The title is the least of it. Here goes: “Kick-Ass.”
If you’re already offended, than you should stay far away from today’s edgy and uproarious action-adventure. Shockingly violent at times, with the worst imaginable curse words coming out of the mouth of an 11-year-old girl, the hard R-rated content apparently makes it faithful to the Mark Millar comic book series on which it is based.
But if you aren’t squeamish, this darkly tongue-in-cheek stunner, as translated by British writer-director Matthew Vaughn (“Layer Cake”) is an entertainingly subversive revision of the increasingly hackneyed superhero genre.
Imagine: Superheroes without super powers. In contrast to the rich, flawlessly effective gadget guru Batman or the half-arachnid swinger Spider-Man, these kids are mere mortals.
Sick of being mugged in his New York neighborhood, the title character aka hapless high schooler Dave Lizewski (unconventionally cute Aaron Johnson) decides on a whim one day to make himself a capeless crusader. He orders a scuba suit online, grabs a couple of nightsticks and sets out to fight crime. But, of course, being a nerd, he doesn’t know the first thing about brawling. After his first episode, he ends up in the hospital.
But that doesn’t stop Kick-Ass. In an effort to woo his dream girl, classmate Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca), he tangles with some thugs who draw him into a dangerous world of organized crime and epic revenge. There, he meets two more self-appointed superheroes, a father-daughter team: “Big Daddy” (Nicolas Cage) and the aforementioned “Hit Girl” aka Mindy.
“Kick-Ass”
4 out of 5 stars
Stars: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use — some involving children.
Running time: 118 minutes
As played by “(500) Days of Summer”‘s precocious Chloe Grace Moretz, as a martial arts and automatic weapons expert in a plaid pleated mini and neon purple bob wig, she and her endearing/vicious alter ego completely steal this movie. Not even Quentin Tarantino could have conjured a fierce little female like her, though his influence is all over the carnivals of carnage she initiates. Love her!
The story’s chief antagonist is your basic cold-blooded mob boss, Frank D’Amico (played by villain specialist Mark Strong). His ambitious son Chris, portrayed with flare by “Superbad”‘s beloved Christopher Mintz-Plasse, becomes another of the narrative’s superheroes, Red Mist. But he has some unexpected reservations about being a bad guy.
No one is a man (or girl) of steel in this unconventional take, in which well-developed characters are allowed to have real vulnerabilities. And the action sequences kick, well, you know what.
