Kick-Ass (2010)

Kick-Ass: Directed by Matthew Vaughn. With Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Garrett M. Brown, Evan Peters, Deborah Twiss. Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

“I do remember hearing about KICK ASS on its release but for some inexplicable reason never got round to watching it until it was shown on Channel 4 tonight . I do recall it caused a bit of a stir along the lines of being a little bit violent but hey vigilante wannabes giving a few slaps to bad guys means weu0026#39;re not watching Walt Disney but did have the impression it was going to be a good natured movie that possibly the whole family could enjoy . I have totally embarrassed myself typing that last line and should have listened to the channel 4 announcer warn of violence , strong language and scenes some viewers might find offensive u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat we have is John Woo meets Quintan Tarantino meets Hollywood obsession with comic book heroes and this isnu0026#39;t really a criticism but it does indicate that this is certainly not the family friendly fare I thought I might have been watching . It does have a good natured premise ripe for all types of dark humour where Dave Lizewski a gauche New York teenager suffering from existentialist angst decides heu0026#39;s had enough of being a nobody and decides to take on the criminal underworld as u0026quot; Kick Ass u0026quot; a real life superhero who is going to live up to his nameu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is how the early parts of the film play out and is blackly comical as Kick Ass has a quixotic plan to clean up the streets . Try and think of TAXI DRIVER where Scorsese cast a happy clappy Christian youth as Travis Bickle and youu0026#39;re on the right tracks . The amusing tone of the film then changes as weu0026#39;re introduced to Hit Girl a pre-pubescent child who spends much of the film dispatching bad guys in a variety of graphic ways . Letu0026#39;s be honest here if she was in her early 20s and played by Megan Fox no one would have blinked an eyelid and if we were to be even more honest sheu0026#39;d be some sort of masturbatory fantasy figure but because the character is eleven years old that changes the whole game and watching Hit Girl jump around in the style of THE MATRIX literally slicing and dicing gangsters does make for uncomfortable viewing and some cynics might say she is included to stir up controversy u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMatthew Vaughn proves himself as one of the most interesting directors and if you want to say that heu0026#39;s more style than substance then I wonu0026#39;t disagree with you but will defend him on the grounds that if youu0026#39;re this talented when it comes to style who needs any substance . Like his earlier film LAYER CAKE thereu0026#39;s a danger of the whole film collapsing in to one big bad mess but is directed with such directorial flourish this never happens . He does help his cause by including a great soundtrack and might be seen as a cheap trick but is very effective u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eKICK ASS is a very enjoyable film for those in the mood for some stylish designer violence but I should emphasise it is a violent film and the fact that much of the violence is tongue in cheek might ironically alienate audience members more than it might have done if everything had been played in a slightly more serious way , but thereu0026#39;s an energy here rarely seen in other films featuring vigilantes and superheroes”