Its villains are the usual Italian-American stereotypes. Its heroine is an 11-year-old girl who is either cursing someone, shooting someone or getting beaten up by someone. The violence is unending.
But then with a name like "Kick Ass", one can not expect Mark Twain.

If you’re ready to be offended, “Kick-Ass” is ready to oblige.

Its villains are the usual Italian-American stereotypes. Its heroine is an 11-year-old girl who is either cursing someone, shooting someone or getting beaten up by someone. The violence is unending.

But any movie called “Kick-Ass”  is not particularly worried about  giving offense.

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Kick-Ass

(R) Lionsgate (117 min.)

Directed by Matthew Vaughn. With Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nicolas Cage. Now playing in New Jersey.

Stephen Whitty's rating: Two stars

Ratings note: The film contains gory violence, strong language and substance abuse.

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Actually, movies like this yearn to do just that. The impulse crosses all genres — comedies, slasher films, action pictures — but remains the same. Set the audience up to wonder, “They’re not going to really do that, are they?”

Then do it.

“Kick-Ass” tries to follow that strategy from the start, as it details the onanistic life of a standard-issue dweeb, Dave. He loves comic books and dreams of being a superhero. So one day he puts on a costume and goes out to save his city.

Manhattan? Meet Kick-Ass.

But then Kick-Ass meets some caped crusaders — the father/daughter team of Big Daddy and Hit Girl. And then they all meet up with a gang of lowlifes who try to put an end to their crimefighting via switchblade, machine gun and bazooka.

There are, however, two problems with the can-you-top-this school of outrageous filmmaking, and “Kick-Ass” never quite figures out the answer to either.

The first is, to be really outrageous, you have to go way over-the-top — so far that, as in “Kill Bill” (or Asian horror films), the surreal excess actually tempers the offense. “Kick-Ass” remains merely gory.

The second: if you’re going to play this game, you have to keep doubling down. “Kick-Ass” can’t. The fights never grow in complexity; halfway through, the director has nothing to add.

There are some pleasures. Nicolas Cage, who always has a good time no matter what anyone else is doing, channels Adam West and William Shatner as Big Daddy; young Chloe Grace Moretz has a great look (and a tiresomely foul mouth) as Hit Girl.

But Aaron Johnson is bland as Kick-Ass (and his costume is neither bad enough to be funny, nor good enough to be cool). Christopher Mintz-Plasse fails to escape his McLovin image and the villain is the sort of idiot who’d never have survived Season 1 of “The Sopranos.”

But director Matthew Vaughn doesn’t seem to care about that.

Any more than he minds that his New York heroes are quite obviously driving down Toronto’s Yonge Street. Or that Big Daddy is a nearly actionable rip-off of Batman, or that no one but Quentin Tarantino should be allowed to reuse Ennio Morricone scores.

There are a few mildly amusing jokes here, and plenty of slow-motion violence; the very undemanding will have their demands met. Yet, ultimately “Kick-Ass” tries to outrage and only annoys; attempts to excite and only disgusts.

Like its hero, it’s a wannabe.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/movies/index.ssf/
2010/04/kick-ass_movie_review_superhero_movie_
goes_over_the_top_but_not_far_enough.html
 

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