KICK ASS

dMYD
Starring Aaron Johnson

Y

Does exactly what it says on the tin. But not exactly. Summer 2008 saw two-hour misery spectacular The Dark Knight eating up time and wallets with dour abandon, so naturally along came beady eyes, grasping hands and a gnawing, stumbling critical acceptance of the superhero movie, in turn freeing filmmakers from the shackles of jumping through hoops of pure origin in order to twist the formula and take the piss. Hence Kick Ass. But again, not exactly. From the first shuddering radio crackles of men in the sky to the final geek-jump circle-jerk Joker quote it’s clear that Kick Ass is a film designed not to rip sheets off the spandex set but rather to gently poke at them with a stick of love, homaging and toadying in equal measure. Doing this with a free platter of bone-shattering violence and glaring primary colours is a nice touch, but ultimately the whole thing’s not quite as shocking and revolutionary as it thinks it is; the ‘real life superhero’ aspect gets thrown out the penthouse window when jetpacks, gangsters and katana wielding-tartan-skirted cartoon characters are chucked in, creating a film that has no idea what it is or what’s going on, but is going to have some fun trying to work it out. The whole thing drags a bit by the end, some of the acting is pantomime-hilarity and the script occasionally falls down a manhole and bleeds, but these are minor cynical window-dressing to what is essentially an eleven year old girl getting kicked in the face by a grown man. Its fun, isn’t it? Yes it is. Go see it, have fun. Here’s the best part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgOLmjhxVVU