Kick Ass

Kick Ass started out life, as most movies seem to these days, as a comic book.

  in 2008 Mark Millar wrote and John Romita Jr. illustrated the story of a comic obsessed teenager who decides to be the first person to become an actual super hero. it doesn’t go well. with no super powers, no gadgets and no combat training, Dave decides to take on a couple of local petty criminals who’ve previously robbed him. this being real life instead of his beloved comics, Dave ends up in hospital with many broken bones and nerve damage…

as soon as he is able, Dave is back on patrol looking for someone to save and winds up in the middle of a fight. with his nerve damage and metal plates in his bones, it turns out that he can take a kicking better than most and thus Kick Ass is born. a mobile phone video of the fight is uploaded to YouTube and suddenly Kick Ass is famous.

Dave however is still a high school loser and even has to pretend he’s gay so that the girl he likes will talk to him…

Kick Ass’ fame draws out other super hero wannabes, most notably Hit Girl and Big Daddy – a father daughter outfit who have lots of combat training and even more weapons – and Red Mist – a rich kid who lacks even Kick Ass’ modest abilities.

together they fight crime and stuff… well I'm not going to give it all away, but there are twists and it’s just one seriously cool comic!

so onto the movie.

the movie of Kick Ass quite simply Kicks Ass. the basic story is the same as the comic and several scenes are lifted directly word for word from the page. other scenes and some major plot points are changed though to make for a better flowing action movie, but that’s ok. in the comic there is a scene where Dave and his friends are discussing the way that comics are altered to make better movies and they all agree  that changes can be good.

the movie is funny, gritty, savagely violent, tender, sage and surprisingly for a comic book movie – controversial…

it would appear that many reviewers can’t see an 11 year old girl who swears and kills people as anything other than a case of child abuse. and I've even seen reviews where the reviewer has climbed onto a high horse, waved a flag and said that this film will turn people into paedophiles!  the Daily Mail reviewer seemed so alarmed that i have to wonder if he felt guilty because he’d become aroused watching Kick Ass?…

really though, child abuse?!  they’ve forgotten one simple fact IT’S A WORK OF FICTION…
and as for people getting turned on watching an 11 year old girl, i put it to you that these people are probably already known as Uncle Lumpy-Lap and watch the Disney channel all day and night.

in summary - it’s a fantastic film, but if you own a high horse you’ll hate it and if you find yourself turned on by Hit Girl, get professional help.