Much like Sherlock Holmes’ depravity, my love for Kick-Ass knows no bounds. It’s one of my all-time favorite comic-book
movies for good reasons. It has a main
character who isn't a super hero. He’s a
normal kid who can’t really feel pain who decides to don a costume and try to
clean up New York. The real stars were
Hit Girl (Chloe Grace-Moretz) and Big Daddy (the always-incredible Nicholas
Cage) and their eye-popping action sequences.
The night-vision, “switch to kryptonite” scene leaves my jaw on the
floor to this day. And the hairs on my
arms standing at attention.
Unfortunately, this year’s follow up, Kick-Ass 2, doesn't even come close to any of those spine-tingling
moments of the original.
Set a bit after the events of the original, Kick-Ass 2 picks up with Mindy (Moretz) trying
to lead a “normal” life by hanging up her Hit-Girl costume. Her story line is essentially (and ironically) a prequel to her
character’s fate in the upcoming Carrie remake. Dave (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) wants to take up
the Kick-Ass mantle and begin again but can’t convince Mindy to don the cape
and cowl to help him. Long story short,
Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plass) is still pretty upset about Kick-Ass
blowing up his dad in the finale of the first film, so he becomes “The
Mother-Fucker,” recruits an army of insanely evil people as super-villains, and
sets out to murder Kick-Ass in revenge.
Kick-Ass, in an unrelated turn of events, joins a newly-formed team of
heroes, led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (the incredible Jim Carrey).
The new additions to the cast, for the most part, work
pretty well. Carrey just chews the scenery as Colonel Stars and Stripes. I just
wish he had a much larger to role to play.
Taylor-Johnson, Grace-Moretz, and Mintz-Plasse re-inhabit the characters
that we came to love (or hate). Plasse’s
performance is a bit over-the-top and melodramatic at times, but considering
Chris’ father was blown up it’s a little believable that he’d be acting the way
he does. Moretz still plays that
foul-mouthed Mindy well, but now that she’s a bit older the vulgarity that
spews from her mouth isn't shocking or amusing any more – it’s just obnoxious.
The same goes for almost all of the vulgarity in the film in
general. There’s just no reason for The
Mother-Fucker to call his super-villain team “The Ungrateful C**ts.” No reason beyond shock-value. I’m not a prude by any means, but there’s
just so much strange and almost out-of-place immaturity and foul language that
I was squirming in my seat from uncomfortableness. There’s something about this sequel that
makes this crude language and behavior just fall flat with me.
Narrative-wise, Kick-Ass
2 is an inevitable and logical extension of the story-line from the previous
film. TMF wants revenge on Kick-Ass and
that’s essentially it. That said, there
were some choices made that I just didn't enjoy whatsoever. I understand why there were done (for the
sake of the plot and to add weight and tension to an already-tense situation),
but they just don’t sit well with me. Some
of Dave’s choices and actions (with regards to his father) just didn't ring all
that true to me in terms of what the character feels and thinks. Two characters are killed during the course
of the film that made me genuinely angry.
I get that that was the point, but the same effect could’ve been
accomplished by other means.
In terms of action, there isn't really anything in this film
that can touch the “kryptonite” or kusuri-gama scene from the original. Two set-pieces come close: one involving
Mother Russia (one of TMF’s villains) wreaking havoc on the local police
department (a bit disturbing, actually), and a showdown between Mother Russia
and Hit-Girl. The biggest problem with
all of this is that much like The Dark
Knight Rises and this year’s Iron Man
3, our favorite hero, in this case Hit-Girl, isn’t Hit-Girl for 95% of the
movie. She was the main attraction of
the original, and even if her skills are less impressive now that she’s older,
watching her fight is still just an utter delight. I would've rather seen a movie in which she’s
seeking revenge against the remainder of the D’Amico crime family for the
murder of her father…
If it isn't apparent by this point, I wasn't that big of a
fan of Kick-Ass 2. I was so incredibly excited for it and it
just left me a bit cold. When you’re
coming off of something as incredible as the original film, it’s very hard to top it, and it just fell short of the mark in just about every
way. Probably my biggest disappointment
of the year so far.
Kick-Ass 2 is
offensive just because it can be, and just can’t live up to the high bar set by
its predecessor.
The Bearded Bullet.
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