Kick-Ass is an insanely entertaining hodgepodge of different genres, and manages to have a fresh spin on the superhero/comic book flick. With its pornographic levels of violence and overall hipster indifference to blood-spurting goodness, the flick definitely isn’t for everyone. Famed critic Roger Ebert hated the movie and gave it a measly one star rating. Ebert has been known to sometimes go on moral rants about violence he finds distrubing in movies, usually involving women or children. Ebert famously hated Blue Velvet and snapped during his review because he felt it exploited Isabella Rosselini, despite the fact that she was dating the film’s director David Lynch during the time the movie was being shot. Ebert was wrong then and he’s basically wrong again here. Once you get out of the way the fact that Kick-Ass is not for kids or the squemish (which should be obvious from its hard R rating), audiences can sit back and have a blast.

Kick-Ass starts as a teen sex comedy version of Spider-man complete with masturbation jokes and amusing asides on comic-book fandom. By walking the fine line of satire and making fun of fanboys, Kick-Ass gives a fresh take and a basic, but interesting idea. Why has no one in real life tried to become a superhero ? Nerdy Dave (played by likable Aaron Johnson) orders a wetsuit, fends off gay rumors, and generally gets his ass kicked when he attempts to become one. His “rescue” of a guy being mugged becomes a youtube sensation and soon it inspires other superheroes to come out of their own closet to help in his quest. They include Red Mist, and a father/daughter duo named Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. Hit-Girl is the lightning rod of the flick, and its true star. A foul-mouthed sociopath who murders and slaughters at will, and still only a kid. She’s played by the amazing Chloe Grace Moretz of 500 Days of Summer. Her relationship with Big Daddy (Nic Cage at his weirdo best) is the emotional crux of the movie and even has a few touching asides admist the bloodshed and carnage. Director Matthew Vaughn does an amazing job here. After directing Stardust (the best fantasy movie of the decade) and now Kick-Ass, he’s one of my favorite directors out there.

The movie isn’t perfect. The pacing is off at times, the villains are cliched minorities and Italian mobsters, and the flick borrows so heavily from Spider-man it’s more of an homage than a totally original piece of work, but Kick-Ass is easily the best movie of the spring. Funny, violent, and almost totally amoral, Kick-Ass is the blast comic book fans have been waiting forever for.

Grade: B+

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