Kick Ass

Out of boredom the other night I caught a late showing of Kick Ass. Based on previews and what people were saying it looked like it would be pretty good, and while parts of the movie were certainly entertaining I thought overall it was a slight let down. The premise behind the movie, for those of you not in the know, is what would happen if superheros existed in the real world.

The answer is gratuitous violence.

One of the people I saw it with really didn't like the movie at all. He complained that the film really couldn't decide whether it was going to be a comedy or a serious movie. I think this is a valid criticism. My biggest problem with the movie was the third act where there was a lot of potential for exploration of some pretty big themes involving justice and childhood innocence which was thrown out in favor of a higher body count. I actually thought the movie was really good during the first two acts otherwise.

Despite the disappointing end, there were some redeeming qualities. I was quite surprised at Nicholas Cage's performance. As the vigilante ex-cop, Cage was easily the best part of the movie. He was masterful as the caped hero, Big Daddy, living up to the film title whilst channelinng the spirit of Adam West from the old Batman television series.

Oh, child...

Ultimately, Kick Ass is a movie that loses focus towards the climax but overall was a fun flick. It relies a little too much on getting a laugh by having an eleven year old girl be incredibly vulgar and violently murder anything in her path (it's funny because she's so young. Get it!?) but as far as child actors go, I thought Chloe Moretz did a good job as Hit Girl, Big Daddy's daughter. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I'd recommend waiting for it to be on Netflix. Not worth $10 to see it in the theater, but worth seeing I'd say.