Kick Ass

The Flick: Kick Ass

The Actors: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong (does he ever play a good guy?), Chloe Moretz (!), Nicholas Cage.

The Dealio: Starts out like Super Bad Redux. Typical teenage Fantasy World stuff. Been there, seen that. Then, about 30 minutes in, Blammo! We take a sudden, swerving, tire-squealing detour into Quentin World. Kiddies- hang on to your ipods. We're going on a strange and violent journey.
Now, normally, I have a weirdness meter that pings increasingly noisily when things I am reading or watching begin to exceed my comfort-level. And I would be lying to you if I did not disclose that this movie activated that meter several times during the show. However, I was willing to give it some slide this time because, well, this film is just extremely involving. For the right audience (recall, please, that this film is R rated...and for a reason).
Here's the dealio: When wannabe super hero, Kick Ass (who not only has no super powers, but also has no really cool stuff to back up the look) gets his ass kicked and undergoes some pretty riveting surgery (speaking here as a medical professional), his endurance is increased, but his actual abilities in the crime-fighting, girl-impressing, justice-meting arena remain highly deficient. Then he meets Big Daddy and Hit Girl- two mysterious peeps who are enormously talented in the pursuit of fair-play and evening up the score for the downtrodden. And also rock an audacious look and some incredible, self-designed weaps. His life has changed forever. He just doesn't know it yet.

The Grading Session: 4.51 pengies out of 5. Chloe Moretz totally kicks ass and takes names. She is the clear stand-out in this really talented group of mostly minor-key players. Except for Nick Cage- who, here, whips up and delivers yet another of his half-baked, exotic-but-vaguely-benign oddballs. His robotic voice and stiff delivery when he is Big Daddy must be something he felt essential to his vision of the character. But, as my side-kick for this movie (hi, Prendie!) said, 'Yep, he has a unique and special vision. He must be...interesting to work with.'
This hooky, quirky and ultimately highly enjoyable movie certainly has its soft spots, but I was willing to skate past the high-grade violence, inappropriate situations and occasional slack moments. If you are looking for something just a little north of the average teen fanboy movie, Kick Ass may be right up your alley.

Lessons Learned: Parenting styles vary wildly, and who, aside from me, is to say any particular style is better than another? Also- it takes a lot more than a hot costume to make a person a super hero. Some people do this work every day and have no cool go-withs at all. One last one? OK: never try to stop a crime-in-progress with only reason and a command voice. However, do be smarter and more heroic: run away to a safer place, so that you can survive to actually call 911. Just saying.