We’re celebrating the 11th birthday of 1Xtra and I’ve had some wine so apologies if this review of Kick Ass 2is a bit squiffy. I had to type squiffy three times so I have a feeling it might be…
*Possible spoilers of Kick Ass 1 and graphic scene description*
It’s the sequel to one of the most talked about films of 2010, the unexpected cult hit, Kick Ass. Small girls swearing, fit men in Lycra, an enemy who needs destroying. So what’s different about Kick Ass 2? Not much actually, it’s more of the same. The son of Frank D’Amico, who was killed at the end of Kick Ass by, well, Kick Ass, is out for revenge and this time, he’s taking on the role of super villain, The Mother%@*$!& (expletives not allowed on this blog). His aim is to track down Kick Ass and kill him. Trouble is, he’s not sure who the man behind the mask is (it’s Dave Lizewski). Meanwhile, over in Gotham…I mean New York city, Kick Ass is desperate for some action (no, not that kind) and begs Hit Girl to train him up so he really can beat the baddies. Then he joins a vigilante gang headed up by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carey), who take it upon themselves to take down criminals and bad people in general. I would like to point out at this junction that Aaron Taylor Johnson really doesn’t interest me as either Dave Lizewski or Kick Ass. It’s all about Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl who brings the personality and the excitement to Kick Ass 2.
Kick Ass 2red band trailer
The reason why Kick Ass was such an explosive success was because of the shock factor. No-one was expecting it to be as violent, as boundary pushing or as funny as it turned out to be. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Nicolas Cage was actually pretty decent in it. It’s impossible for a sequel to have the same shock effect but at the same time, pushing boundaries in other ways is not the way to solve that problem. My biggest issue with Kick Ass 2 was one particular scene. There’s a moment where The Mother%@*$!& tries to sexually assault a woman but can’t. Essentially, they make a joke about sexual violence which was incredibly jarring to watch and completely unnecessary. It absolutely tainted the rest of the film for me because it was a cheap, nasty laugh that didn’t need to be included. It’s one thing to ham up physical violence and make jokes of it but I think the casual use of gratuitous abuse against women is dangerous, especially as the certificate is a 15, not an 18. Evidently, the filmmakers were attempting to push boundaries in other ways but if they had been original rather than lazy in their efforts, they would have found much more enthusiasm from me.
As I mentioned, Chloe Moretz is the stand out star of this movie. Her stunts are insane and it does help when an actor has some personality and charisma off the set too. Her character is the one that takes the biggest journey. Her childhood has been robbed by her daddy’s (Nicolas Cage) eagerness to coach her in the art of “killing a man with his own finger” so she goes to high school only to learn that 16 year old girls can be even more brutal that 16 stone muscly men (see Mean Girls). The violence is still extreme but I have no issue with that when it’s done well although it’s way more real than the comic book fighting of Kick Ass. They’ve upped the ante but at what cost?
3*
