Finally after all the buzz and anticipation, yesterday afternoon during opening weekend I was able to see Kick-Ass!! I used to really be into comic books when I was a kid and had a pretty large collection. I was really into Flash, Green Lantern, and Superman. But I admit that I fell out of the comic book phase and although many people stick with it well into their adult hood, I just fell out. But I do still like them and I may get back into them when I head back to LA, there's some great comic shops out there and that's where I actually read the first issue of Kick-Ass....and I immediately thought to myself "this is a freaking great idea, I can't wait till they make this into a feature film".
Kick-Ass is about a not so popular high school kid named Dave Lizewski. He and his only two friends are obsessed with comics and spend most of their time hanging out at the comic book shop. His life really isn't all that bad, but one day he just says to himself "why has nobody ever tried to become a superhero?" So with no training and no superpowers David orders a crazy looking wet-suit, a couple batons, and dons himself with the name Kick-Ass. I really don't want to give too much of the story away here but after getting his ass kicked Kick-Ass soon joins forces if you will with Hit-Girl, Big Daddy, and Red Mist and team up against a group of ruthless criminals. Well kind of....you'll see.
The film is hilarious, original, and loaded with hard hitting violent action that had me trembling in my seat during a few scenes they were so intense. The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn who's two other films are Layer Cake and Stardust which are both very well done and very well shot films. He has certainly out done himself with Kick-Ass on all the levels I listed above. The cast was extraordinary with Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass, McLovin as Red Mist, Mark Strong as the head villain Frank, Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy, and the one who stole the show and kicked the most ass.... 13 year old Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. Hit Girl rocks the freaking house, saves the day numerous times, sheds the most blood, and has the funniest lines of dialogue I've heard from a kid that age, ever. It's like watching a young version of the Bride from Kill Bill except I think that Hit Girl may be able to kick the Brides ass. Some of the stuff she does is just amazing. You root for her on screen and when she's through killing everyone we the audience just laugh and shake our heads saying "OH MY GOD....THAT WAS....AWESOME." There is a scene where she goes on an absolute rampage in a dark warehouse that is so well shot, edited, scored, and choreographed my heart was literally beating out of my chest in excitement. It was my favorite scene in the film and I won't give any more away about it.
I highly recommend that everyone goes out to see this immediately. If you aren't of age and your uncool parents refuse to take you, just buy a ticket to something else and sneak in. I cannot wait to get this on blu-ray as there are so many great scenes that I'll be watching over and over again as well as the film in it's entirety obviously. I really hope they make a sequel and that word gets out about how good this is. I give Kick-Ass a 9/10.
