kick-ass [2010]

what!?  this movie was released nearly three years ago and i just got around to seeing it?!  i remember the posters at the snack bar at sac 6 drive-ins.  one of the posters featured hit-girl, played by chloe grace moretz, and i didn't know who the hell she was.  then i posted the red band trailer here on this blog and i looked so forward to seeing the pic.  and then, well, the sands of time, right.

anyway, hit-girl and her father, big daddy, played by nicolas cage, are the real deal superheroes who have a major grudge against a local gangster played by mark strong.  big daddy has trained his 11-year old to become a vicious killer and a highly original fighter.  kick-ass, played by aaron taylor-johnson, is an ordinary teen with an extraordinary comic book habit.  kick-ass can take a punch, a video of his exploits goes viral, and he inspires a city.

is it wrong to say that the filmmakers created a mad glee when crafting this gem?  hit-girl might be one of the more inspired characters in a long long time.  that girl's got crazy skills and takes great delight in her work.  the movie grazed action movie and superhero cliche but does so in a loving way.  the action set pieces are so well done and scored that it took me a couple nights to finish watching this movie because i kept rewinding and watching them again.

sure this movie is offensive to some.  the violence appears gratuitous brutality but i argue that it is necessary for the story.  plus it is refreshing to see a good hard R-rated imagery in a cinematic landscape dominated by PG-13 movies that are frightened to scare off the 13-33 demographic and global markets.  

well strong's gangster character had a son, red mist, played by the brilliant christopher mintz-plase.  when the shit goes down red mist is still standing and plots revenge.  red mist vows to become a supervillain.  sure enough there is a sequel due in theaters.  kick-ass, hit-girl and red mist [he calls himself something else] return this summer.  at my current rate of movie watching be on the look-out for a review in 2016.