Kick-Ass Lives Up To Its Name

I had the great fortune to see Kick-Ass in theaters on Friday and its quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen in theaters in months. The plot follows a nerdy High-school kid named Dave Lizewski. One day and without any real reason he decides to become a superhero mostly because nobody has done it before (that he knows of). However, unlike the typical story that starts with this sort of premise – Dave is not a natural. In fact, he fails utterly. This is why the movie works.

The movie excels in taking various cliches and messing with them to create an entirely new experience. The best way for me to describe this picture is if the Watchmen and Superbad had a baby… and included an 11 year old assassin girl. Dave may be the main character but its not going to be the titular Kick Ass who gets the most applause from audience members… that will almost definitely be Hit Girl. This 11 year old foul-mouthed, mass murdering girl caused the audience I saw the movie with to applaud at least 10 times. The character is absolutely captivating and shocking.

Trying to describe why this movie is so good is actually very difficult because a lot of its greatness is in its energy and sheer punk aesthetic. This is a film made by people who don’t give a fuck about social mores and nothing is off limits. Its an entirely ridiculous blending of the superhero movie with the comedy, and it’ll be one of the most amusing theater going experiences you’ll have. My experience with watching Kick-Ass can only be compared to one other theater-going experience: Grindhouse on opening weekend. It may not be the most technically impressive movie but there is enough cleverness and energy there to keep you thoroughly entertained. Well worth the ticket price if you aren’t easily offended.

Final Score: 9/10

Originally posted: April 19, 2010