Kick-Ass (2010) Film Review

Rated R For Strong Brutal Violence Throughout, Pervasive Language, Sexual Content, Nuduty And Some Drug Use-Some Involving Children.

1hr 57min/117min.

112 Uses Of The F-word.

Kick-Ass is one of my top 5 favorite comic-book films of all time. It is so unique and so original in everything it does. It gets the dialouge right, the casting right, the acting right and the violence and langue is done all right and fits with the tone of the film. But first, a little history. Kick-Ass is a graphic novel written by Mark Millar which ran in small parts from 2008 to 2010. In April of 2010, the graphic novel was adapted into a motion picture directed by Matthew Vaughn. The film was released and was a moderate succsses. It had a budget of $30,000,000. It recieved $48,071,303 in the United States and $96,188,903 Worldwide. The film since then has gained a huge cult following and rightfully so. I have seen the film 3 times(4 when the Sequel comes out) and each time it gets better and better. So, what makes Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass? Well let's take a look.

Dave Leweski(Aaron Johnson) is an everyday teen. He is an outsider at school, he loves comic books and has a crush on a girl at his school and asks the age-old question, "How come there are never any real life Super-heroes?" He soon becomes his own self-made Super-hero. His first venture is a duo who rob people, but things take a turn for the worst when they stab him and he gets hit by a car. Miraculously, he survives. The next night, he goes out to fight crime again when he sees a group of people beating up a kid. He goes and beats them to olivion when a bystander records the incident. Lewinski now goes under the persona of Kick-Ass. This calls the attention to a few people. The first is Mindy McCready(Chloe Grace Moretz) and her father Damon McCready(Nicholas Cage). They fight under the personas Hit-Girl and Big Daddy.

Hit-Girl is an 11-Year-Old, foul-mouth, Guns-Blazin' Vigilante whose Mother had died early on in her life. Big Daddy is, well, her father and started crime fighting due to his wife commiting suicide because Frank D'Amico(Mark Strong) Framed as a drug dealer and got Big Daddy put away for a few years. He also gets the attention of D'Amico and his son Chris(Christopher Mintz Plasse). Chris hatches a plan to become a super-hero. He becomes Red Mist. As Red Mist he lures Kick-Ass to a place where they can capture him but ultimately fail. This puts Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy in hot water.

The Character of Dave Leweski is an intresting one. He is this everyday normal high school kid that doesn't go out with the ladies, and doesn't have too much physical strength. One night, out of the blue, he decides that he's going to be somebody and, quite literally, Kick Ass. He is actually the one that gets Franks attention. If he had never put on the suit, he would have been fine. But of course this is not the most fascinating character in the film....

 The most fascinating character in the film is Hit-Girl. Spouting Off Lines Like "Okay you C***s lets see what you can do". This is the most ass-kicking girl I have seen in a major motion picture, and she's only 11. Hit-Girl actually caused controversy for the film due tto a red band trailer of her saying the aformentioned line above. Christopher Mintz-Plasse says that the people were offended by the language but not by the fact that hit girl kills tons of people in the film. Which is certainly no exaggeration. Hit-Girl kills more people than Ghostface does in the Scream films. With guns, swords and knives, she is unstoppable. With her is her father Big Daddy. Nicholas Cage fits the role superbly as Big Daddy. He dresses like Batman, and takes his daughter out for a training session, which includes shooting her while she has a bullet proof vest on. There is an exchange of dialouge between the two that is hilarious and happens early on in the film. Damon:  So... Have you thought a little more about what you might want for your birthday? Mindy: Can I Get A Puppy? Damon: You Wanna get a dog? Mindy:  Yeah, a cuddly fluffy one, and a Bratz movie-star make over Sasha! (Pause as Damon Thinks for a few moments) Mindy:  I'm just f***ing with you Daddy! Look, I'd love a Benchmade model 42 butterfly knife. Damon: (Relieved At the fact he doesn't have to get her the dog or doll) Oh, Child... You always Know me for a loop! Pure gold. This scene is an example of the relationship between the two.

The film is wonderful. Great story, convincing acting and some of the best on-screen violence and dialogue on screen. There then came a sequel in 2013....