Review: Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass kicks arse of that there is no doubt, but is it really worthy of all the rave reviews?

This ultra-violent pastiche of comic book traditions is vibrant independent cinema that pushes several Moral Majority/Daily Mail panic buttons with glee. But it’s also possessed of heart, and at its centre there is a moral.

Also at its centre is not Kick-Ass: although he’s the titular hero and key protagonist, the audience’s attention is gripped by Hit-Girl, the gun-toting, sword-wielding, potty-mouthed 11-year old super heroine played by Chloe Moretz. HG immediately makes the top 10 list of all-time heroines. By turns doting, confident, scared and scarred, Moretz pretty much steals the film.

Not far behind her is Nic Cage as Big Daddy. He is a truly tragic figure: first time we meet him, he’s clearly a dweeb dad – but a dad who worships his daughter (who returns that worship); next time he’s suited and booted for heroic action, and he shows off his impressive chops, but his Adam West-style delivery in his costume hints at the meek geek within; finally we learn of the great man that he was – and his fall from those heights is wretched.

It’s hard to tell whether Cage is brilliant in the role or just mad and bad – his performance walks a fine line – but it’s hard to think of another actor who could carry off the mixture of character traits so well, and his final scene is an over-the-top peach.

Aaron Johnson, as Kick-Ass, plays it just right: ie while his delivery is very Peter Parker-esque, he is a completely recognisable every man at school and hanging out with friends, but is appropriately fearful and out of his depth when he decides to don a green wetsuit and go crime-fighting. Never has a hero been less prepared for his journey, and his horror at other people’s violence mixed with his need to do good reinforces the comic and the film’s moral.

That moral is of course clouded by the source comic’s joyful yet sickening violence – and British director Matthew Vaughan transfers that ultra-violence to screen magnificently. While Vaughan has been at pains to state that the violence and action and hardware are all real world, there is a dichotomy of approach to the fights: when Kick-Ass fights, the blows and damage done are painfully realistic (rarely has a titular hero taken so many bloody beatings) – he fights poorly, but bleeds easily; Big Daddy steps things up a notch, moving into Robocop action stylings; and then Hit-Girl’s scenes are completely over-the-top comic book madness. Just about every blow, cut and shot created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jnr are realised mercilessly on screen.

Vaughan proved himself a muscular director with an eye for the epic on Layer Cake, and showed a deft emotional touch on Stardust: both approaches are evident in Kick-Ass – the fight scenes feature trick shots that would make John Woo green with envy, while the scenes between Kick-Ass and his geek friends and those between BD and HG have real emotional depth.

There is much fun here for geeks and movie buffs; there are enough comic and movie references (some scene set-ups are explicit in their homage, while the original score takes its cue from well-known and much-loved genre movies) to keep geeks coming back for second and third viewings.

But does Vaughan get to have his cake and eat it? The beatings Kick-Ass receives are enough to persuade anyone that being a vigilante crime-fighter is a short-term, very dangerous hobby. And yet, Kick-Ass knows there comes a time when a man can no longer turn a blind eye to evil and he must fight the good fight.

The film ends the same way as the comic, and paves the way for the inevitable sequel. And the first part of that sentence informs my score. For the record, I believe Kick-Ass to be a better comic adaptation than Watchmen – it’s shot with love and life – but because I know the comic so well, the stand-out moments that will shock Kick-Ass virgins did not quite meet my own (too lofty?) expectations.

Nevertheless, will I see this again? Oh god, yes!
Score: 8.5/10