Kick-Ass Film Review
Director: Matthew Vaughn.
Cast: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz.
Here is Yellow Magpie’s Kick-Ass film review.
Kick-Ass is a film that initially seems inspired but upon closer viewing, it, like a lot of things in life, falls flat on its face by not knowing what it is.
Realism and and the cartoon comic book genre are two distinct aesthetics and as a golden rule should always be kept separate. To try to blend the two together in a film is a cinematic crime. Unfortunately, the creators of Kick-Ass have decided to ignore this rule and the result is insipid at best.
Kick-Ass follows Dave Lizewski from the familiar world of the adolescent. Lizewski is a likeable student traversing the daily grind of school-life. Full of teenage insecurity and lacking in confidence, he aches to be someone else, someone who is well-liked and taken seriously. His avid following of comic books leads him to become the superhero, Kick-Ass.
‘Kick-Ass follows the standard model for adolescent males going through secondary school education.’
However, reality comes crashing in to upset his cosy fantasy as the gravity of his predicament starts to dawn on him. On his way to pursuing his alternate career, Lizewski accidentally irritates the wrong people and discovers that he is not the only superhero in town, encountering Big Daddy (played by Nicholas Cage) and his deadly young daughter, Mindy.
Kick-Ass follows the standard model for adolescent males going through secondary school education. In a world in which Dave Lizewski has little or no control the idea of being a superhero holds a strong fascination.
The opportunity to challenge boundaries and to seek out solice in an ideological ideal is a construct of good morality and is present in all societies. However, Good and Evil are traditionally seen as being intertwined. In Kick-Ass the ‘good’ characters end up placing more than just a toe on the side of evil at certain points in the film as the margins between the two become blurred.
‘There is plenty of scope for the creation of three different films in the workings of Kick-Ass.‘
On the face of it, Kick-Ass appears to have been written by young, inexperienced writers – twenty-somethings that have yet to flesh out their craft and discover the details that brings their work alive. However, despite these writers being in their late 30s they have only written one film previous to this one and their inexperience shows.
There is plenty of scope for the creation of three different films in the workings of Kick-Ass. One could go completely serious and position Nicholas Cage’s character as a tortured soul, existentially trying to seek meaning by revenging the great loss of his wife and position his daughter in this conflicted world. Done in this careful manner, a great film could be born.
Likewise, one could make it an endearing comedy that has a tragic conclusion. Or one could make a film about a young adult trying to find his place in the world. However, as it is, Kick-Ass is simply a rather violent and visceral failure after displaying such great initial promise.
‘Of course the obvious answer is shock value.’
It is particularly disturbing to watch a film with an 11-year-old child having to act out scenes of horrific violence. This jars with the viewer and many who watch the film must question why someone of such a young age was used. Of course the obvious answer is shock value.
It is hard to fully focus your attention on a film that has lost its way and it is difficult to enjoy the experience when the parameters of your expectations are changing so constantly. By the end of Kick-Ass the carefully constructed introduction means nothing to the viewer as the film descends into a fantastical and bloody farce.
The initial opening scenes of Kick-Ass are charming and involving. We empathise with his plight, who hasn’t been in situation where they have had little or no control, and endearing. For some inexplicable reason the writers and people in charge then decided to factor in a comic book caper more akin to a gritty adult noir novel with too much gratuitous violence than what the gentle beginning suggested.
As the film wrestles with its identity, veering between reality and fantasy, it damages itself fatally and needlessly. One can only lament at what could have been.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Ok- You may have one or two valid points but in the same vein as zombieland I think this picked up exactly where those who loved that film wanted to see more and not see “so serioussss” of a film where people had to know the dark back story like most comic book films out this and last year; when explained in a film both take on the same meaning to both the unaware and those in the know sitting in the cinema which for lack of a better word seem… melodramatic.
I for one liked Kickass- And was glad to see it for what it was. It had a kickass soundtrack which only increased the violent aspects of it. But in a way where it gave the film a shot of adrenaline that was needed. And no need to worry about copycats out there because it was a film based on copycats! Though we know of these new city superheros that take on the job off hours from their 9-5 but you will never hear some guy taking a scythe and slicing off some drug-dealing/underage abuser’s leg!
Great site by the way
Thank you for your comment, James.
We’re glad you liked the film. It started off highly promising but its blending of genres and its mixing of realism with fantasy without apparent justification did it no favours.
Thanks for checking out our site and we hope you return soon.
i would disagree with the review, a truly original take on the superhero genre, kick-Ass transports the viewer into a world of superheroes without any superpowers, the celebration of online celebrity, and a level of exaggerated violence that would border on disturbing were it not imbued with childlike joy. It’s Looney Tunes, anime, first-person-shooter videogames, and gritty violence mixed with the innocence of Golden Age comics. A film i reckon that was never meant to be taken too seriously.
Thanks for your somewhat familiar comment, Dermot. Thanks for checking out the site and we hope you return soon.
Hi