Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson - Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) is your typical teen. He has eyes for Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca), the most beautiful girl at school and spends his days hanging out with his friends at the local comic-book store. But Dave has a secret passion – he wants to be a superhero. Just like his idols Spider-Man and Batman, Dave thinks that he can make a difference in the world and wonders why no-one has tried becoming a super-hero before now. Granted, he doesn’t have any special powers himself but with a driven attitude and a strong moral compass, Dave sets about making his dream a reality. Enter Kick-Ass, a masked hero out for justice in a world in desperate need of heroes. Soon the exploits of Kick-Ass gain huge public attention including that of crime fighting duo Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage – Ghost Rider) and Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz – (500) Days Of Summer), Mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong – Sherlock Holmes) and a potential rival in Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse – Superbad).
Kick-Ass is based on the hugely popular comic book by Mark Miller and illustrated by famed artist John Romita Jr. who has been responsible for some of Marvel Comics most iconic art of the last 30 years. Thought to be un-filmable in the past, Kick Ass has defied the odds and comes in as a powerhouse of spectacle with hilarious characters, a strong story and ultra violence all perfectly married together to make one of this year’s best movies.
Aaron Johnson does really well in giving Kick-Ass a personality. This is a story about real people told around extraordinary circumstances and that’s where the film’s ultimate success lies. You actually care about all of the characters with their problems and aspirations always feeling relatable and quite realistic to the audience. This is most true when dealing with Kick-Ass’ secret identity Dave Lizewski. Everyone has wanted to be a superhero at some point in their life and Dave manages to legitimise these dreams in a fun and entertaining way. He also handles the physical side of things brilliantly and makes for a very believable superhero.
Johnson is given great support from Nicolas Cage who has rediscovered his form in a big way here. He threatens to steal the show with a hilarious and spot-on impersonation of his Adam West-esq alter-ego Big Daddy. But even Cage on sparkling form can’t displace Chloë Grace Moretz as this films’ biggest success story. Hit-Girl finds Moretz in simply stunning form, nothing short of a revelation in fact. Her handling of the adult-themed carnage is superb and she never feels out of place be it carving up bad guys or playing the dutiful daughter to Nic Cage. After a strong supporting role in (500) Days Of Summer last year she is showing signs of real greatness and maturity. Moretz is a very accomplished talent and I expect superstardom is beckoning for her.
The film is also blessed with a wonderful roster of co-stars - Mark Strong as villainous Mob boss Frank D'Amico chews up the scenery whenever he is onscreen and Christopher Mintz-Plasse does well as Red Mist. Lyndsy Fonseca fleshes out the role of Katie; the object of Dave’s affections in a believable and sweet way whilst Clark Duke continues to bring his usual brand of dry-wit to the table as Dave’s best friend Marty.
Credit also needs to go to Jane Goldman (Mrs Jonathan Ross) and director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) who have managed to craft a wonderful screenplay off of the source material. The nature of the content meant that a lot of studios turned their back on the movie. With scenes involving a little girl slicing people apart with a samurai sword and swearing like a sailor, the big studios quickly distanced themselves from the film. Not really understanding the nature of Kick-Ass, this was very much the studios loss and hopefully with this movie’s inevitable success, more leftfield projects in a similar vein may start to get the funding needed to become live action. Make no mistake, Kick-Ass will be a major hit across the world and will pull in big figures, something the studios will have no choice but to take notice of.
Kick-Ass is a major success and one that simply cannot be missed. Managing to mix comedy with action-adventure is hard enough but to then add a strong emotional core is near-on impossible. When it wants to be, Kick-Ass can also be a painful and difficult watch too - especially in the scenes where Dave is being beaten up or when the back story to Big Daddy is explained. It’s not afraid to be shocking and will definitely leave a mark on you as it manages to grab and hold your attention throughout the 117min runtime. Kick-Ass is a triumph that sits proudly alongside the very best superhero movies of the past decade. It’s savvy, intelligent and above all, very funny.
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