Review:
Kick Ass, The Movie

There have been a lot of comic book movies in the past few years, and although some of them have been epic and valiant and great, most have been utter crocks of vile donkey poop. I’m glad to say that although Kick Ass is extremely good, funny, action packed and all of that gubbins, I don’t think it’s going to be remembered even this time next year, which makes it all the more important that you go see it now.

One of the problems is that it doesn’t feature any characters that you’ll have heard of from the comic world and even though the comic creator is a Brit, or more precisely a Scot, you’d be hard pushed to remember his name unless you were already a fan of his.

The story is set in the real world (or as close to as any movie can be) where one kid wonders why, with all the nutjobs and comic fans in the world, there has never been a costumed hero. Not because of any lack of superpowers, but why has nobody ever got dressed in a costume and just gone out to fight crime, with any level of ability? The thought nags away at the kid for long enough for him to get together a hideous costume of green and yellow, a couple of batons and go out into the night to seek out evil under the name of ‘Kick Ass’.

Beyond that point, in between helping find lost cats and doing tedious jobs for needy people, he eventually finds some crime to thwart. He finds himself in way way way way way over his head without a clue as to what to actually do about it. Along the way he achieves a monstrous level of fame and inspiring others to follow his lead in the most notably in the form of Big Daddy and Hit Girl, a daddy / daughter duo of killers and Red Mist, just as clueless as Kick Ass though far better equipped.

The fighting, though brutal, is fantastic, ranging from the inept swinging of untrained fighters in a car park to massive ranging gun battles in night vision. It might all be stuff you’ve seen before but it is exceptionally well done and well worth seeing.

One of the best parts of the film for me was the soundtrack. You get some absolutely rocking tracks from The Prodigy and the New York Dolls, but by far is the … ok, visualise this for a minute… scene where Hit Girl, a twelve year old with twin swords and a purple wig slices her way through an apartment full of drug dealers to the punked up sounds of The Banana Splits theme tune.