Kick-Ass: Movie Review

Matthew Vaughn, with Layer Cake and Stardust under his belt, became director for the third time in his career with Kick-Ass. Like most comic book films, the story of Kick-Ass is an origins story fuelled by vengeance. As I watched it, you can clearly tell that this film is going to fall into the marmite category of cinema. You will either love it, or hate it. So, with this in mind, I’m going to say why I thought Kick-Ass didn’t get as close to achieving its outlandish goals than expected.




Kick-Ass starts the film with a relatively fast pace, showing why it is a difficult process to become a successful superhero; a guy who launches himself off a building only to plunge straight into a car is the first scene of the film, but the trailer shows that – which has been advertised so many times already ended up with lots of people failing to laugh. With this film in style of being a parody of other comic book films, it does produce a few laugh-out-loud moments.

Other good points were the plentiful, violent and superbly over-the-top action sequences throughout. This ultimately saves it from being a 2 hour-long disaster; a wayward story for the central character, which then loses importance, as Hit-Girl becomes the main point to the narrative.

If it’s possible, I’d say that Kick-ass is too over-the-top in other areas; however the crux of the problem lies within the flawed characteristics of Hit-Girl, as Kick-Ass’ own story is a predictable romance plot that can be found demanding in chick-flick films. Hit-Girl is a small child going around on a murder spree – but hang on; don’t superheroes defeat the bad guys by getting them arrested? Nope, not in this case, as both Hit-Girl and Big Daddy kill numerous thugs – before Kick-Ass joins in on the fun by killing the leader of the villains. Since when did superheroes use guns? Apparently that’s the trend these days. There’s a fine line between being a superhero and being a vigilante, which is safe to say that Kick-Ass crosses several times.

When it became apparent that Nicolas Cage would appear as Big Daddy in this film, instantly questions were being asked, such as: “When was the last time Nicolas Cage appeared in a half decent film?” I’m afraid the answer you’re looking for lies more than a decade away from the present. Is Cage a really good actor? Or is it because he has starred in several great films that made his name? Well, in Kick-Ass, he puts in an effective performance – definitely not one for the Oscar’s. Aaron Johnson, who plays Kick-Ass, was pretty bland; his character lacking a dimension that would have made him a more likeable hero.

Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) was the biggest let down in the film as it felt as though the director had tried too hard to make her a comical character; but it just resulted in Hit-Girl being the most hateful person on the roster. A child spitting profanities in every other sentence is just something that is hopelessly ignorant. Is it really that funny? Hit-Girl also had a lot of one-liners to perform, which only allows us to believe that she is nothing more than an underage generic, action star. Red Mist, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse was just a sycophantic to the story; it certainly didn’t do much for the reputation he has picked up in his acting career.

Kick-Ass is a unique comic book film, offering both style and substance (sporadically) in a fairly entertaining fashion. The satire tone to the film was definitely one of the aspects that really developed the funny moments into becoming hilarious. However better acting and, perhaps, older characters are a necessity to making Kick-Ass a spectacular film, rather than the just above average feel you would acquire after watching this.

Written by Wing-Hangg Chung