SciFi Japan Presents a Second Look at the New Superhero Movie Author: Kim Song-ho Official Movie Site: kickass-themovie.com
KICK-ASS is a superhero film without superheroes. The masked and costumed vigilantes appearing in KICK-ASS are all normal, without super powers. For example, our protagonist Dave, who later becomes the titular hero, is a less-than-average geek. He is not so athletic, has no relationships with girls and sometimes he is picked on by the local thugs along with his equally nerdy friends. One distinctive feature Dave has is a vision. A vision that changes his life forever - having been frustrated by the fact no one ever tries to be a superhero, he decided to become one himself. KICK-ASS is in a similar vein with films like HANCOCK which, in some degrees, are a spin to the superhero genre. Though Dave`s new moniker Kick-Ass has no such powers like Hancock, we can expect familiar elements such as coming-of-age story, media craze or adverse effect caused by it, the theme of what is the meaning of being a superhero, how the hero finds a place in the society where he is truly needed and many other usual genre cliches getting bent. KICK-ASS is not so far from it.
What KICK-ASS does, however, is that it goes full throttle with those elements. It bends them until they are almost broken. Or sometimes it does break a few of them. It spins until a moment before they throw up. Or sometimes it lets them throw up all around. Being an R-rated film, KICK-ASS features some of the most hard-core action scenes and the harshest languages that we might expect from a superhero film. These excessive portrayals themselves were elaborately executed, so they make KICK-ASS a slick genre fare. Also, there are many spoofs and references from the well-known superhero works. The more you know about them, the more you will be able to enjoy the film. I am not much of a comic book/superhero expert, but whenever I saw Big Daddy (played by Nicholas Cage) attempt to mimic Adam West`s mannerism from the 1960s BATMAN TV series I simply cracked up. One thing KICK-ASS did not meet my expectation is that it could not fully develop its own potential. The film began like it will send the viewers where they have never been before. The film runs so powerfully until it ends, but it did not actually cross the line, except with violence and language (and some depictions regarding sex). I especially wanted to see how the Red Mist character develops, since he seemed to be quite an interesting and unexpectedly complex one. But on second thoughts, KICK-ASS managed to somewhat countervail against those shortcomings. The film was that strong anyway. It pushes the viewers into the world where blood-splattered, amputation-ridden, bone-crushing, bullets-flying, grenade-exploding, bazooka-firing heroes fighting against the bad guys who are just as tough as them. Like it or hate it, KICK-ASS will make your adrenaline rush and rush again.