Kick Ass Was A Roller Coaster Of A CBM.

It started good, then dropped, did a few turns, went back up, and came back down. Did it leave you looking for a trash can to heave in, or waiting in line to go again?

Review Opinion
By CBMcontributor - Apr 16, 2010 03:04 PM EST
Filed Under: Kick-Ass

Flat- Why did they put the entire opening sequence in one of the trailers?

Up- Having never read the comic I really liked how Kick Ass's first outing went. It made it realistic and added to the reality of the idea.

Down- Nick Cage really stunk the movie up. What the **** was up with his West/Shatner Big Daddy voice? Was that supposed to be funny? A joke about Bale? I didn't get it, or it wasn't funny.

Up- Kick Ass telling the three thugs why he was protecting the guy he'd never met brought a tear to my eye. The whole rest of the movie could have been Cage's nonsense and it still would have gotten a 5/10. I had no idea how they were going to verbalize this for Kick Ass, every Hero movie does it somehow, and I had a feeling that this movie would top all others, and it delivered.

Down- I did not like Hit Girl at first, not because of the whole "foul mouthed little girl being violent" crap, but because she was too violent for a hero, she killed people who were running away and/or unarmed. Big Daddy did it too, but that came later. This is not how a hero is supposed to act in my opinion. To me it almost makes Kick Ass less of hero for not saying/doing anything(just like the guy in the window). I am referring mostly to the stoner in the apartment, but there were others that I think were too close for a "hero".

Up- I had no idea who Red Mist was from the trailers, that was a very well-written and acted part of the movie, a pleasant surprise.

The Loop- The [thing with the Gatling guns] was really weird, I don't know if it is cheesy or funny, it is just the loop.

Overall, I'm happy I went for the ride, and would recommend others go on it too, but once is enough for me.

---

Couple other things:
I was originally drawn to the movie because of Damien Walter's involvement, but Kick Ass didn't really do anything that looked at all like what Damien does, if I had known Hit Girl was who he was coordinating it would have decreased my interest.

I thought for sure that the climax scene was setting it up for Marcus to dawn a suit and go War Machine/Steel and save the day or clean up the mess. I think that actor would make a good John Stewart eventually, he had a hero vibe about him.

Did anyone catch what movie was playing in the beginning? That was a joke right?

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HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/16/2010, 4:18 PM
I didn't realize I wasn't logged in, this is my review.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/16/2010, 5:05 PM
Cage went with the West thing because to Damon Macready, his superhero cultural 'touchstone' was the 60's Batman - i.e. Adam West, not Keaton or Bale or any of the other modern heroes. He's using that era Batman and Robin as the "game" he uses to brainwash Mindy into training her as an assassin ("let's play superheroes honey bunny!").

And yes, it's also a parody of the Bale Batvoice thing too - and the fact that he uses a campy West voice instead of an unintentionally funny growly voice makes it all the funnier.

And the warehouse takedown and torture scenes... without that flip-side of his character, the voice might not have worked. As it was, it was pure genius, imo.

The point about Hit Girl and Big Daddy is they weren't like traditional comic-book heroes - they were out for Vengeance (with a capital V) on D'amico. They weren't there to fight for justice for all, like idealistic, naive Dave - behind the silly costumes, they're deadly serious.

As Hit Girl says at the end "I never play" - she knows why they're doing this - Damon might have started this as a game to make the training easier, but it wasn't a game any more for either of them.

However, the only people they killed were thoroughly evil from head to toe - murderers every one. The only 'innocents' who get killed are by D'amico's hands.

It's funny that the two things you liked the least about the movie are the two things most people like the most. :)

I liked the gatling guns - they were cheesy AND cool. :)

I'm not knocking your opinion, but from what you're saying I get the feeling you expected and wanted a traditional superhero movie and couldn't quite go with it when you didn't get one.

The fact that it was different is one of the things I liked about it.

PS. Spirit 3? Yes of course it was a joke - this is a little bit like our world, but - obviously if The Spirit got two sequels - not quite. Dude. Why am I having to explain that? Seriously, not getting half the jokes - or not even getting that they were MEANT to be jokes makes you look a little out of the loop (see what I did there? Rollercoaster reference? Oh, never mind). See it again, and take your sense of humour with you next time. :P
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/16/2010, 6:51 PM
I think you misunderstood some of my issues.

1.I might be able to understand the reasoning behind the voice, but at that first meeting I was expecting Dave to bust up laughing at any moment, it was just bad.

2.My beef with them being to violent is not a generalization, in the apartment scene Hit Girl kills everyone, whether they were running away while unarmed or actively trying to kill her. Killing the token junky in the room as he runs away is something bad guys do, not good guys. I personally did not like her killing the red dress chick or them crushing the guy in the car, but I know those are just based on my personal views on "good guys".

3.I didn't have a problem with the gattling guns, I thought the jet pack was "iffy" I phrased it how I did so that it would not be considered a spoiler. Everything seemed real world based, then Kick Ass flies in with a jet pack, fights with a jet pack on, wins, and flies away. That is right on the line of cheesy IMO.

4.I didn't see Spirit, all I know is that it had bad reviews on here. I don't follow who writes what, so I wasn't sure what type of humor it was. Was anyone attached to this movie involved with Spirit?

The Roller Coaster reference was cheezy, but I'm a nobody, I had to try and think of something to get people to read my review, otherwise there would be no reason to write it.
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/16/2010, 6:56 PM
Another thing with Cage, was he supposed to be unstable? It seemed like Cage was playing someone with an actual chemical imbalance, but it did not seem like the story fully supported the way he was playing the character.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/16/2010, 7:52 PM
You didn't think? I think the story - through his actions as much as anything - made it crystal clear he had completely lost the plot. His own best-friend/former partner told him precisely that - and that what he was doing to Mindy was plain wrong.

It doesn't need to be overstated - he created a Batman and Robin fantasy for his little girl and trained her to be a killer. I don't think you need a psychiatrist's expert opinion to get the message across any clearer.

What was good about it was that HE didn't think he was crazy. Crazy people don't...
KeithM
KeithM - 4/16/2010, 8:12 PM
Regarding the jet-pack. Take a look at the link below:

http://www.martinjetpack.com/

That costs somewhere between $80-$100,000. The one Mindy buys is quoted as $300,000.

It was pushing the realism envelope, sure, but still nothing you couldn't technically do if you had a few million in the bank.
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/16/2010, 8:37 PM
I think that if Damon was actually as bad as Cage was playing him the partner would have intervened, the partner definitely had his head on his shoulders, and definitely cared about Mindy. I think that was shown and acted clearly enough that if Damon was supposed to be psychotic to the level Cage was playing him the partner would have actually intervened.

Personally, I thin there was a disconnect between the story on the screen about Damon and the story Cage was playing. I am fine if no one agrees with me. I still liked the movie, I only think that it would have been better with someone other than Cage as Damon.
--
Like I said the jet pack being used pushes the barrier on the realness level, I won't actually say that it went over, but it is darn close. Actual jet packs like the one in the movie do exist, and have for decades, but they do not perform at all like in the movie. Actually, the propeller types like you linked to would have been a more realistic option for what they did.
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/16/2010, 8:40 PM
A question for someone that has read the comic:
Is there a reason that D'amico framed Damon and not Marcus?

I was expecting the same old "the partner was in on it" story, and it never happened. Is there an explanation on why it was only Damon in the comic?

I'm not complaining or criticizing, it just seemed odd to me.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/16/2010, 8:49 PM
But the partner had never seen him in Big Daddy mode. He only saw him as Damon, and as you know, he seemed almost Ned Flanders normal then. Oh, he knew he was off the rails for sure, but perhaps not quite how far off.

Only the bad guys saw Cage in full on Big Daddy mode. He also did ask where Mindy was remember? Perhaps he WAS going to intervene right there and then. We'll never know, because Mindy wasn't there...

How long between his partner tracking him down and the point where he adopts Mindy? A day or two at most? If it had gone on longer, then I agree, you'd have to question why he wasn't more pro-active about it (although even then they had switched to "safe house B", so he might have taken a while to track them down again anyway), but in the time frame shown, it's not a plot hole at all, imo.

Also the voice wasn't really a "madness" thing as such (no more than putting the suit on in the first place) - it was a deliberate attempt by Damon to disguise his voice in precisely the same way Bale did. It's a riff and a character thing, not a crazy thing. His actions as Big Daddy showed he was crazy, not the voice.
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/16/2010, 9:05 PM
My issues with cage's performance are not just related to Big Daddy, it seemed like his performance as Damon was sort of all over the place.

Of course the first scene was supposed to make him seem crazy, but the the "Ass kick" scene made him seem a different kind of crazy, then he seemed "normal" when talking to Marcus.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/16/2010, 9:14 PM
Sorry, wanted to answer some of your earlier points too (where you've numbered them):

1. I think Dave was too shit scared of him to DARE laugh. I don't think he was generally in a laughing mood, even if Daffy Duck had burst out and started gunning people down.

2. Big Daddy and Hit Girl weren't technically "good guys" in the traditional sense. More in the spaghetti western style of good guys - "Get three coffins ready" "My mistake. Four coffins..." i.e. if you're evil, you're scum and your life forfeit. Or like the anti-heroes in an Asian revenge/vengeance flick. Harsher than what you might be used to from your heroes, but that was kinda the point. They're more anti-heroes than out and out heroes, clearly.

I can understand if it was too much for you - if this movie wasn't controversial it wouldn't be doing its job - but that's what they were going for.

Regarding the so called harmless junkie and hooker. Have you seen Jackie Brown*? Woman stoned on sofa pulls gun? Don't underestimate anyone. If they're not on your side, they're the enemy. No sentiment. Take 'em all out.

*or I might be thinking of Lock, Stock - meh - one or the other.

The car crushing scene - check out Layer Cake and you'll see the in-joke better. :)

3. It was so cheesy, they even played Elvis over the top. They were parodying AND embracing the cheesy big set piece ending. I loved it.

4. Not in any way shape or form. although Frank Miller, the writer/director of Spirit is also a comic-book writer/artist so there is a connection through the comics world. It was just an inside joke to say "in this world, Spirit was awesome and huge and it has sequels", i.e. not quite our own world.
Ven0m
Ven0m - 4/16/2010, 11:32 PM
This movie was kick ass and everyone in it did a bad ass job. Hit Girl stole the show and I think Cage did a pretty good job.
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 4/17/2010, 12:32 AM
I have been thinking and I think I found the problem. I went to see this movie because I like the story of Dave, and his pure, and what some may call naive, view on why the world would benefit from masked heroes. I thought that was what this movie was about, since I went to see white bread golden boy fighting crime for all the right reasons there was no way I was not going to be just a little disappointed by Big Daddy and Hit Girl out to get revenge by any means necessary.

I would have loved a movie that was just about Kick Ass.

I still think Cage did a poor job, and have ideas on that, but I think this should reconcile the things that actually revolve around the story.
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