“With no power comes no responsibility.”
I had heard great things about this movie, and even a few critics have called it one of the best movies of 2010. Upon viewing it for the first time though, I cannot agree with that statement. An entertaining and at times meaningful movie, Kick Ass is not the total package that people claim it to be. First of all, I was never sure that this movie wanted you to take it seriously or not. For one, you’ve got Hit Girl, who is one of the most hilariously perverse characters I think I’ve ever seen in a movie, but the story behind her is deathly serious and grim, making you feel unsure if you are supposed to laugh at her or feel sorry. Its a similar story with other characters; you’ve got a total weenie in Aaron Johnson playing the main character. He’s got a sad sack story of his own, and claims that in order to be a hero, you need to stand up for others. Never once do you feel that he actually does that or that his character grows from this experience at all. He becomes a super hero only because he thinks it is cool, to impress a girl, and then when his stupidity causes someone to get killed and he then feels guilty about it. Even if Tobey’s spidey was a whiner, at least he had super powers and a meaningful motivation. Kick Ass has neither, making a story surrounding him seem mute.
Overall its a movie that doesn’t fully commit to its premise. It has plenty of good ideas but they are all…half-baked. The most important and entertaining part of Kick Ass is not Kick Ass, its Hit Girl. That’s what they should have made the movie about. How sad is the story when a supporting character overshadows the main character?
Story: Dave Lizewski is a comic-book-loving high school loser, trying to get the attention of a girl he likes. He decides to become a super hero despite having no powers whatsoever. As a result, his first attempt to thwart a crime sends him to the hospital. The second time is the charm though, when someone catches his fight on video and he becomes an instant viral hit. Unfortunately this also catches the attention of notorious crime boss Frank D’Amico, who now is on his tail…Okay (17/25)
Acting: Not a fan of Aaron Johnson, and his performance here did not change my view towards him. Not a fan of Nicholas Cage either, but this was a good role for him. Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse turn in commendable performances. The stand out is Chloe Grace Moretz. See this movie for Hit Girl alone. Okay (19/25)
Direction: Matthew Vaughn does a commendable job. Nothing too memorable but the action scenes shine. Lots of contrast between the darkness of the city and the brightness of the characters, which paints a strong visual image. Good (21/25)
Special Effects/X-Factor: The special effects are well done, if a little stylized and unrealistic at times. This just makes the films seem even more unsure of what it wants to be. As far as an X-Factor…Hit Girl. Otherwise its just another ho-hum comic book/super hero movie. Okay (19/25)
Overall: (76/100) = C (Watchable)
- The Good: Hit Girl. Hit Girl. Hit Girl. Hit Girl. Some of the action scenes. Generic but effective direction. Hit Girl.
- The Bad: It is nothing too special, weenie lead actor, and a story that evokes conflicting emotions without developing the main character throughout.
Verdict: Who cares about Kick-Ass?
My previous review: Rated: Midnight in Paris (2011)
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Hey GSP,
My name is Anthony and I am a fellow movie reviewer here on moviefilmreview.com. Your reviews are very good. How do you insert the pictures into your reviews? I would like to experiment with this for my next review.
Let me know.
Thanks
Anthony
Anthony,
Thanks for your support and welcome to the site.
There are several ways to add pictures. When you are in the edit screen, click on the “code” tab. Here you can use some basic HTML to edit your post. If you don’t know basic HTML that’s okay. You will see a “img” button. Put your cursor in the place you want the picture and then click this button. It will ask you for an image URL.
It works best if you upload your picture to the website first, using the “Upload” tool that is below the text box on your edit screen. Here you can upload a picture from your computer or browse the photos that have already been uploaded. Once you choose one or upload one, it will give you a URL address. Copy and paste this address into the “img” box. It will also ask you for an image name. Click back on the “visual” tab and you will see the image.
A problem is image size. If the image is too large, it will get covered up by the sidebar. If it is too small the text will fill in the gap and you will have a weird text wrap issue. I have had success changing the size of all my images to be 530-540 pixels across. This makes them fit perfectly. You can change image size once it has been added to your post with HTML code, or when you are in “visual” mode you should be able to strech or shrink the image to fit by clicking on it. Unfortunately this doesn’t work in Windows Explorer for some reason (at least for me), it doesn’t save image size, they will always go back to their original size. I edit my posts in Firefox, which allows you to change image size by clicking and dragging. It also shows the image size as you are clicking on it, which is helpful. If you have Windows Explorer, the only way that I’ve been able to change image size is with HTML code.
I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if you have any questions or if something isn’t working right for you.
Thanks again!
I think this review sums up Kick Ass pretty well. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that thought Hit Girl overshadowed Kick Ass. The movie definitely should have just been about Hit Girl alone, Chloe Grace Moretz really showed how well she could act and entertain in this movie and I’m glad I saw it, even if it was just for her!