News: GotchaMovies SXSW Movie Review: Kick-Ass
posted on Monday, March 15, 2010 - 12:00:00 AM
There's no doubt about it that the Kick-Ass premiere was the film event of Austin's South by Southwest film festival. As I arrived to the screening I thought I'd be near, if not at the front of the line as I was an hour early. How wrong I was. The line, which I'd heard began at 4pm was wrapped around the block that houses the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin, TX. I could sense the mood in the line was tense as all the potential viewers were concerned they'd not snatch up a seat to the anticipated world premiere. Luckily, the Paramount seats 1200 people and most of us were guaranteed a spot. With the tension mounting, we were all wondering the same thing: Would this ridiculously long line for Kick-Ass be worth our time? The answer is a resounding yes.
I should start off by saying that I had little to no expectations for the movie. In this age of comic book films dominating the weekend box office and slipping away a mere two weeks later, I was sure I'd be subject to another visually stunning movie that bore miniscule substance. How pleasantly wrong I was. I'd never read the comic book by Mark Millar, but I'd heard nothing but great things about it. Whenever that's the case, it can lead to a certain type of hype that can either help or harm the film experience. In this case, it didn't matter. I was hooked by the opening shot of a wanna-be superhero heroically standing atop a tall building ready to attempt a daring flight to a mass of onlookers. The red-clad, eagle-looking character leapt from the building to fanfare only to ultimately commit suicide by comically slamming into a cab parked on the street. The audience roared and I knew from then on I was experiencing the evolution of the comic book movie.
If Superbad and Zombieland double-teamed Spider-man, their lovechild would look something like Kick-Ass. Director Matthew Vaughn must have known he was taking a great risk with adapting such a cult comic book, but he did it with such mastery that even if there are discrepancies between the film and the book, the fan won't care. Casting relative unknown Aaron Johnson as the titular character was a dream decision. The character of Dave Lizewski (aka Kick-Ass) was more Peter Parker than Peter Parker himself. The dialogue, which I'm sure looked cheesy on the page was brought to life with great comic timing and nuance. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see more of Mr. Johnson in the future. He's definitely one to look out for.
The rest of the cast deserves a special mention as well. In some stroke of miraculous luck, Nicolas Cage as Damon Macready (Big Daddy -- who bears a striking resemblance to Batman) managed to actually add to the ensemble as opposed to take away from it. His "superhero voice" was a great homage to the Adam West Batman and one that a lot of youngsters may not get, but I loved that it was included for longtime Batman fans. Whatever your views of Mr. Cage's recent acting choices are, don't let it deter you from seeing him in one of his best roles since playing Charlie and the ficticious Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. Chrisopher Mintz-Plasse (Chris D'Amico, Red Mist) fits the shoes of reluctant superhero/villian nicely, but he's probably the weakest part of the excellent ensemble. This could have been corrected by adding more depth to his character. He was by no means bad, I just wished to see more of him. I saved the character of Mindy Macready (Hit Girl), played by the adorable Chloe Moretz for last because she deserves special mention. Whenever a film attempts to create a bad-ass female character, it runs the risk of what I call the Michelle Rodriguez epidemic. When the character is overly boyish and completely unrelatable to the point of annoyance. The thirteen year old Chloe balanced her role perfectly. Just when you thought you were going to get sick of her cutesy "smarty-pants" antics, she dazzles with a compelling emotional scene or a display of bad-assery that makes you roar with applause.
Mark Strong plays bad-guy Frank D'Amico brilliantly. The best part about the anti-heroes in this film is that they're not above poking fun at themselves and the unrealistic situations they get themselves into. I don't want to spoil too much of the movie, but I've never laughed so hard at the employment of a bazooka before last night's screening.
It's been a while since I've seen a movie that made me erupt in laughter and cheer regardless of who I'm pissing off in the seat next to me, but Kick-Ass is that movie. If this is the evolution of the popcorn superhero flick, the film industry has a lot to look forward to. You can see Kick-Ass when it explodes into theatres on April 16, 2010 -- and I highly suggest you do.
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