With this phrase, one of the most memorable film characters in recent years bursts onto the screen. More accurately, she pirouettes, rolls, flips and dismembers her way through a gang of drug dealers. To the Banana Splits.
Kick-Ass is not your average super-hero flick. It's the most genre-savvy film since Galaxy Quest, its got the sharpest script you could hope for, both funny and in places quite touching. It's the funnest film I've seen in ages, and its going to make the average Daily Mail reader's head explode all over the wall.
The film stars Aaron Johnson as lovable nerd Dave Lizewiski, who after being on the wrong end of petty crime for too long wonders why no-one has ever tried to be superhero. Ordering a brightly coloured diving suit online, he dons it and sets out to make a difference, and is promptly stabbed.
Not giving up, he carries on and becomes an internet sensation. There's a brilliant comment on general Western Culture here: The masses are unwilling to do anything about the dire state of affairs, but if when something does get done by God we will watch it. It's like the video of the happy slappers who don't realise their target is a professional kick-boxer. Eventually, the vigilantes do start to make a difference; Dozens more "Superheros" start to take up the mantle, inspired by the characters. The plot is a bit unlikely and scoots along on quite a lot of luck but at the end of the day when the experience is so fun you've got to give in to it.
Matthew Vaughn directs brilliantly - in particular the use of bright primary colours throughout the film give it a tone of ink, it purposefully goes towards an almost cartoony look, as opposed to the recent surge of Superhero films that try to make their characters as realistic as possible. This is exemplified by the large amount of blood, make no mistake: This is a gory film. It's clever about it though, never gratuitous without having a good reason to be, usually for the purpose of ridiculous exaggeration and comedy.
It's also filled to be brim with nerd references. In explaining his reasons for becoming a hero, Dave crosses off all the stereotypical superhero origin stories. One of the defining quotes of the film is the so-cringe-worthy-its-good "With no power comes no responsibility". And Nic Cage's Big Daddy isn't just a nod to Batman in his costume - whenever he's in costume in public he does a pitch-perfect Adam West impression.
Whilst Cage is fantastic in his best role in... a very, very long time, It's Chloë Moretz as Hit-Girl who steals the show. The foul-mouthed, violent and deadly child manages to be frighteningly psychopathic and amazingly cool, while at the same time Moretz brings across the terrible sadness at the loss of innocence in such a young girl. It's an amazing performance. Mark Strong also deserves a mention for his brilliant villain Frank D'Amico, although at this point congratulating Mark Strong for playing magnificent bastard villains perfectly seems pointless. I'm almost sure Mark Strong is actually a mob leader / supervillain, and he just does this in his spare time for kicks.
Johnson provides a very good lead, even if he is overshadowed by the pure awesomeness of his co-stars characters. Christopher Mintz-Plasse manages to do a damn good job as Red Mist, just about escaping from his "McLovin" tag. Considering the cliff-hanger at the end of the film, It will be interesting to see how he handles the sequel...
So, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, I liked the film. It's just... good! It's fun. It's controversial. It's a definitely a contender for best film of 2010. It's basically unmissable. I'll have the sequel now please.
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