KICK-ASS

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Run time: 117 min

I rarely read comics so whenever I try to review a comic based movie, I just review the movie itself. By that it means that I will not settle with anyone saying "Well that's what the comic is all about" since if the story suck, there could be a possibility that the comic is also suck. I don't care whether the movie is loyal to the book/comic or whatever it's original material is, I will just pay attention to the movie since I am not interested in comic books at all.

Watching Kick-Ass without reading the comic is something really fun if not borderline silly. The first half is a bit boring but the second part is exciting. Will Kick-Ass will be spoken in the same breath with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight? No it wont since although it is fun to watch this one is slightly better than Spider-man 3 because no matter how fun this movie is, it has no depth whatsoever, it is just some stylish movie accompanied with perfectly placed soundtrack from several movies that you already know.

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a generic version of Peter Parker, it is just no spider ever bite him and he is not alien thus he has no superpowers at all. He thinks that being a superhero doesn't need a bombshell catalyst.

Then he don a super-suit that he buy from the internet and roam the street as Kick-Ass, the only superhero without super powers or fancy gadget. Kick-Ass gain notoriety through You Tube as some bystander record his action in helping a guy from being beaten up.

It doesn't end there, Kick-Ass involved in a crime lord devious plans, where his path crossed with Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and her doting father (Nicolas Cage).

I think every decade, there always be a breakthrough in movie industry, like when Jodie Foster play a prostitute in Taxi Driver and this one, a 12 year old girl saying the 'c' word then slaughter grown up as easy as dicing onion.

Hit Girl, that potty mouth little girl, is the most annoying character I ever encounter in any movies. If the merit of good acting is being valued by how many shocking things you say on the screen I think Eric Cartman deserves an Oscar. Make no mistake Chloe Moretz acted just okay but to call Hit Girl as the most spectacular superhero(ine) is an insult to Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. No superhero on the screen could deliver punch (pun intended) like Christian Bale or Toby Maguire in Spider-man 2, and they did it without saying the 'c' word.

I have no problem seeing Ewan McGregor diving the toilet in Trainspotting, or that kid in This is England spitting 'f' word but seeing a 12 year old girl have more strength than a dozen grown ups, is borderline silly.

There are more things that is just illogical like how come a tiny rocket pack could fly as high as 30 something story building? Would FBI at least investigate who Kick-Ass is? How come Kick Ass can learn how to use Gatling gun in just minutes and how come Kick Ass, after being severely beaten with batons that can make ordinary guy hospitalized, could regain consciousness and strength in just one night. Wasn't he just an ordinary guy just like us?

Don't mention the villain, they are nothing more than just cardboard characters and comical (once again, all pun are intended) I know, by this point you will say "Hey that's the way it is in the comic book" .But everybody knows I will not settle by that. Perhaps the comic try to emphasize on the over-the-top action and jokes, or try to invent something new and racy or a satire. But a satire of what? Of nothingness?

Those illogical stuff is the one that draws the line between this film and reality. It feels that this sort of story cannot exist in reality, which means Kick-Ass is an irony since it's theme is about superhero in real world without real powers. That is not the only irony since here, it is not Kick-Ass that become the superhero, but Hit Girl.

However by attempting to gloss this film with profanity and violence, the film has lose its depth and it feels like any generic superhero movie where the good and the bad is clearly divided and no moral ambiguities at all. It is a G Rated movie with R Rated delivery. Is it cool? Well I do not equate cool with style, I equate it with substance.

If you are looking for a good laugh, this one is for you but if you are looking for depth, realism and ambiguities, The Dark Knight and Watchmen is still available on DVD and Blu-Rays.