Kick-Ass

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Produced by: Brad Pitt
Starring:
Aaron Johnson
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Chloe Grace Moretz
Nicolas Cage
Mark Strong

After the Tagaytay trip, the five of us (Jem, Che, Pilep, Oninz, and me) decided to watch Kick-Ass the next day. I've been hearing raves about the movie so I was all out for it. So there we were in Trinoma, the next day. True enough, Kick-Ass was kick ass.

The movie revolves around Dave Lizewski, your typical comic book nerd who's unpopular to everyone besides his equally unpopular friends. On their way home, they got mugged (again) by some thugs. Lizewski had enough of it, so he decided to dress up and become a vigilante to stand up to criminals even without powers or proper training. He orders a scuba diving suit and a pair of batons, and uses it to fight crime as the masked vigilante, Kick-Ass. In his first exploit as Kick-Ass, he got stabbed and ran over by a car. Undeterred, he decided to continue his plight. One night, on a mission to save a cat, he ran into a group of thugs beating up an individual. He decided to help the victim by fighting the thugs. Coincidentally, a group of kids managed to record a video of the incident and posted it on YouTube. Kick-Ass became an overnight sensation, and before he knew it, he's busy with missions. On one of his exploits gone wrong, he was saved by another vigilante named Hit-Girl... a pre-teen in costume who easily dispatches enemies with guns and blades. He also get to meet Hit-Girl's partner, Big Daddy. All is well until they discovered that the guys they messed with are thugs of a big crime boss. The story expands from there.

First off, I have to admit that I've never read the original comic book version of Kick-Ass by Mark Millar (same guy who did 'Wanted'). With that out, I must say that I'm pretty much impressed with this movie adaptation. The pacing is great, the story is great, the characters are great, the script is great... heck, even Nicolas Cage was decent in this movie.

I really appreciated the movies sense of humor. Also, the shock factor was great. I didn't expect it to be this violent. Just imagine Hit-Girl, a pre-teen who curse like a sailor and pulls of headshots like she's playing Modern Warfare! It's amazing! Actually, I can go on and talk about Hit-Girl because she literally stole the show. Chloe Moretz really did a great job portraying the ultra-violent vigilante. It's no wonder that Hit-Girl has become so popular overnight.

Overall, I really recommend this film. Again, bear in mind that I've never read the comic book. So if you're one of those comic book purists, you're bound to be disappointed (AS ALWAYS!) because I heard that the movie changed some things from the comics. But if you're a casual movie goer who doesn't mind the ultra violence, and the dark and crude sense of humor, then Kick-Ass is a really great movie! I must say that this is the best movie, SO FAR, that I've watched in the cinemas this year.