Kick Ass Movie Review

originally written for Mohka Life Magazine (www.mohkalifemag.com)

Walking out of the theatre after watching Kick Ass, two words formed on my lips, “Fucking Awesome!”. As an avid fan of fast paced action (I've seen the entire Fast and Furious franchise multiple times) and lover of anything that decides to include McLovin' (real name: Christopher Mintz-Plasse) Kick Ass was right up my alley.

Kick Ass follows Dave Lizewski, an average teenage nerd who wonders why no one has ever tried to become a superhero. Dave decides to be a pioneer for all philanthropic comic book lovers and dresses up as vigilante Kick Ass to fight crime. After multiple failed attempts as a vigilante, including one that ends with the entire school thinking he is a gay prostitute, Dave becomes a Youtube sensation after his first victory is filmed. He then meets Hit Girl and Big Daddy, two REAL superheroes trying to take down drug lord Frank D'Amico. Frank mistaken blames Kick Ass for Hit Girl and Big Daddy's slaughter of his men. With the help of his son, Chris as faux superhero Red Mist, Frank attempts to trap Kick Ass.

Christoper Mintz-Plasse (a.k.a. McLovin) is perfectly cast as Red Mist, adding the perfect amount dorky teen comedy to the film. Another shining star in the film is eleven-year-old Chloë Moretz as Hit Girl. Moretz's character has the fighting skills of vengful, Vendetta filled "V" with the creepy evil child genius factor of Stewie in Family Guy. Moretz balances childlike and voilent as hell phenominally, making her performance a riot to watch.

Also, I'm pretty convinced now that Director Matthew Vaughn is the undiscovered love child of Judd Apatow and Quentin Tarrentino. He combines Tarrentino's stylized violence with Apatow's understanding of teen comedy's. Kick Ass is literally a mash-up between Kill Bill and Superbad, with a touch of Spiderman thrown in for plot.

The best part of this movie is how current it makes being a superhero. Kick Ass uses eBay to buy his superhero costume and makes a MySpace page to connect with his fans. Showing us how much easier Peter Parker would have had it, if he'd chosen to be a superhero in 2010.

Kick Ass, quite simply, kicks ass! Watch it!