An ultra-violent, foul-mouthed action-comedy (based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar), Kick-Ass is about unnoticed high school student, Dave (British newbie Aaron Johnson), who decides to become a real-life superhero after being inspired by his favourite comics. He encounters a mysterious vigilante called Big-Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and his daughter Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), who are working to bring down the drug baron, Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong).
Director Matthew Vaughn first brought the project to Sony, which distributed his Layer Cake, but the studio balked at the violence. Vaughn refused to tone down it down, however, and so raised the money for the multi-million dollar film himself.
Superbad meets Spiderman in a unique movie that most definitely lives up to its title.
This action-adventure is set in a universe where everyone loves the famous comic book heroes as much as we do. You could imagine these guys sitting around, discussing how Deadpool could eat Wolverine for breakfast. The fanboy’s dream, of course, is to live out their fantasies as a costumed vigilante, none more so than Dave Lizewski's (Nowhere Boy’s Aaron Johnson).
But one wouldn’t say this is just for geeks. It’s one of the funniest films in a while, packed full of likeable characters (we say ‘likeable’, even though they’d be psychopathic mass murderers from any other angle). Pre-teen Hit-Girl (a brilliant Chloe Moretz) rips someone’s throat out, while the guy sitting behind me exclaims, “She’s so cool!” Oddly, with an R-18 rating it means that the main characters of the movie wouldn’t be able to see it.
The origin section is reasonably predictable but as the story progresses it becomes far more engrossing. Some nifty sequences, including a comic-style retelling of how Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl came to be, and a strobe-lit shoot-out, are only a small example of how endlessly creative this movie is.
Action-packed, crazily colourful and plenty of fun, Kick-Ass is really so much better than you might expect. A triumphant finale will have you cheering and hoping that a sequel might be on the way.
By Andrew Hedley, Flicks.co.nz
I know! Nick Cage? In a good film and he's good too? Wow! Just see it! Hip, witty, fun, violent and superb in every aspect - from script to soundtrack, casting to cinematography - a modern classic. Deserves to be studied in schools. It really is that good. Sort of NATURAL BORN KILLERS for disenchanted teens - and it works for world-weary adults too! Tarantino for teenyboppers! Can't sing its praises loud enough! 5 twinkly stars - ass kicked :)
I found this movie extremely boring EXCEPT for the AWESOME fight scenes. The fight scenes are simply spectacular and worth sitting through the rest of the movie. So I'd give the fight scenes 5 stars, but the rest of the movie 1 star. I averaged it out to 3 stars overall.
Superhero comic book adaptations leave me cold and bored, but this is a perfectly paced, energetic and (crucially) a smart tongue-in-cheek action-adventure. Sin City meets Juno and the result is an irresistibly likable piece of comically ultra-violent entertainment. Nicholas Cage?s impersonation of Adam West is a highlight, but the young Chloe Moretz steals the show. Compulsively watchable
This was funny, but had a number of dull and flat parts to the movie. The highlights were watching eleven year old Hit Girl take out entire platoons of gangsters with knives, guns and other weapons. The idea was very funny, and some of the plot twists were very good, but more action would have improved it.
Simple, this an AWESOME, FUN-DRIVEN, WELL WRITTEN movie, so get it out, have a beer and expect to get tickled! I loved it!. Enjoy the evening!
Startlingly violent, gleefully profane, horribly funny, and occasionally quite brilliant. But the story should have yielded a darker, tougher, and smarter film than this.
A ridiculously entertaining, perfectly paced, ultra-violent cinematic rush that kicks the places other movies struggle to reach.
Its balancing act between innocence and gore perfectly matches the expectations of genre fans, who should embrace the movie.
Superhero movie reinvented as gory comedy? Works out well.
Hyper-violent, hyper-knowing and just plain hyper, Kick-Ass marks a bold costume-change for the superhero movie but veers clear of pastiche or parody. For best results, view with a large audience. You will cheer. Guaranteed.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 8th Apr 2010.
Release date: April 8th 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
