SPLICED MOVIES /
ISSUE 01
REVIEW / Kick-Ass 2
By Chris Savides
Back
in 2010 when the first Kick-Ass came out it was a
sleeper hit of sorts. Nobody knew what to expect,
and what they got was a movie that lived up to its title in every respect. Matthew
Vaughn (of X-Men: First Class fame) steered the ship on that outing, but this time
around Jeff Wadlow takes the helm with screenplay and directorial duties.
Watch
the
trailer
If you look closely at
the walls in Dave’s
room you can see
posters for American
Jesus and Superior,
both graphic novels
written by Mark
Millar, author of the
graphic novels KickAss and Kick-Ass 2.
What we get under Wadlow – a relative
newcomer to blockbuster movies – is a
change in tone, an escalation in violence,
and hilarious dialogue (expertly
delivered by foul-mouthed assassin
extraordinaire Hit-Girl, portrayed
by Chloe Grace Moretz, who in our
opinion steals the show). What we
also get is a surprising amount of gutter
humour and teenage angst from our two
protagonists, Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass
and Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl.
Kick-Ass 2 picks up immediately
after the events of the first film. Hit-Girl
and Kick-Ass are trying to come to
terms with the life-changing events
they've been through, having killed
Red Mist’s father and crime boss Frank
D’Amico, as well as the loss of Mindy's
father, Big Daddy. Kick-Ass has inspired
other ordinary people to don a pair of
tights and become “superheroes” just
like him. Dave, however, has given up the
nightly patrols and “superhero” duties,
as he feels it’s too dangerous and longs
for a normal life once again. That is, of
course, until he gets bored with the
mundaneness of life and approaches
Hit-Girl to start their own superhero
team. This leads us to the obligatory
training montage of Hit-Girl wiping the
floor with Kick-Ass (or as Dave puts it
“getting beaten harder than morning
wood in the morning”).
Mindy, meanwhile, isn’t adjusting
to high school life, and spends most
days bunking school and patrolling as
Hit-Girl. This allows for a story within a
story, in the spirit of Mean Girls, that has
Mindy breaking character and trying to
blend in with the popular girls, setting
up some very entertaining, if somewhat
clichéd situations. Toilet humour aside
(you’ll see what we mean), the scenes
featuring Mindy/Hit-Girl are some of
the most entertaining and ass kicking.
Meanwhile...
We get a glimpse into Chris D’Amico
(Christopher Mintz-Plasse), aka Red
Mist’s life after the loss of his father at
the hands of Kick-Ass. He’s pissed, to
say the least, and reimagines himself as
The Motherfucker, bent on becoming
the world’s first and most infamous
supervillain. His villainous exploits
are at times uncomfortable to watch,
but Mintz-Plasse manages a hilarious
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