The Garbage Man and the Ambulance

But I have returned! I am going to cheat and get back on my feet (hehe) with some reviews I wrote for my college paper this year, but then we’ll get back into the real grind. Holler!

And we begin this rehabilitation with…some ass kicking.

It's not the comic, but it's still boss.

I’ll tell you what: There aren’t a whole lot of movies I will go to a theater to see twice. And there certainly aren’t many movies I would ever have interest in seeing twice in a row, yet there we were Friday night, driving back to La Salle from the Manyunk theater, when the question popped up. “So, um, you want to see that again? Like in 40 minutes?”

There was no hesitation. “Most definitely.”  Kick-Ass seems to be having that effect on people.
Superhero movies aren’t typically my forte. But that is why Kick-Ass is so good. It’s not about the awesomeness of superheros as they systematically defeat bad guys. It’s about what can drive a normal, everyday person to try to help the world. And for high school nobody and comic book freak Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), this became a journey into super-heroism.

Lizewski is tired of getting mugged, tired of feeling worthless in his boring life, tired of watching people turn their backs on others in need.  He is with his two closest, geekiest friends in a local comic book shop when the question arises: “Why hasn’t anyone tried to be a superhero?”

His friends scoff, but Lizewski buys a costume, makes a vigilante Myspace page and starts to train. Hilarity and disaster ensue.

Lizewski starts his vigiliantism with a near-death experience and a subsequent school rumor questioning his sexual preferences, but he remains undaunted as he becomes Kick-Ass, searching for lost kittens and chatting about petty crimes across the city in his green wetsuit-ish costume. But when a boy with a camera phone posts a video of Kick-Ass beating up some thugs, he becomes a cultural hit.

This phenomenon draws the attention of two parties: One Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), a city drug lord who heard that people dressed as superheroes (presumably Kick-Ass) are killing his men and taking his money, and Damon (Nick Cage) and Mindy Macraedy (Chloe Moretz), the actual costumed heroes who are wrecking D’Amico’s business.

The kicker? Mindy, aka the purple-wigged, in-your-face Hitgirl, is an 11-year-old born and raised assassin.  And boy, is she spunky. With a nonchalant attitude and a sailor mouth to boot, she is one intense little girl.

But her childhood is not indicative of some government plot or militia nightmare. Her partner in crime, “Big Daddy” Cage, plays his role of eccentric, cutthroat dedicated father perfectly. He is constantly referring to Mindy as “child” while quizzing her on the velocity of bullets and the native names of butterfly knives. They make hot chocolate together while they are planning their next attack, and he is often seen pulling at his illustrious moustache when he’s thinking.

But Cage can pull a serious face when he needs to, like when rehashing his D’Amico-sponsored time in jail from a drug frame and his wife’s subsequent death.  And though I was skeptical of this casting, he handled it magnificently.

Now, I have never been one for gratuitous violence. I am in the minority of those who would rather watch something that isn’t a Tarantino film and cringe at bloody scenes in most movies. But what sets Kick-Ass apart is the sheer outrageousness of the plot and the lighthearted interjections, even at the most sobering of moments. When Lizewski thinks he is facing certain death, he reflects on what he will miss in his life, from wondering what his kids will look like to lamenting about never knowing what will happen on Lost.

This film had the potential to be a sociopathic nightmare, full of over-the-top gore and bloodlust, but director Matthew Vaughn pulled it off beautifully. And for those who cry foul at the thought of such a bloody, 11-year-old heroine and potential child role model—dude, the move is rated “R” for a reason.

I was initially nervous that I enjoyed the movie because I had read the comic books beforehand. But during our second stint at the theater we rounded up some folks who had no knowledge of the film, and they ate it up.

Coupled with the scattered cheers and applause that accompanied the viewing throughout its duration, my fears were soothed.

It seems like everyone is having a good time with Kick-Ass.

Annnnd we’re back in the game!

-Liz