Scotsman Mark Millar is one of the top writers currently in
the comic book industry. He's able to find a unique slant to traditional
superhero tropes. Millar's magnum opus, Superman:
Red Son, is a brilliant look at what would have happened if baby Kal-El had
landed in Stalin Russian instead of Smallville, Kansas. Millar's talent as an
author is frequently lost by his proclivities for being a provocateur. His
works, such as Wanted and Nemesis, are known to frequently use profanity and violence for shock value. Millar has also come under fire for his cavalier
attitude towards the depiction of rape. This leads us to Kick-Ass, which initially debuted as an 8-issue mini-series in 2008
and gained notice for Hit-Girl, a 10-year old vigilante described as a cross
between Rambo and Polly Pocket. Hit-Girl casually cursed like a sailor and
eviscerated bad guys with a variety of deadly weapons. When it came time to
turn the comic into a live-action movie, director Matthew Vaughn raised the $30
million budget himself when studios balked at the violence and the young age of
the character that caused most of it. The first Kick-Ass film didn't do blockbuster numbers, but it did enough off
a modest budget to warrant sequels.
Kick-Ass 2 is
based on the second mini-series and the Hit-Girl
spin-off that bridges the gap between the two stories. Some time has passed
since the events of the previous picture in which geeky Dave Lizewski (Aaron
Taylor-Johnson) donned a green wetsuit to moonlight as the superhero Kick-Ass. He
mostly got the crap beaten out of him while pint-size dynamo, Mindy Macready
aka Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), did all the real damage. Dave has hung up
the tights, but dons them once more to escape his dreary existence as a high
school senior. His past exploits as Kick-Ass have inspired dozens of other New
Yorkers to put on their costumes, including Dave's best friend Marty (Clark
Duke), now known as Battle Guy. Together, they join Justice Forever, a
superhero team founded by Col. Stars & Stripes (Jim Carrey), a grizzled
ex-mob enforcer who went legit after finding Jesus.
Now that he's playing in the big leagues, Dave receives
further training from Mindy, but the sparring sessions end when her guardian
and late-father's former partner, Marcus (Morris Chestnut), catches her in
costume during a Ferris Bueller race to the house. Forbidden from being
Hit-Girl, Mindy must acclimate to civilian life and dealing with one of her
most fearsome foes ever, mean high school girls. Meanwhile, Dave's archenemy,
Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), vows revenge and transforms himself
into the Motherfucker, the world's first supervillain. He gathers his own team
of thugs and killers led by a buff KGB assassin dubbed Mother Russia (Olga
Kurkulina).
There were mixed message with Kick-Ass. It wanted to deconstruct the superhero genre and show
real world consequences to costumed crime fighting. Then, it ended with the
title character flying around on a jetpack and blowing a man up with a bazooka.
Still, it was a fun action movie that hung on a bravura performance from young
Chloe Moretz. Kick-Ass 2 is just a mess.
Matthew Vaughn had a flair for action, but he only serves as
producer for the sequel. The reins are handed over to writer/director Jeff
Wadlow, whose uninspiring resume includes Cry_Wolf
and Never Back Down. Somehow, he's
also managed to land X-Force as his
next picture. Wadlow has no knack for action, employing the same choppy
approach that too many American filmmakers adopt. A sequence where Mindy clings
to a van full of mobsters is the movie's most poorly constructed set piece.
Close-ups of Moretz in front of a green screen are embarrassingly obvious.
Kick-Ass himself has regressed as a character. He's less competent
and less interesting in Kick-Ass 2
with his primary motivation being boredom. No, the true star of the sequel is
Hit-Girl. Moretz manages to convey all the heartbreak that comes with bullying
and adolescent awkwardness. However, Wadlow has embraced Millar's preoccupation
with juvenile humor. Any emotional payoff from that storyline is tossed out in
favor of a sight gag involving projectile vomiting and diarrhea. In fact, any
time Kick-Ass 2 tries to inject some
semblance of gravitas; it's undercut by jokes done in poor taste. Two deaths
are expected to be taken seriously, yet the movie has such a casual attitude
toward death that we feel nothing, except maybe nausea. Mother Russia brutally
kills several police officers to a rock version of the Tetris theme and an
attempted rape scene is played for laughs. This is tame stuff compared to the
source material, which featured a gang rape, children being gunned down, and a
decapitated dog.
It's also a shame that Kick-Ass
2 doesn't fully utilize its fantastic supporting cast. An unrecognizable Jim
Carrey gives his liveliest performance in years in the small role of the
Colonel. Carrey really disappears into the part thanks to some prosthetics and
thick New York accent. Taking on these character roles can really revitalize
his career. Too bad they aren't in better movies. John Leguizamo and an
exuberant Donald Faison are wasted along with Iain Glen from Game of Thrones in a throwaway cameo.
Kick-Ass 2 is an
out and out disappointment rife with abrupt tonal shifts and sloppy
storytelling.
Rating: * ½ (*****)
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