, and not only that, he has let it blind him to the fact that he denied his daughter a childhood by training her in the ways of death and destruction from a very young age, even forgoing traditional schooling, all for his hatred of one man that he believes ruined his life. While anger in this case, even outright rage, may be justified, how in the hell can he justify turning an 11 year old girl into a killing machine? The violence these two perpetrate in the name of revenge, is supposed to be APPALLING and SHOCKING in it's execution, no pun intended, and it is. I don't see how anyone can watch those scenes and say that they are played for laughs, or are somehow desensitizing. They are there to showcase just how screwed up Hit Girl is, thanks to her father's thirst for blood. In the end, his revenge is completed, even if he doesn't get to live to see it. Which is the whole point of the story, I think. Big Daddy dies never getting his revenge. Hit Girl almost dies in the process of trying to complete her father's task, and, in the end, fails, with Kick-Ass getting the final blow. But this is also rendered meaningless through the survival of another character, Red Mist, who, as the son of the man Big Daddy wanted dead, now has his own revenge to plan, thanks to the killing of his father.
If nothing else, this film is actually a treatise AGAINST it's own cycle of violence, and should be seen as such. In that way, it becomes more than just a self-aware comic book movie. It becomes one of the best films I've ever seen. Seriously, I heavily recommend
Kick-Ass to anyone and everyone. Just know going in that you're in for for a lot of blood, a disturbing amount of revenge fueled psychosis, and, in the end, a lot of heart.
Our main character is your typical teenage high-schooler who has, here's a shocker, a completely freaking boring normal existence. He goes to school, talks to his father about inane shit, and hangs out with his friends. The only thing that would make him stand out, is a common geek/nerd trait of a love of comics, especially superhero comics(I still wish someone would have the balls to do a movie on The Authority, but that's never gonna happen). Basically, this kid has a good heart, and comes from a place of genuinely wanting to help people, and, as he can see, there's no reason not to, so he does it. He buys a wet suit, gets some gloves and boots to go with it, and proceeds to nearly die in his first outing. He gets stabbed in the gut, and nearly bleeds to death from that and other injuries, including broken ribs, fractured leg and arm bones, and muscle damage. And this is where the film seems to shift. We are told that due to the extensive work needed to put him back together, out titular hero now has an increased pain threshold, and thanks to the metal in most of his body, a resistance to repeat bone breakage, giving him a damn near honest to goodness superpower. So he continues crime fighting. 
But the focus of the story there isn't on that aspect of the character. It's on this typical kid, thanks to a very convenient misunderstanding, getting to spend time with his high school crush. This gets completely derailed for a while with the introduction of two other characters, that of Hit Girl and Big Daddy, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, and Nicolas Cage, respectively. Nicolas Cage is, for the most part, his crazy ass self here, but really, it only helps the role and his performance of it. Moretz, in comparison, steals every damn scene she's in, and based on this alone, I really hope she does a whole lot more movies, because I'll want to see every single one. These two are the violent centerpiece of the film, bringing the other characetrs of the film together through their actions. Director Matthew Vaughn shows off more of his by now trademark frenetic visual style, in part influenced from the heavily character driven, Guy Ritchie directed Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch, both of which Vaughn produced, and honed in his first two directing efforts, 2004's Layer Cake, a crime thriller starring Daniel Craig, and 2007's Stardust, a fantasy adaptation of the Neil Gaiman book of the same name. Vaughn's directorial talents can also be seen in the recently released X-Men: First Class. A small bit on the visuals and music here: I love Vaughn's storytelling style. Every little bit of film here exuded some kind of charm, shock, awe, or other emotion that really works to the benefit of the film, and to the benefit of what it's trying to convey. For that, I need to go a little in depth into the characters themselves. First, Kick-Ass. This kid is freaking tough, in that he really is someone who wants to do good, and shows how much good by being literally ready to lay down his life for a complete stranger. Big Daddy and Hit Girl, by comparison. are the 90s Rob Liefeld Image Comics crew to Kick-Ass' four color vigilantism. That means they kill every bad guy they see, with lots of blood, and lots of smiles while doing so. Hit Girl is 11, by the way. 
So, then we get to the heart of the matter: Kick-Ass, the superhero, is just a normal kid fed up with the world around him and decides to do something about it, by becoming a costumed vigilante. Kick-Ass, the film, is a cautionary tale of hope, and loss, and the uselessness of violence as a way to solve problems, especially when it comes to revenge. You see, Big Daddy is supposed to come off as a kind of villain in this piece. His obsession over the death of the wife has driven him to become the kind of gun toting killer he used to put behind bars as a cop, and not only that, he has let it blind him to the fact that he denied his daughter a childhood by training her in the ways of death and destruction from a very young age, even forgoing traditional schooling, all for his hatred of one man that he believes ruined his life. While anger in this case, even outright rage, may be justified, how in the hell can he justify turning an 11 year old girl into a killing machine? The violence these two perpetrate in the name of revenge, is supposed to be APPALLING and SHOCKING in it's execution, no pun intended, and it is. I don't see how anyone can watch those scenes and say that they are played for laughs, or are somehow desensitizing. They are there to showcase just how screwed up Hit Girl is, thanks to her father's thirst for blood. In the end, his revenge is completed, even if he doesn't get to live to see it. Which is the whole point of the story, I think. Big Daddy dies never getting his revenge. Hit Girl almost dies in the process of trying to complete her father's task, and, in the end, fails, with Kick-Ass getting the final blow. But this is also rendered meaningless through the survival of another character, Red Mist, who, as the son of the man Big Daddy wanted dead, now has his own revenge to plan, thanks to the killing of his father. 
If nothing else, this film is actually a treatise AGAINST it's own cycle of violence, and should be seen as such. In that way, it becomes more than just a self-aware comic book movie. It becomes one of the best films I've ever seen. Seriously, I heavily recommend Kick-Ass to anyone and everyone. Just know going in that you're in for for a lot of blood, a disturbing amount of revenge fueled psychosis, and, in the end, a lot of heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment