After the heroic acts from Kick-ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in the first movie, a new-wave of inspired masked vigilantes are born in "Kick-ass 2". Kick-ass and Hitgirl (Chloё Grace Moretz) decide to officially team-up as a duo, and begin to train daily. When Hitgirl’s guardian finds out that she has been skipping school for vigilantism, he makes her hang up the cape. Now she must face her most formidable opponent yet: High school.
With no one else to turn to, Kick-ass decides to join the newly formed Justice Forever, led by Colonel Stars and Stripes(Jim Carrey). Bent on revenge, Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), formerly known as Red Mist, decides to avenge the death of his father by becoming the first super villain, the Motherf***ker. With the Motherf***ker wreaking havoc, it’s up to Kick-ass and Justice Forever to save the day.
Although the film focuses on Dave Lizewski, aka Kick-ass, he doesn’t really obtain the empathy of the audience. In no way is Taylor-Johnson at fault, this issue is due to poor writing. Taylor-Johnson’s performance was excellent, but because his story in the film was rather flat, the connection between him and the viewers was almost non-existent.
In “Kick-ass 2”, Hitgirl has a much larger role compared to its predecessor, so much that the film could be renamed “Hitgirl”. This is where “Kick-ass 2” succeeds. Her compelling journey was the driving factor throughout the film. The young superhero that never had a childhood and who is then abruptly thrown into the real world makes for an enthralling element of the film. Moretz admirably portrays Hitgirl with ease. Moretz accomplishes the role with hilarious yet vulgar one-liners, ruthless aggression, as well as playing a lonely teenager who is yearning to fit in, resulting in a performance that is dynamic and heart-warming.
In the first movie Nicolas Cage as “Big Daddy” was one of the more entertaining characters to fans. Now ex-mob and the leader of the super-team Justice Forever, Colonel Stars and Stripes takes over the position. With the mixture of his eccentricity and charisma, Carrey brings grit to the role and pulls it off immaculately. The only downside to this character was its brevity.
Mintz-Plasses’s character, the Motherf***ker, was also really enjoyable. What makes this character work the most is how he considers himself as the most hardcore criminal, yet he is a complete idiot. To add to the ludicrousness, everything that he says comes off as awkward, not to mention his bizarre costume that resembles a leather dominatrix suit.
What separates Kick-ass films from other superhero franchises is the gore and vulgarity that these possesses. The blood and violence never goes overboard or surpass that of the original.
Even with its flaws, “Kick-ass 2” will still offer great moments of laughter, as well as memorable, albeit outlandish, characters. Overall, fans of the original will be thoroughly pleased, but to the average audience this film will reach just above satisfactory.
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