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Kick-Ass (2010)

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Time Out rating

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73 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

It’s surely no coincidence that when Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), the comic-book-reading New York teenager who decides to buy a coloured wetsuit and become the superhero of the title, winds up in hospital after his first outing as a vigilante, he reads ‘Watchmen’. Like that story, the series by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr, on which ‘Kick-Ass’ is based is a comic about comics, presuming a substantial knowledge of the icons and conventions of the superhero genre. It’s an index of how successfully that genre has established itself in the Hollywood mainstream over the past decade that such postmodern, self-referential fare is now deemed apt fodder for major studio releases.

Puzzled that no one has ever tried to put comic-book theory into practice, Dave hits the streets in the name of righteousness, overcoming early setbacks to achieve hero status with a little help from MySpace and YouTube. He also attracts the attention of father-and-daughter vigilante team Big Daddy and Hit Girl (Nicolas Cage and Chloë Moretz) and arouses the enmity of crime lord Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), whose son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) sees a chance to dabble in the hero game himself.

Director Matthew Vaughn (‘Layer Cake’, ‘Stardust’) directs with efficiency and a good sense of action while Johnson puts in an engaging turn that maintains sympathy and helps paper over some of the plot’s more jerky, episodic aspects. Wearing its sources on its Spandex sleeve, ‘Kick-Ass’ fairly bulges with references to other comic-book movies, especially the ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Batman’ franchises; Cage’s stilted delivery as the Dark Knightish Daddy is a nice touch. There’s some intriguing play around ideas of closetedness – a perennial concern of the genre – with Dave’s secret life leading classmates to presume he’s gay. Other conventions are touched upon but left unexplored: while it is constructed around three father-child pairings, for instance, the film leaves Dave’s single dad a cipher.

The bond between pre-teen Hit Girl and her Big Daddy, meanwhile, is as intense as it is outrageously violent, rooted in such affectionate larks as his shooting her at close range to familiarise her with the use of bullet-proof vests. The duo are responsible for many of the picture’s numerous fatalities, shown in more detail and with more gusto than in most superhero films (or most 15-rated films, for that matter). The sight of Hit Girl slicing and dicing half a dozen thugs to the accompaniment of the ‘Banana Splits’ theme tune locates ‘Kick-Ass’ in the post-Tarantino landscape of hyperfictional ultraviolence. Any gestures at a version of realism or the pathos that might result from someone actually trying to be a superhero are lost in the wash.

Author: Ben Walters

Time Out London Issue 2067: 1–7 April, 2010

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User reviews of this film

Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Aug 16 2010 10:49 Quality Movie! I wasn't expecting this! I was expecting a spoof with a 12 rating. How wrong was I? The 11 year old 'Superhero' (altho I'd call her an Assassin) was superb, great character. I actually got very uneasy watching the torture scene, the opening scene was good too. This film starts off funny and then gets very dark! A gore fest and I loved every minute of it, didn't want it to end! To the reviewer that said it wasn't original, is The Dark Knight original? No, Was it a classic, YES! This too is a classic in My opinion, ignore the haters and let them watch their chick flicks! A must see!

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usman latif khawaja said...

Posted on May 06 2010 00:03 an immoral repugnant monotonous mess with every thing borrowed from elsewhere with notthing original ecept an 11 year old girl on a killing spree -
how original and refreshing for the true cineastes ?
amen
ho

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someone said...

Posted on May 01 2010 18:02 you sad sad individuals do you guys not have anything better to do??

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To all said...

Posted on Apr 30 2010 22:50 Hey yeti-everything and everyone matters. Your comments matter. That's the problem...well A problem...those that don't think it/they matter are often the ones that end causing the most anti-matter. Ripple it

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DV said...

Posted on Apr 29 2010 18:19 LOL. That amused me Bill. I'm toying with the idea of renaming myself; whatitwasthatjustamusedmeteller.

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bill said...

Posted on Apr 29 2010 14:47 I totally get you myopinionteller.. from now on I will call myself.LOOKTHESEARETHEFACTSASISEEITTELLER.
HYANKYOR.....
I'M HERE ALL WEEK!!

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DV said...

Posted on Apr 29 2010 13:24 You've got to be pretty conceited even to call yourself 'truthteller'. I hereby rename myself 'myopinionteller'. HIYTHANGYOR!

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truthteller said...

Posted on Apr 29 2010 11:56 Double jeopardy,
how many truthtellers are out there?
slagging off that god awful jock(who incidently is hillarious,such a wind up merchant) then posting as me and refferring to someone else as 'I'.and 'me'.
its all too confusing to me.
I have posted as truthteller for many years as I give the facts,the truth.
I'm the real tellie yes i'm the truthtellie
all you other truthtellies are just imataties,so wont the real truthtellie please stand up, please stand up,please stand up.
outrageous movie,crazy action 7/10.
truthteller has left the building....
AAAhhh,..THANGYAVERYMUCH!!

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jOCK said...

Posted on Apr 28 2010 09:13 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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deb said...

Posted on Apr 28 2010 09:12 you people are all freaks..
GREAT MOVIE.
AND THATS TELLIN DA TRUTH.

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TRUTHTELLER said...

Posted on Apr 28 2010 09:11 And so, the girl/man /freak who has been posting as me comes out to play again.
I know who I am sonny jim.
So now there are multiple posts by people who think they are me,very mature I must say.
People who know me know my views.
People who imitate me only serve to flatter me.
They have an obsesiion and need mental help.
lets set the record straight here.
great film.
lots of swearing lots of action.
its fiction.
and the person who says I have an obsession with children??
I believe that may be you..
loved the film.

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Derek said...

Posted on Apr 28 2010 04:26 Wow you people have no life!!

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likes2sing said...

Posted on Apr 27 2010 18:42 Yeti....super double kudos for your eloquent rant; you have made my day.
This movie rules too by the way. It is surprising to see the superhero genre move into a more realistic direction.

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Yeti said...

Posted on Apr 26 2010 23:51 Since when has swearing been anything more than a moral issue dictated by religion?
Why does religion dictate "a good job raising your kids"? Religion is a lie, it's a corruption of the human spirit into a confused and scared form to force them to adhere to false 'ideals' to attain a release from the confusion of resisting their biological instincts.
It's a farce, a silly fairy tale...there is no more credence to established religion than there is to Superman, Spider-man, or Grimm's fairy tales.
And if you're asking yourself why this entire comment is basically anti-religion...don't worry yourself. My view of the world carries no more weight than anyone else's, regardless of what they believe.
Life is easy. It's people that fuck it up for everyone else.
You don't want your kid watching a movie with swear words and violence? How about you watch the movie first before allowing your child to see something you don't agree with. Do not make it the responsibility of the MPAA or the movie makers to parent your children. That's your job, you made the decision to spawn...take responsbility.

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TRUTHTELLER said...

Posted on Apr 26 2010 20:43 Well, look at that.
The intellectually-challenged, thirteen-year-old girl obsessed Jock posted as me.
I posted on April 25th @ 17:28 and Jock follows that up by posting as me on April 26th @02:04.
What with this obsession of yours of trying to convince everyone that thirteen year girls should act this way, maybe you should see a doctor.
For all I know Jock may be Alana too. He seems to have many personalities.
If your reading this and you're an adult, as opposed to someone who hasn't managed to grow up, and you have children I think you will know what I talikng about when I say the rating of this film was too low.
And for the idiot posting as me: Any person of average intelligence can see that your pretend post as me is illogical.
Get a life and see a doctor about your obsession with 13-year-old girls.

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