“Kick-Ass” is a movie about superheroes sans the superpowers. It’s smart, ultraviolent, extremely gory and downright hilarious.The Premise: Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a nerdy teen who wonders why no one has ever tried to become a costumed superhero before, and his friend Marty (Clark Duke from “Hot Tub Time Machine”) comes up with the correct answer: “Because they would get their asses kicked.”
Dave, undeterred, orders a green wet suit off the Internet and, wielding two batons, creates the alter-ego “Kick-Ass” and ventures out to fight the forces of evil and help the helpless.
Unfortunately for Dave, it soon becomes apparent that Marty was right, and he promptly gets his ass kicked. After taking a brutal beating, a near-fatal stab wound and being hit by a car, (requiring a lengthy convalescence in the hospital and “more metal than Wolverine” fastening his arms and legs) one might think Dave would reconsider his aspiration of becoming a superhero.
Not so. Unperturbed, Kick-Ass is soon back on the streets, but this time he comes armed with a MySpace page (yes, a MySpace page), and he’s immediately inundated with requests for help. When his first rescue attempt proves successful and the video finds its way to YouTube, Kick-Ass quickly becomes an Internet phenomenon and a pop-culture icon. His new-found celebrity attracts all kinds of attention, and not all of it is good.
Enter the pros. While Kick-Ass is a rank amateur, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) are the real deal as a father-daughter crime fighting duo that is both endearing and unsettling at the same time. They take it upon themselves to help out Dave and teach him a few cool tricks in the process. Cage’s character helps to ground Hit-Girl and prevents her from becoming too cartoonish. But let’s face it, “Kick-Ass” is based on a comic book, and over-the-top is par for the course. For instance, to assuage Hit-Girl’s fear of being shot, Big Daddy straps her into a bulletproof vest (Who knew they made child-sized?) and shoots her point blank in the chest. Problem solved.
Big Daddy has trained Hit-Girl (Did I mention she was 11 years old?) in weaponry, martial arts and apparently foul language. Moretz steals the show as a murderous vigilante, viciously dispatching criminals with aplomb, all while spouting lines with which even a drunken sailor may have taken issue.
The two storylines converge as the mafia boss, and the man to whom Big Daddy has sworn vengeance, Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) puts out a bounty on the superheroes’ heads (superheroes, not so good for business) and puts the three heroes on a collision course with destruction.
The Bottom Line: “Kick-Ass” is a superhero movie that makes fun of and pays homage to all its predecessors simultaneously. Its witty dialogue, clever humor and rapid-fire action make it one of the smartest superhero movies in years. But be forewarned, the level of exaggerated violence and resulting gore are not for the faint of heart. If you’re at all squeamish, I think “The Back-up Plan” is playing next door.