Review of Kick-Ass (2010) by Jiana W — 07 Aug 2013

I liked this more than I thought I would, particularly the first time around. The second time, I still think it's good but the initial gloss has worn off a bit. I actually see it as kind of dark and callous, probably moreso than it really intended. It's very violent and brutal at times, but it's still fun for those of us who are suckers for a good superhero flick.

A note about the comedy in this movie: It's occasionally witty in dialogue and situations, but I honestly am not sure I'd take this as much of an action-comedy. From what I understand, the cast is predominantly British and the film itself is British in origin. So here we have Brits attempting to dig into the kind of humor that Americans are more into, and for me it missed the mark, which is why I'm not so quick to categorize this as a comedy by my standards because I rarely laughed even though I knew I was supposed to.

To clarify, I like British humor and I think it's hilarious. So if they had just switched things up and set this in England and made the characters British, complete with their OWN brand of humor, it may have fared better for me. Judging from the laughter of some people in the theatre, the humor translated well for some but to me it just seemed like non-Americans fighting tooth and nail to strike the American funny bone to keep us entertained. So to that I say to the Brits: just be yourself. It works better that way.

That aside, this movie is like "Watchmen" in the sense that it is not a superhero movie for kids. There's sensuality, gore, extreme violence, strong language, and the roughest fight scene where an 11-year-old girl gets the snot beaten out of her by a grown man. The whole idea of Hit Girl will definitely make certain audience members very uncomfortable and will probably polarize them early on. The first time I watched this I was mildly uncomfortable, admittedly. Watching it a second time has worsened that discomfort. Hit Girl's not treated delicately and she rarely shows any sort of emotion for a girl of her age. You've been warned.