Matthew Vaughn, Marv Films (26/03/10)

If only making films without the backing of a major distributor always went this well.

Financed out of his own pocket, with additional financial assistance from indie producers, director Matthew Vaughan (Layer Cake, Stardust) took a leap of faith (a leap certainly made easier by his considerable directorial skill) that everything would be okay with Kick-Ass, as long as he remained faithful to writer Mark Millar's (Wanted) and illustrator John Romita Jr.’s original vision.

The hero of Kick-Ass begins as anything but. Dave Lizewski (played by Nowhere Boy’s John Lennon, Aaron Johnson, just one of many Brits’ rounding out the cast) is an average American high schooler – nothing special academically or athletically, and “invisible to girls” – who spends most of his free time reading comic books or getting mugged and walking away in shame. Having finally had enough of bystanders refusing to stand up to the injustices playing out directly in front of them, Dave orders a scuba suit, holsters a couple of pipes to his back and hits the streets looking to dish out some vigilante justice.

Things don’t go quite as planned at first, but before long, Kick-Ass is hitting his stride, becoming a YouTube sensation and inspiring others to take up the fight. And as others join, the injustice being fought takes form in Mark Strong’s ruthless drug-dealing mob kingpin, Frank D’Amico, father to Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s (Superbad’s McLovin) lonely Chris (and his super identity, Red Mist). Much violence and blood-letting ensues, most of it cartoonish, but just enough of it believable to keep things tethered to a somewhat recognisable reality and to also lend weight to character relationships and emotions. It’s in this tricky juggling of tonal shifts that Vaughan and screenwriter Jane Goldman prove themselves to be true masters of the genre.

Suited perfectly to their roles, the cast - including a rejuvenated Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy, wronged ex-cop and father to Chloe Moretz’ bloodthirsty Hit Girl - is clearly relishing the opportunity to have some fun outside the studio system. The scenery is not simply chewed by these established vets and precocious young guns. It's sliced, shot up, gutted, shredded and spattered with fountains of blood throughout.

Utterly uncompromising from start to finish (aside from a clever bit of editing used to disguise a particularly strong adult-on-child punch in the face), the filmmakers haven't pulled any punches, and if they had - as they were no doubt aware - the whole thrilling, envelope-pushing endeavour could easily have fallen apart into a limp, whitewashed mess.

The no-holds-barred parade of blood, sex, drugs and obscenities could have become monotonous, but in this case it's oddly refreshing, thanks once again to the talents of the team in charge. Goldman's screenplay adaptation of the comic book source material finds the pitch-perfect balance between send-up and homage to (and indeed, example of) its genre inspirations, while also showing a keen eye for tempo and knowing just when to deliver the best jokes and most spectacular set pieces. Astonishingly original (while also, if possible shamelessly derivative) and ridiculously entertaining genre filmmaking, this is one of those films that causes critics to write things like ‘You won’t have a better time at the cinema this year’ and ‘Kick-Ass definitely kicks ass’… but thankfully you won’t find anything like that here…

Anyway, while few may have expected it, including the cast and crew, who were surely just thrilled to get their film made at all, Kick-Ass absolutely deserves inclusion in the discussion of top comic book-to-screen adaptations of all time, alongside studio heavyweights Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight.

Hmm... both sequels. Guess that bodes well the for this film’s inevitable follow-up.

review: Peter Berg

kickass-themovie.com