Review of Kick-Ass 2 (2013) by Harry W — 13 Mar 2014

I didn't really have high expectations for Kick-Ass 2 so I just went in expecting an action film on the basis of what I heard, but with the presence of newcomers like Jim Carrey and Donald Faison I hoped there would be some decent jokes here and there.

The script in Kick-Ass 2 is generic and lacks the humourous edge of its predecessor. Whatever jokes there are along the way are poorly conceived and do nothing except drag down the talents on board. I mean the script gives no energy to the cast, particularly to the legendary character Hit-Girl and the woman playing her. The script in Kick-Ass 2 really fails to give Chloe Grace Moretz anything sufficient to work with aside from dialogue conceived by a robot and some cheap attempts at one liners. The script in Kick-Ass 2 is unbearable and so poor in attempting to craft humour that you'd think it was written by Dane Cook's abortion.

Its plot is no better because it's crammed full of pathetic plot dynamics which cry out that they miss the originality of the predecessor. The story has Mindy Macready going in and out of playing a superhero while facing the trouble of being a teenage girl, and meanwhile David Lizewski suddenly breaks up with his girlfriend after getting beaten up by a gang and all against the story of Chris D'Amico improvising a bad guy costume out of his mother's leather sexual gear. All these generic plot dynamics are covered by an overkill of action and nothing going on between them. I can admit that I enjoyed the action, but it became repetitive against a backdrop of empty storytelling. Kick-Ass 2 brings nothing new to the table and is simply an example of a filmmaker trying to do too much but succeeding at doing too little. It's a mix of repetitive action scenes and pathetic story dynamics in the context of being a satirical superhero action comedy, there is too much random story dynamics that are either dull or pathetic. The only story element I liked was the one about Kick-Ass getting on a team of superheroes, but the filmmakers didn't put enough focus on that well. And then they put a team of supervillains up against it with the generic name "The Toxic Megac*nts". There was only so much crude and generic writing that I could tolerate but at this point in the film even Mary Poppins herself would fly over to Hollywood and smack the screenwriters around with her umbrella. A person perfect in every way couldn't tolerate the poor writing in Kick-Ass 2.

The focus in Kick-Ass 2 shifted all the time. It never stuck to one thing. It had three main plots for its three main characters, and only one of them was slightly interesting. But the focus kept on going between them and staying on one for so long that I found myself forgetting about the last one. Eventually I got so sick of it that I just stopped caring about the story. I figured that some random crap would happen, everyone would go back to being superheroes and have a showdown with the villains. Some would probably die and then everything is over and ready for a Kick-Ass 3. Hopefully there isn't a third one and the movies stop there, but in this commercial society you can never be sure. The plot is just horribly pathetic, contrived, unfunny and is packed full of senseless and directionless dynamics which are likely to make audiences cringe more and more every second that they have to put up with Kick-Ass 2. It's not a film easy to watch, it's a film hard to tolerate.

I had some appreciation for the action because while it was repetitive, it was decent. It could have been edited better and not used the cheap visual effects. But it was ok. In the end, the fault rests all on Jeff Wadlow who gives Golden Raspberry Award calibre writing to the film and terrible direction to match the quality of his screenplay. The man is an idiot and I think I'll make the conscious effort not to ever again watch any film he has made because frankly he is nothing if not a person who just ruins a franchise. His screenplay is one of the worst of 2013, and while its clear that he thinks he made a film reminiscent of The Warriors in a good way, he actually ruined a franchise and created a superhero film which is essentially a parody of itself. What an idiot he must be to abuse such potential.

Really, nobody put much effort into Kick-Ass 2, and it simply cries out for the quality of the original. It lacks originality, comedy and Nicolas Cage. People joke about Nicolas Cage but he was one of the reasons Kick-Ass was so awesome and without him a lot of the spirit of the film is gone. It's gone from the cast as well, because few cast members actually do any good in Kick-Ass 2.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is actually barely around in Kick-Ass 2, but that's actually pretty good because when he is present he provides no charisma in his role and no reason why audiences should give a crap about him. His portrayal of Kick-Ass in Kick-Ass 2 makes him a weaker hero than Dragonfly from Superhero Movie which I remind you was a spoof of superhero movies. Kick-Ass 2 is supposed to be a satire but is actually less intelligent than the spoof film in question. And Aaron Taylor-Johnson does nothing. His monotonous line delivery and confused gaze are the only memorable features of his performance, and they are not anything to be rated positively. To put it blankly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson sucks. It can't all be his fault because the script and direction is terrible, but he did it well once before and now is just failing to reignite his old spirit. Kick-Ass 2 contains no reason why he would be considered a good actor or a star.

Like I said, the material given to the talented young Chloe Grace Moretz is just awful. It redefines her character in a cheap and pathetic manner and so all she is left to work with is the recycled persona of an awkward teenage girl with a no-longer believable violent side. Hit-Girl was a good and even believable character in Kick-Ass, but in Kick-Ass 2 she is nothing but a pathetic and recycled character who is pretty much cringe worthy. The script lacks the badass edge and strips her character down to the same generic supporting character from every pathetic teenage comedy ever made, and so the effort that she puts in is only as good as her character. Chloe Grace Moretz is not good in Kick-Ass 2, and I feel bad for saying it because I love her as an actress and thought that her role in Kick-Ass was incredibly badass. But I am sorry to say that she is simply not good in Kick-Ass 2. She's a good actress and in no time audiences will see her better acting again, but Kick-Ass 2 presents no such opportunity.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse is really repetitive in Kick-Ass 2 because like the rest of the cast he has nothing to work with and has to say the real most annoying and repetitive line of the film. I know the guy is funny, and watching him force himself through some awful material is like watching him be tortured. I'll simply say that he has nothing good to say and doesn't say it well, but he has a cool moustache. That can't be denied.

The film put excessive promotion behind the presence of Jim Carrey and then barely used him. Even a comedic legend who deserved an Academy Award nomination long ago couldn't be funny in Kick-Ass 2, so what does that tell you? His performance was good and energetic, and it was funny at times simply because of the fact that it was Jim Carrey in the role. But the poor writing, insufficient screen time and failure to take advantage of his talents ends up being one of the most major downfalls of Kick-Ass 2. None of it is the fault of Jim Carrey as he is still an awesome acting legend, it is the filmmakers that don't know what they're doing.

And luckily, Donald Faison's performance is a hilarious touch. For a mostly laugh free film, at least one of the cast members manages to breathe some life into the intended comedic spirit. While his screen time is awfully insufficient, his hilarious spirit which he put into 9 seasons of Scrubs and made him my favourite cast member of the show is what somebody in production decided would be a good touch for Kick-Ass 2. Any fan of Scrubs would have at least some appreciation for his presence in Kick-Ass 2, and I sure know I did because he seems to be the only cast member who had any fun filming and knew what Kick-Ass was made good by. Donald Faison is one of the few reasons to see Kick-Ass 2, and seeing him in a superhero costume beating baddies up with a baseball bat is pretty awesome.

So in the end, Kick-Ass 2 suffers from awful storytelling and a blunted script which all falls on the ignorance of writer-director Jeff Wadlow, and while some scenes are entertaining and the performances of Jim Carrey and Donald Faison are good, Kick-Ass 2 is so stupid that it destroys the franchise and its potential. If the filmmakers are sensible enough to stop there and make no third film, then that is the best possible decision.