FILM CHALLENGE: 121) Kick-Ass

121) Kick-Ass

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Year: 2010

Plot Summary: Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

As far as popcorn cinema goes, Kick-Ass is a moderately fun slice of entertainment. It's fast paced, energetic, gloriously violent and there are also some genuine laugh-out-loud moments in Jane Goldman's screenplay. However, it's also incredibly flawed right from the very first minute.

The problem with Kick-Ass is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. At first, it seems as if Vaughn's intentions are to spoof the comic book genre, placing it's protagonist in the real world where super powers are impossible and someone attempting to fight crime in a Lycra suit would obviously be ridiculed and shamed. However, if this is so, then not only does Kick-Ass lacks much humour, but it takes itself far too seriously. In the final 40 minutes of the movie, for example, it turns into the exact thing that it was first poking fun at in the first place as a main character dies in a powerful scene and there's an explosive finale without a shred of wit or playfulness.

If Vaughn's aim was to make an comic action movie here, however, then the narrative simply feels far too silly, disjointed and farfetched. After beginning in the style of a typical high school movie, including everything from a classroom crush, geeky friends and a whiny voiceover, for example, it's easy to feel baffled as Kick-Ass descends into ultra-violence and gang members begin to discuss cocaine going missing.

Nevertheless, if you want to watch a movie with a group of friends on a lazy afternoon, as I did today, then Kick-Ass is better than most of the other popcorn action comedies you'll find. It's entertaining, easy to watch and will leave you with a smile on your face. Just don't expect anything more than that.

3/5

By Daniel Sarath with 2 comments