I was a fan of the original Kick-Ass film. This is one where
Roger Ebert and I differed. He did not like the original at all. I enjoy it
because it was a fun movie, even with the horrific level of violence and
vulgarity in the story. Instead of repeating
the same elements from the first film, this one gives us new things to think
about and advances the overall story. Things escalate in this movie and if they
go further with this franchise it’s going to have to escalate to epic levels of
carnage. I give Kick-Ass 2 a cautionary green light, as it’s well-done, but may
not be for everyone.
Kick-Ass (
Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has put away his costume and
is trying to live a normal life, but it is empty and he is denying his true self
by not going out and patrolling as Kick-Ass. Hit-Girl (
Chloe Grace Moretz) is
also trying to make it as a high school student because she has made a promise
to her guardian, Detective Marcus Williams (
Morris Chestnut). They start out by
doing what they can to keep living the civilian life. Kick-Ass, like a drug
addict, can’t stay away from the life and gets Hit-Girl to teach him how to
fight and improve his skill.
On the last movie Chris D’Amico’s (
Christopher Mintz-Plasse)
father was killed by Kick-Ass. He now wants to take revenge and become the
world’s first supervillian. He makes his bodyguard, Javier (
John Leguizamo),
gather together a team of hitmen to become his league of evil.
Kick-Ass joins up with Colonel Stars and Stripes (
JimCarrey) and his team of good guys to parole the streets. They are obviously
going to have a standoff, blood will be shed. The climax of the movie was way
too predictable but still a fun ride.
For this one,
Matthew Vaughn moved from director to producer
and gave the director’s chair to
Jeff Wadlow. Wadlow’s resume is short, but
impressive.
Mark Millar is still involved in the writing on the project so I expected
a consistent feel to the story. Big thanks to the team for moving forward with
the story and not trying to rehash the original films success.
The main draw for me is how the characters are evolving, and
time passes with consequences. The actions by the heroes and the villains all
have a cost and this movie doesn’t let them off the hook. Do they need to make
a sequel? No. But they did leave room for one if the script is right. Another
installment would have to be off the charts in the violence department. You can
only go higher with this kind of story. Anything smaller could threaten the
franchise.
On that note Jim Carrey plays a character, who doesn’t use
any guns. He uses an axe handle and a German Shepherd. They started filming
before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Mr. Carrey has taken a strong
position on gun violence in movies and because he has already completed this
move was unable to pull out of the project. He decided to do no promotion for
this move. He was reported as tweeting:
First tweet “I did Kickass a month
b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of
violence. My apologies to e”
Second Tweet “I meant to say my
apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent
events have caused a change in my heart.”
I think he has every right to take a stand and his comments
were respectful and he is standing by his convictions. He said that he was
initially drawn to the role because of the way that his character didn’t use
any guns, however bludgeoning someone with a half inch of their life is just as
violent and a damn sight more brutal. A
lack of gun doesn’t limit how violent this movie gets.
In my opinion, violence in movies doesn’t translate to
violence in real life. As I write this I am just finishing listening to a
report about the shooting at the Navy Yard. We have a problem in the country
and it’s deeper than who feels whose rights are being trampled on. If everyone
lived by this one simple policy things would go a lot smoother.
Don’t be adick. Thank you
Will Wheaton for providing us with a simple way of taking a
look at ourselves and make sure that we are playing nice.
If you don’t stop and give in a little on an argument,
you’re being a dick. If you feel that your belief is the only way that peace
can be achieved, you’re being a dick. If you are too busy fear-mongering to
listen to reason, you’re being a dick. If you think that all the problems can
be solved by other industries changing their product but you leave yours
untouched, you’re being a dick. Don’t be a dick.
If you decide that you can’t be a part of a project that you
worked on so you decide not to help promote it and explain your reasons in a
respectful way, you are not a dick you are Jim Carry.
How can you avoid being a dick this week?
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