Sunday, February 12, 2012

Kick-Ass, 2010

Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
Starring Aaron Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse

This movie is an unusual mix of action, comedy, family drama, and teen coming-of-age story. The action is what you'd expect from something like this, and Chloë Grace Moretz does some pretty great work. The moments of comedy are pretty good, and the family drama and coming-of-age material is also decent. At the same time, there's something that's a little off-putting about the glibness with which the movie mixes the genres. If we are supposed to take these characters seriously, the movie is a bit dismissive of them; if they're just comic book characters (and this is based on a comic book and people are discussing comic books throughout the movie), then, then it's taking itself a little too seriously. I'd rather care about the characters, myself.

All that being said, it's not bad. But be prepared: some of the violence is realistic, both physically and emotionally.

Kick-Ass at IMDB.