Friday, April 16, 2010
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME
Friday, April 16, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Kick-Ass
Attention, Peter Parker:
Your Followers Emulate You, And Very Violently
Aaron Johnson as Dave aka Kick-Ass and Chloë Grace Moretz as Hit Girl in
"Kick-Ass", which opened today across the U.S. and Canada.
Lionsgate
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Friday, April 16, 2010
If you want a film that goes all out in its wildness, gusto and emulation of all
superheroes geeky, nerdy and in between, then "Kick-Ass" will satisfy your
desires most wholesomely. Director Matthew Vaughn ("Stardust") cleverly
combines wit, humor and strong graphic violence while parodying every superhero
film from the last 30 years and films like "Pulp Fiction" to execute a lively,
crackling entertainment.
Visceral, bloody, incorrect and funny, "Kick-Ass" follows an aspiring or
accidental superhero named Dave (Aaron Johnson, "The Greatest"), a Queens, New
York resident fed up with good people finishing second to the criminal element
in the Big Apple. Donning a green androgynous costume and either false bravado
or LSD-influenced gumption, he takes on a troublemaker or two. The
results, like some products you use at home, may vary, but inevitable
progression results. Soon, Dave gets a name upgrade: Kick-Ass.
In this Internet age it won't take long before the most unlikely superheroes
gain momentum. (Can you picture Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey-style
vengeance being exercised on YouTube to maximum acclaim?) Before you can
say, "lickety-split",
in true anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better style, hero imitators and emulators
are spawned, emboldened to blanket the Empire State's Big Bad City. Some
of these copy-cats should have been the very boys or girls who emerged from
1970s or 1980s showings of "Superman" or "Rocky", so desperately wanting to fly
or box. The difference is that the self-appointed super-misfits of "Kick-Ass" took that
cherished ambition and desperation a step further.
Way further.
Sly and satirical, "Kick-Ass" also pays tribute to tabloid (or cable news) television
voyeurism, commenting on the evolution (or devolution) of the mainstream media
as its networks broadcast live (ala Sidney Lumet's "Network" or Spike Lee's
"Bamboozled"), a wild or objectionable event. The film
exemplifies the example of childlike dreams and adult realities colliding head
on. Want to be a star? A big bright, shining supernova? "Here's
your initiation ceremony", the director seems to say.
Elements in Mr. Vaughn's film are occasionally showy if not vaudevillian.
Some of the characters are so exuberant or passionate you feel that they are
sure to break out in song.
Apart from the film's bold, saturated visions and beautiful nighttime set
design, there's a Keystone-Kops mob gangster outfit hell bent on taking care of
business in every way, never mind every day. And witness a funny,
homoerotic twist in "Kick-Ass" on a specific moment between Kim Basinger and Michael Keaton in
Tim Burton's "Batman". When you see it, you'll recognize it instantly.
"Kick-Ass", designed for maximum blockbuster rah-rah appeal, is tongue-in-cheek all the way with its lurid comic-strip vibe.
The film alternately self-mocks and lionizes the Big Daddies and Hit Girls of the world
while celebrating their hopes, fears and idiosyncrasies with relish and energy
in its screenplay. Well-devised by Mr. Vaughn and Jane Goldman and based
on Mark Millar's comic book series, the film contains few lulls.
"Kick-Ass" also winks knowingly at its adult sensibilities, which are exhibited
in a stylized yet idealized way, with memorable characters who appear to have
rehearsed how to play the superhero game over and over in their heads.
Mr. Vaughn's superhero crime genre drama has been anticipated with bated breath
for months now. The film is über-serious in the cartoon violence
department and priceless in the cranky, crackerjack dialogue arena.
Tailor-made for 15-year-old boys, some adults will be outraged by the film's
extreme violence and its targets. Others, while offended, will see
"Kick-Ass" for what it is: a free-wheeling, uproarious, maniacal thrill-ride
that rarely pauses for breath. Summer officially starts here. Bring
on those crazy kids!
With: Nicolas Cage, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz,
Michael Rispoli, Stu "Large" Riley, Clark Duke, Evan Peters, Garrett M. Brown,
Lyndsy Fonseca, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie Wu.
"Kick-Ass" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for
strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity
and some drug use -- some involving children. The film's running time is one hour and
58 minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2010. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
FOLLOW
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
SUBSCRIBE TO THE POPCORN REEL MOVIE
REVIEWS RSS FEED
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME