Matthew Vaughn’s deliberately cartoonish Kick-Ass, adapted from a graphic novel of the same name by Mark Miller, could very well be qualified as a well-made revisionist super-hero movie for having successfully deconstructed the various tropes and icons associated with this particular genre. But, more importantly than that, it is also an exceedingly funny and immensely entertaining movie despite, or perhaps because of, the seamless concoction of outrageous violence and political incorrectness with hilarious black comedy. A geeky and socially aloof guy, who happens to be crazy about superhero comics, decides to don a suit and call himself “Kick Ass” in order to fight petty crimes, even though he is severely deficient in terms of superhero skills; meanwhile a father-daughter duo, both having mastered the art of kicking ass, too don suits in order to get even with a powerful mobster. The movie is as much about their travails and triumphs as masked vigilantes, as it is about delving into the psyche of our popular culture that makes us crave for the Superman’s and the Spiderman’s instead of real-life heroes. The film’s most noteworthy aspect is that it has maintained a fun, breezy and freewheeling spirit throughout its length – as if the very idea of a superhero is ludicrous. The acting is good throughout as are the various character dynamics explored. But what really stands out from the rest is the incredibly funny and endearingly quirky chemistry shared between Nicholas Cage and Chloe Moretz as the father-daughter duo who can seriously kick some ass.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Genre: Comedy/Black Comedy/Action
Language: English
Country: US/UK
2 comments:
Count me as a fan here Shubhajit, a "revelation" that shocked me afterwards. I am generally adverse to this kind of film, but I thought the satiric humor was often quite brilliant. You are absolutely right to mention the chemistry between Cage and Moretz.
Great writing here.
Thanks Sam. Yes, it was very easy for the film to go wrong. But Vaughn tread his ground exceedingly well, and managed to make the movie work at more than one level through great usage of humour, satire and sociocultural commentary.
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