Staten Island. Teenager Dave Lizewski is tired of getting bullied around by punks and small-time crooks, so he orders a green costume, dresses up as Kick-Ass and decides to be the first real-life superhero. His first attempt of protecting justice fails, though, as he is badly wounded by two punks and hit by a car. However, he continues and a Youtube video of him fighting criminals on the street gains him fame. At the same time, a framed ex-cop, Damon, and his 11-year old daughter Mindy, disguise themselves as Big Daddy and Hit-Girl in order to take revenge on mafia boss Frank. After Frank's men kill Damon, Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass storm his hideout and kill him and his men.
One of the most overrated films of 2010, "Kick-Ass" sounds like a good idea - but it is only fun the first 10 minutes, while the rest is just mindless action that is at least 70 % a glorification of violence which cannot be camouflaged not matter the hype. When you have a scene of a father shooting at his daughter in order to "show" her the feeling of getting shot while wearing a bulletproof vest, you already sense this is questionable. But once the splatter violence gets unleashed (a man exploding in a microwave), you can be positive this was a misguided execution of a neat concept. The most disturbing feature here is the notion of a 11-year old girl (!) killing about fifty people throughout the film, aggravated even further by the producers trying to make it look "fun" and "cheerful" by adding hip music - Joan Jett must be shocked of having her fantastic song "Bad Reputation" getting trashed by using it in a scene of massacre near the end. Yes, Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are the good guys who fight the bad guys - but their methods are all the same and one can only wonder how fascism can be so subtly transmitted as something positive. The best part of the film is Dave's love story with Katie and a few comical scenes in the first half, which are the only redeeming features in an otherwise sad film. Overall, despite some good scenes, watching "Kick-Ass" is about as fun as a comedy about Anders Breivik.
Grade;+
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