Movies: Kick-Ass 2

Score:  *** out of ***** (C)

Long Story Short:  Despite poor box office performance, the excellent Kick-Ass seems to have inspired enough of a fan base to produce a sequel.  If you enjoyed the original, this one will disappoint if you're looking for the same quality; nevertheless, it utilizes the same dark action/comedy style for "B" movie entertainment.  Obviously not for everyone, but it is perfectly satisfying for the right audience.


Well, here comes the last summer film.  I saw eleven films released between May and August, and could have seen a handful more but I think that holding off on some helped me appreciate more those that I did see.  While I don't plan on writing full reviews for films I see on Netflix, I hope to add some notes about them on review for other films - as well as more mentions on the annual movie review.  Back to Kick-Ass 2:  when I heard this was coming out, it instantly became one of my most anticipated films of the year.  You could certainly argue Kick-Ass didn't need a sequel, but I was so impressed by it that I was intrigued to see what might happen next.  I saw the ugly score it got on Rotten Tomatoes, but that did not deter me.  Kick-Ass 2 was directed by Jeff Wadlow and stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jim Carrey.

A few years after the events of Kick-Ass, Dave (Johnson) and Mindy (Moretz) are struggling to adapt to  the boring, normal lives of teenagers - and failing.  Although Dave, aka "Kick-Ass", is still a mediocre-at-best crime fighter, Mindy, aka "Hit Girl", patiently trains him.  The two seem happy again, but Mindy's adoptive father, a cop, discovers her secret activities and forbids her from continuing.  Thus, "Hit Girl" is shelved as Mindy tries to make friends at school, while "Kick-Ass" is left to go solo until he meets a group self-made heroes whom he inspired.

Meanwhile, Chris D'Amico boils with rage at "Kick-Ass", who dealt his family a blow in the first film. He decides to get back in the game, now as "The Mother******".  This time, the shackles are off the entitled, whiny, completely psychopathic rich kid with a simple mission:  get revenge on "Kick-Ass".

There are a number of returning stars in Kick-Ass 2, as well as some welcome new additions.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson is still the title character "Kick-Ass", although with an expanded roster he is much less the focus in the sequel.  In fact, though he is the central character as far as all the others having some kind of connection to him, "Kick-Ass" is actually kind of an afterthought in his own film.  Considerably more effort is made to develop Chloe Moretz's character, Mindy/"Hit Girl".  The film's weakest scenes are undoubtedly the cliched struggles of Mindy to fit in with the schools' mean girls; as "Hit Girl", Moretz still has an entertaining mix of boldness and sharp sarcasm.  Christoper Mintz-Plasse is once again the most cartoonish character, but, whether it's luck or skill, the "overacting" comes off quite funny more often that not.  The biggest new name in the cast is, of course, Jim Carrey.  He doesn't actually have all that much screen time, but he does a great job of disappearing into the role; a thick-accented veteran who you can never quite tell if he's a gentle old guy or about to go postal.  There are some other neat roles, too, but none significant enough to comment on directly.

The original Kick-Ass was a whole new kind of superhero/comic book movie, a uniquely dark action/comedy blend that worked brilliantly.  The sequel basically takes the same format and attempts to go bigger in all aspects.  Most of all, Kick-Ass 2 ramps up the violence; the original used this as a scalpel, making you feel it acutely in controlled settings, but the sequel uses it more like a bazooka.  To its credit (or detriment, depending on how you look at it), much more humor is present in Kick-Ass 2's violence.  Maybe it's just me, but I found all the action, from fights similar to what we saw in the original (ie: "Kick-Ass" getting his ass kicked) to those that made me cringe a little in their extreme nature (i.e.: "Mother Russia" literally mowing down cops), simply entertaining.  The amount of humor is also ratcheted up significantly; again the increase is less subtle, and often absurd, but still largely works.

***

Kick-Ass 2 was difficult for me to give a single grade.  The lows are pretty low, but the highs get pretty darn high, too.  Overall, it's kind of a disjointed mess.  The beginning is almost a rehash of the original; although in general this is necessary for the story, it could have been done much better.  The film doesn't have very good focus, jumping around a lot (this works out OK for Mintz-Plasse; to varying success for Moretz; and Johnson is left behind almost entirely).  The writing is far worse than the original's, and some of it is truly atrocious.  On the other hand, the film is (for me, at least) pretty damn entertaining and has substantial balls without becoming (again, my opinion) overly dark or exploitive.  The director is new this time, and he's not nearly as talented as Vaughn, but he does a decent good job retaining the style and tone of the original.  Maybe this movie was done for cash (although the first didn't even make $50 million), and maybe the quality isn't always there, but it's clear that the entire cast and crew put their all into making this entertaining.

Since this film is definitely not for everyone, here's a plan to decide if it's right for you.  If you like action films, see the original Kick-Ass first.  It's an excellent, unique superhero film that I'd rate an "A-" or "A".  If you see that and like it, and think that you'd like or can tolerate a bigger (not necessarily more intense) version, give Kick-Ass 2 a try.  If you want mindless, guilty pleasure, this is a great choice; otherwise, look elsewhere.