Kick Ass-2 picks up 2 years after its predecessor. Dave, after all but hanging up the Kick-Ass mask, feels the urge for action, and reconnects with Mindy (aka Hit Girl) who is failing at balancing life as a High School freshman and a martial arts crime fighter. Also in the aftermath of the first movie, Chris D'Amico (Formerly Red Mist) takes vengeance in his hands and begins assembling a group bound for chaos and destruction.
As a side note to this review...As with the first Kick-Ass movie, the trailers are extremely misleading in my opinion. The trailers are very geared towards the comedic aspect of the film. While the film certainly has it funny moments, this movie is much closer to a dramatic action movie.
The writing and feel of the movie was similar to Kick-Ass, which is important to the continuity of the series. One thing that wasn't there, was the innocence from the first movie. While the argument could be made that the first movie exposed these characters to the real world consequences of being a hero, I missed the wide-eyed optimism from the first movie. Another thing that I was not crazy about, though this stayed true to the comic book, was the name that Chris D'Amico chose as his villainous mantle. 'The Motherfucker' to me just does not seem to embody the dark side of this character, though it is a spot on representation of the 'spoiled brat didn't get his way' aspect of the character.
The actors did a pretty good job of maintaining their characters in this movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz have obviously grown with their characters, and did bring a more adult feel to the movie. Jim Carey did a great job as Colonel Stars & Stripes, and put his very unique twist on the character that makes me like him as an actor. I think some of the superfluous characters are harder to get around, though the entire point of the movie was to take the personal experience of the one individual who stood up and expand it to a community that he inspired.
The appearance of the movie was the most jarring for me. Added to this movie was word bubbles, scene change descriptions, and even animated character facades, something completely in the other direction of the first movie, and I didn't really appreciate it. It brought an almost infantile aspect to a movie that is anything but childish. Also I am not a fan of the style of graphic generated bloodshed that has lately become very hip, just because it doesn't look even close to real (better than the kool-aid blood of the 70's and 80's, but still takes me out of the movie.). Also there are a couple scenes where the violence is just too overdone, even for a movie with a 15 year old ninja.
Final Judgement:
While it was obviously made in the spirit of the first movie, the addition of comic book-like graphics, the overpowering number of characters that are introduced, some overkill on violent scenes, and a certain loss of character from our hero makes the movie inferior to its predecessor, but still a pretty good watch, especially for fans of the first movie.
Score:★★★★★★★☆☆☆
2 comments:
I'm in! Didn't expect it to be a Grammy award winner!!!
Going to see it Sunday
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