Review

Review Date: 18-April-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Kick-Ass (2010)

I heard a middle-aged man at the box office request a ticket to "Kick-A" and was baffled why someone who couldn't say "ass" in public would go to an R-rated movie. "What a square!" I thought as I loudly proclaimed my desire to see Kick-Ass, and I wondered what the man was thinking as it opened with masturbation, a knifing, and actual cuss words. As it progressed, however, I myself became uncomfortable with the content. I itched to take director Matthew Vaughn by the earlobe and scold him for being irresponsible. For Kick-Ass is not only extremely violent, its star is a pre-teen girl who commits two dozen murders, gets smacked around by adults, and witnesses appalling tragedy. And swears like a sailor to boot.

This damsel of destruction is appropriately called Hit Girl (played by a real pre-teen, Chloë Grace Moretz, whose parents' knuckles I would also like to rap), and although she forms the heart of the movie the title refers to an older kid who breaks into her violent world. Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a nondescript high schooler whose penchant for comic books prompts him to try the life of a superhero. He realizes that he lacks power and skills, but he has "optimism and naivete" and a genuine yen to help people, plus the remarkably resilient body of a teenaged boy. He devises a moniker and costume and heads out to get beaten up as a public defender. After scoring a few hits during his second outing (his first landed him in the hospital), his exploits make it onto You-Tube and a popular hero is born.

Meanwhile, Hit Girl and her father (Nicolas Cage) are also donning masks and thwarting bad guys, only they do it like professionals and without fanfare, and they fight to kill rather than dissuade. An awkward but critical flashback details their sad history and vendetta against a drug kingpin (the ubiquitous Mark Strong) whose son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) seems destined for the role of evil mastermind. When Kick-Ass makes their acquaintance he unwittingly enters the crime-and-punishment big leagues. At this point the movie abandons its strong suit, i.e., the idea of an average decent person taking a stand against average sleazy persons. As Dave notes, lots of folks have fantasized about home-grown vigilantism, but when the action shifts to the underworld the story becomes absurd in typical modern fashion. Both Kick-Ass and Hit Girl would be in over their heads were it not for guns, the great empowerer of the not-so-great, and this fact renders their "heroism" more bloody and more tedious. Everybody shoots and is shot at, with a little torture thrown in for fun.

When I was a cute, undersized 12-year-old I cherished my independence and knew that a well-timed bit of profanity could put a stop to grown-up condescension. So I would probably have liked a strong character like Hit Girl. But looking at her now I can only think that she would need a buttload (excuse me, B-load) of therapy after living through the experiences depicted in this movie, and there is no way I would allow a 12-year-old to see it. Kick-Ass straddles an uneasy line between thinking, feeling human beings and fantastical fabrications. Having a child in the fray makes the distinction important and the blurring distasteful.

Copyright © 2010 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.