Kick Ass!

DavidZahir · Apr 13, 2010

The official premiere is tonight! And I am going!

A friend and co-worker won a costume contest associated with the movie, and since I helped provide her costume (via a certain gold cape) she's sharing the passes she got with me!

Let you know how it turns out. Looks like fun!

Trailers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zLsdBEsr90 (restricted)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrKHu2UX1vA (extended)

DavidZahir · Apr 14, 2010

I'll be writing a full review for my blog soon, but simply put--Kick Ass is awesome! Hit-Girl may simply be the greatest superhero to appear on screen, ever! As a small shout-out, it amused me to see Yancy Butler (aka Witchblade) have a small but important role and I'm frankly puzzled as to why Elizabeth McGovern had such a tiny one (no lines even).

But overall, I had a great time. One character/relationship felt totally "off" but tantalizingly almost-real. The rest was a moving and funny and exciting tale. Plus just a little disturbing at times.

Celia Cyanide · Apr 14, 2010

I want to see this SO BAD!!!!!

I have not read the comic, but it's by Mark Millar, who wrote WANTED and I love WANTED! (the comic, not the movie)

katiemac · Apr 14, 2010

Celia Cyanide said:
I want to see this SO BAD!!!!!

I have not read the comic, but it's by Mark Millar, who wrote WANTED and I love WANTED! (the comic, not the movie)

The comic and this film were written at the same time, and they influenced each other. It will be interesting to see the film and then read it, or vice versa.

Fulk · Apr 14, 2010

I'm really looking forward to seeing this. I had been thinking about ordinary-people-as-superheroes for a while, and suddenly I start seeing ads for Kick Ass. The timing is awesome. It looks like a really enjoyable movie.

Zoombie · Apr 15, 2010

I described this movie to my father. "And there is this superhero called Red Mist. His superpower is that he has a gun and he shoots you."

My dad laughed for like...hours.

Parametric · Apr 15, 2010

Kick-Ass: so much fun, I watched it twice.

Brought my little brother along the second time. Both times everyone was in tears of laughter.

kuwisdelu · Apr 15, 2010

I gotta admit. My first thought was "rip-off of Watchmen, but with kids."

How does it compare?

Celia Cyanide · Apr 15, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
I gotta admit. My first thought was "rip-off of Watchmen, but with kids."

But it's not really like WATCHMEN, though. In the world of WATCHMEN, no one reads superhero comics. They read pirate comics. Because superheros are a part of their reality and always have been.

This is a story about people who become superheros because they are inspired by the comics they read.

DavidZahir · Apr 15, 2010

Well, the characters bear little or no resemblance to any in Watchmen (which I loved btw). The violence isn't really up to that movie's level, although it is far more realistic than most superhero films. Plot is totally dissimilar. The "feel" is very different.

I could go on and on but my point is that Kick Ass is itself, for better and for worse. Although openly referential to other works (the characters have watched the same movies we did), it is not in any sane sense a ripoff of anything else.

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 15, 2010

I promised to take my son to this. It's like the only movie he's interested in. Nothing else out has interested him.

kuwisdelu · Apr 15, 2010

Is it a deconstruction? Or is it just supposed to be fun? It's hard to tell from the previews.

Celia Cyanide · Apr 15, 2010

I know what you mean, it could go either way. I could handle fun, but WANTED was "supposed to be fun" and it pissed me off.

Toothpaste · Apr 15, 2010

Question, the ads are saying "Superbad" meets "Kill Bill". This concerns me because although I adore action movies etc, I am squeamish when it comes to the level of violence in "Kill Bill", to the point that I just can't watch it, though I've tried. What is the violence level like? Someone said it wasn't as bad as WATCHMEN which I've seen and enjoyed (okay, so there are a couple moments in WATCHMEN I've never seen, as I have to close my eyes . . . still), so that sounds like a good sign.

I really want to see this movie, so am hoping the violence doesn't deter me.

DavidZahir · Apr 15, 2010

The violence is not quite to the level of Watchmen (no bone protruding from broken limbs, for example). The language is quite (in fact, very) adult, as are the sexual situations, albeit not as explicit as American Pie (no real nudity for example unless you count a National Geographic photo). Lots of people die, some in quite gruesome ways--one in a gigantic microwave. Some one else is set on fire.

It is indeed funny, and at times heart-wrenching. At heart it is about a young man who simply has the right combination of idealism, imagination, willpower and foolishness to try and be a superhero--not least because he doesn't really have anything else in his life. So he does this. And winds up in the center a whirlwind.

maxmordon · Apr 15, 2010

Celia Cyanide said:
But it's not really like WATCHMEN, though. In the world of WATCHMEN, no one reads superhero comics. They read pirate comics. Because superheros are a part of their reality and always have been.

This is a story about people who become superheros because they are inspired by the comics they read.

Keep in mind that Mason Hollis does comment on being inspire by early superheroes in dressed up and fighting criminals that otherwise would go out free. (he mentions Superman and The Flash under its old name, The Flash-Man)

There were superheroes comic books, they simply never caught on.

(I loved Watchmen the comic book but disliked the movie).

maxmordon · Apr 15, 2010

I saw the cardboard ad for this one in Caracas, seems promising enough.

Toothpaste · Apr 15, 2010

Okay, so my next question, I guess to David, would be: does the violence happen suddenly and unexpectedly, or can you have time to close your eyes. For example in Sweeney Todd it's very easy to watch that movie as you have to prepare a knife before you cut someone's throat, so you can watch for that movement and close your eyes in time. But there are other movies where a person is just standing there and BAM something totally unexpected happens and you can't prep yourself.

I know how it sounds, I'm quite a wuss, but I also love film, so I have to do such things.

Bad language and nudity and/or sex does not bug me however. Odd, really, how so many people tend to be comfortable with graphic violence, but find graphic sex disturbing. I'm the other way around.

(btw, thanks!)

Parametric · Apr 15, 2010

Toothpaste, I'm not a fan of stomach-churning gore, and I loved the film. The violence is hilariously over-the-top and cartoony rather than realistic - lots of blood spatter, but nothing too gruesome. As for unexpected violence, one time somebody is hit by a car without warning, but apart from that the violence comes in long action sequences so you don't feel blindsided. I think this trailer is a fair representation of the film.

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 15, 2010

Geez. Now you guys have me worried. I thought it would be a fun movie with cartoon violence. Now I'm rethinking taking my 14 year old if it's going to be overtly graphic. (Although I took him to see Green Zone and he said there wasn't ENOUGH fighting.)

Sheryl Nantus · Apr 15, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
Geez. Now you guys have me worried. I thought it would be a fun movie with cartoon violence. Now I'm rethinking taking my 14 year old if it's going to be overtly graphic. (Although I took him to see Green Zone and he said there wasn't ENOUGH fighting.)

It *is* rated "R", you know...

Toothpaste · Apr 15, 2010

Sheryl Nantus said:
It *is* rated "R", you know...

Yeah. That's the funny thing. People seem to totally ignore ratings and judge based on previews, which, as we know, can't be too graphic especially if shown on tv between certain hours.

The same thing happened with WATCHMEN people showed up with their young kids and then were shocked when the film didn't turn out to be akin to SPIDERMAN.

Zoombie · Apr 15, 2010

Course, I bet they were all horrified that their children had to see a male penis.

Not...the whole murdering millions of people, horrific graphic violence, and all that jazz. Its all about the penis and the sex.

YES I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT THAT!

Anywho, I'm so very excited about Kick-Ass. Gonna whack my friend with a club and see if I want to come.

maxmordon · Apr 15, 2010

You know what makes me bitter? That The Tick was only cancelled before completing a season, I miss that show.

Say it with me, folks. TICK LIVE ACTION FILM!

maxmordon · Apr 15, 2010

Zoombie said:
Course, I bet they were all horrified that their children had to see a male penis.

Not...the whole murdering millions of people, horrific graphic violence, and all that jazz. Its all about the penis and the sex.

YES I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT THAT!

Anywho, I'm so very excited about Kick-Ass. Gonna whack my friend with a club and see if I want to come.

Funny enough, old cartoons weren't only filled with violence but also "implied" sex: whistling at dames, looking at naughty pictures and getting dressed up to seduce the antagonists. I think the crudest sex reference I can recall from that era comes from a Bettie Boop cartoon called The Old Man From The Mountain, in which a town is terrorized by a barbaric old man who lives at the mountain top. We see a woman walking down and Bettie Boop asks her why is she crying, her answer? Old Man From The Mountain and she show us her three babies which look identical as The Old Man From The Mountain.

Kick Ass!

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