Spoiler Free Plot Synopsis
When we last saw our friend Kick-Ass, he was blowing up Chris D'Amico‘s father with a bazooka and trying to live a normal life. Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass has since retired from fighting crime, but has inspired other ordinary citizens to become superheroes. Chris D'Amico meanwhile is not only hungry for revenge but creates a team of villains to assist him in exacting his revenge on Kick-Ass. Blood will be shed and people will be hurt as Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are on a collision course with The Motherf*cker and his assortment of villains.
Kick Ass Moments (No pun intended!):
While I wanted to cite a ton of great action scenes, I will unfortunately have to rely on the red band trailers this time.
Source: Trailer Addict
My Take:
While the first Kick-Ass exhibited a huge amount of promise for R-rated superhero films, I feel that Kick-Ass 2 undid all that groundwork with it's change in film style. There was a huge amount of shaky-cam going on, but while these are gripes they are minor ones. The set design and awesome cast really made this film come together nicely. There was great chemistry between Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Moretz and every scene they were in together was amusing. The problem I had at various points was that Kick-Ass 2 tried too hard to be over top and provocative, which was something the first film did not need to do. The first film embraced its self-awareness while this one jumped from scene to scene with no transitional dialogue or pacing. The origin of The Motherf*cker for instance was incredibly well done and funny as hell in the beginning, but then it just became McLovin whining that he has a shitload of money and that it's his best “power”. I really thought more could have been done with Javier (John Leguizamo) and with Iain Glen's Uncle Ralph as both characters are vital to the evolution of The Motherf*cker, but alas, their involvement was brief with Glen's Uncle Ralph getting about five minutes of screen time. Jim Carrey on the other hand, tried too hard to be a serious character and any potential his character could have exhibited just fell by the wayside. Matthew Vaughn did an incredible job on the first film and had fun painting the superhero genre in a more comedic but dark sort of way. Kick-Ass 2 on the other hand took all the elements that made part one great and tossed it in the pailn replacing it with swearing, sex and Mean Girls-esque drama. These elements became crutches for a film that had tremendously deep story telling. If you read the Hit-Girl mini series and the Kick-Ass 2 comics you'll get a better understanding of what I mean. Kick-Ass 2 doesn't suck but definitely fell short of of the vision created by the first film. It is now just an over the top spectacle versus a smart interpretation of superhero satire. While the action sequences were great and Hit-Girl's one liners were memorable, it just did not have the same magic that made the first film great and the empty theater sadly was proof of that. I also recommend that you stay after the credits!
Recommendation:
I'd love to say that Kick-Ass 2 is worth a trip to the theater, but I find it hard to endorse a $15 ticket for a “decent” sequel. The fan in me liked seeing the characters came to life on the big screen but the way the overall product played out makes me say either watch a matinee or wait for the home release.
