Kick-Ass

Let's look back and consider the last few years as far as comic-book movies are concerned: mostly competent adaptations (most of the Spider-Man an X-Men series), some excellent ones (Iron Man, for example) and a few that transcend the genre: Watchmen, Batman Begins, and especially The Dark Knight. The last three could be considered more or less successful attempts at deconstructing the most important myths of the comic-book hero.  After deconstructing the genre, why not take a stab at reconstructing it also?

Kick-Ass is based on a brilliant (although not fantastically original) premise by Mark Millar, brilliantly illustrated by John Romita, Jr. Instead of thinking from the outside in, as in a world full of super-heroes and villains, Kick-Ass is thought up the other way around. Why hasn't anybody tried to be a super-hero in real life? "They'd be dead in like, a day" replies the movie. Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson) decides it'd be the most natural thing in the world, orders a diving suit, and after donning it becomes the titular character. He's got no training, no special skills, just a lot of guts and a good heart. Unfortunately those are hardly sufficient, as he is brutally beaten the first time he actually tries to fight crime. What seemed to be a light-hearted comedy then suddenly takes a turn for the brutal, rated "R" (for awesome) romp, that's as genre savvy as it is fun.

Kick-Ass soon encounters other "heroes" (the term should be used extremely lightly when discussing most masked people in the movie), Bid Daddy, the ever fantastic Nicholas Cage (whose quirky Adam West-like take on his character is memorable), his daughter, Hit Girl, and the aptly-named Red Mist (who's all smoke and mirrors).  Hit Girl is portrayed by Chloë Grace Moretz in a star-making performance, her relentless energy carrying each and every scene, no matter who's in it. You'll remember her and her character long after you've forgotten everything else about the movie. Which is not to say that it's forgettable, because that's far from the truth. Mark Strong is also unforgettable as the "bad guy", bringing life to a character that in the comics is bland. 

The source-material is dark, violent, and is much more intelligent than it lets on, hiding sharp commentaries about how deranged someone actually should be to hide behind a mask and fight evildoers behind panels upon panels of the old "ultra violence". The movie does a good job at adapting it for the silver screen, improving in some areas, but actually toning it down (!) in others. It's a shame, because it results in a story that sometimes feels a little too optimistic, while still avoiding major pitfalls hidden in most movies of the like (no tired clichés here). I won't give them away (read the books!), but  had the producers and writers kept the darker elements, Kick-Ass would have surely ascended to cult-status. The same general message is portrayed, but detractors might say pointing it out would be pushing it. It's not, and said detractors were probably nit-picking just for the sake of it. I can see them, all "that's not possible" this and "that's sick and inhuman" that, while the rest of us are grinning madly at what transpires on the screen.
 
Kick-Ass carries itself with aplomb, and acts like it's the only one in the room worth looking at, the cool kid that everybody actually likes. One might think that it's a step backwards for a genre that's growing up, but consider Kick-Ass its coming-of-age party. What's the point of being mature and serious if you can't have a little fun once in a while?

9/10 Stefan