"Kick-Ass" is for the most part everything its title implies (4.25/5)

As much as I loved the recent batch of comic book adaptations, I was patiently waiting for a movie to come along and just lampoon the hell out of them. By lampoon I don't mean anything along the lines of "Superhero Movie" or "Epic Movie"  which mimic and hail from the film abortionists known as Seltzer and Friedberg. Instead, I was waiting for a film to legitimately tackle vigilante justice through the perspective of an everyday human being; not an expertly trained billionaire, or a billionaire decked out in iron. In the case of Dave Lizewski, the protagonist of "Kick-Ass", we get our street level view. Dave isn't anybody special. He's just a kid going through the motions as he battles teenage life. And like most teenagers, Dave has a great deal of angst. Portions of Dave's angst is channeled through chronic masturbation, but most of it is redirected towards his disgust for bad behavior going unpunished. With his comic book sized imagination, Dave is compelled to take matters into his own hands. Donning a wetsuit he purchased off the Internet and two clubs, Dave sets his sights on the streets as a means to clean them up and to make some part of his life seem cool.

In what can only be described as a "dry run", Dave takes his new persona and looks to gain a form of revenge against a pair of bullies that inadvertently pushed him to the edge. Things don't go so well for Dave in his first heroic attempt. As a matter of fact, he gets stabbed, badly beaten, and then hit by a car. On the plus side, he gets metal plates worked into his body, as well as a bundle of damaged nerves which makes pain non-existent in some extremities. But, these irreparable damages don't deter Dave. Instead, he sees them as advantages and with his confidence in tow, he hits the streets again in search of crime. After putting up his Myspace page for "Kick-Ass" in the hopes of generating 'help' requests from citizens, Dave must settle on fixing a problem with  no real action: finding someone's cat. Yet, while looking for said cat, Dave stumbles upon a group of men pummeling an individual. At this point, Dave and his alter ego 'Kick-Ass" become a beacon of light for the city. Dave jumps in and fights off the goons while a group of teens record the fight with their cellphone cameras. From here, the fight gets placed on Youtube, and Kick-Ass becomes a media sensation. Soon everyone wants a piece of this web phenomenon. From Kick-Ass comics to Kick-Ass t-shirts, Dave has crafted a world where he is no longer an apparition walking the halls of high school.

But, what Dave doesn't realize is that this kind of attention garners both positive and negative reactions. On the positive side, Dave's heroic endeavors catch the attention of a legitimate superhero tandem known as Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), the latter being an eleven year old dynamo with a vicious mouth. Big Daddy and Hit-Girl combine to form a father and daughter team that violently unleashes fury on the vermin of the city. Ultimately, they see potential in Kick-Ass despite his general lack of skill. On the negative side, Dave also catches the attention of Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), the quintessential mob boss who initially sees Kick-Ass as a joke, but as time goes on and coincidences occur, D'Amico sees Kick-Ass as a threat that needs to be dealt with. And to further his problems, Dave enters in a friendship with the girl of his dreams (Katie as played by Lyndsy Fonseca), but can't leave the friend zone because she thinks he's gay. What ensues from this point on is a barrage of stylistic violence and curse filled vengeance, as Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, and Big Daddy try to find a little bit of order through the use of chaos. Although the film nearly touches convention at the end, for the most part it defies all of the comic book expectations  we've come to know over the years as it delves into the dreams and aspirations of comic book and videogames fans alike.

Of course this is not to say the film is made merely out of fan service. Sure, the stylistic violence is cool to see as it's placed against a rock song, and certainly the film's screenplay has a Quentin Tarantino vibe to it, but the film is somewhat critical of Dave's endeavors. As the film progresses, Dave and in some respects Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, see that there is a price to pay to be a 'hero'. There are the obvious physical implications for living such a life, but also they have everything else to lose. In the case of Dave, if he were to die he'd lose whatever slight chance he had with Katie. But, more pertinently he has forced himself to live a double life, one that restricts what he can do with both of his aliases. In the case of Hit-Girl, she'd obviously lose her only family in Big Daddy, but she has lost her entire childhood and sense of innocence in order to fight crime. These sacrifices all come ahead in a third act that is both brutal and oddly empowering, as these bold characters take a step back and reflect upon what they're actually wrapped up in. It is also in this third act where another message comes to fruition and that is the film's attack on the mass media. Now the message itself wasn't nearly as strong as I was expecting, but it was scathing nonetheless of the media's desire to build up a person, only to salivate when said person is about to break down.

With the undertones aside, what really impressed me about "Kick-Ass" is that it was able to deftly balance many elements (comedy, action, etc.) while still maintaining its own voice.  For one, the film features action/fight scenes that are beautifully choreographed. Certainly there is quite a bit of limb shredding, but I was impressed by the gracefully orchestrated bloodshed. In addition to this, the film also features enough crass dialogue to buy yourself a ticket straight to hell. Much like the dialogue found in "Superbad", no matter how inappropriate it may sound, it's always funny and authentic. This can be attributed to the crackling screenplay by director Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, but a lot of the material is elevated by the actors. Aaron Johnson, who plays the titular character, delivers a wonderfully grounded performance as Dave. He's not overly stereotypical in his creation of Dave. Instead, he is merely a humble teenager grasping for his dreams, no matter how offbeat they may seem.

Despite Aaron Johnson delivering a good performance, the real stars are Nicholas Cage and Chloe Moretz. Cage is consistently funny (for the first time in a while he's funny intentionally) as he channels Adam West's Batman incarnation from the 1960's. As Hit-Girl, Chloe Moretz is a revelation as she practically steals every scene she's in. Whether it's a simple delivery of dialogue or working henchmen over, Chloe delivers her performance with childish glee and is wholly enjoyable, no matter how controversial the role may be. Unfortunately for some people, it will be Chloe's character, Hit-Girl, that will make them pass up this pulpy actioner. This is quite disappointing considering that whoever passes this film up will be missing out on an extremely enjoyable tale.  Sure there are violent scenes involving an 11 year old, but does the over the top violence become far more acceptable if it was done by a 40 year old or any one else for that matter? I'd say no, but then again that won't stop someone from taking this film at face value and neglecting the fact that it has something far more interesting going on underneath the carnage.