Kick-Ass Reviews

I can't think of a better summary for this film, but this is not only one of the more enjoyable superhero films recently, but also of the overall year of 2010. I had heard it was good, but I wasn't sure whether it would be my thing. I needn't have worried.

Kick-Ass was hugely enjoyable from start to finish. The production values from the photography and editing to the glorious costumes are striking, and the soundtrack has a lot of energy. As does the fast pace, the smart and witty dialogue and a fun and unpredictable story. The characters are also at least engaging, the action is fantastically choreographed and edited and the acting even from Nicholas Cage(who I have found resume-wise inconsistent) is much better than one would hope.

Overall, truly wonderful and totally kicks ass. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I'm not a "movie buff" and am overly critical of the ones I do see.

however (you knew it was coming) I actually sat through this one and enjoyed (mostly) myself AND had no criticism when it was over.

that may not sound like much to you, but, trust me, that's saying a lot!

'Kick-Ass' is a higher level of violence in movies, more violent than Tim Burton's 'Batman' movies! It's one of the most violent films I have ever seen if not the most violent!

This is extremely violent but it...KICKS ASS! The actors (Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage) are brilliant in their roles! The plotting is funny and entertaining, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) wants to be a superhero and then he finds it hard and violent, the script is often hilarious and while it has frequent violence portrayed by an 11 year old girl Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), the violence is offensive comedy!

To me, 3/4 of the movie is pure comedy violence and goes as far as Dave revealing his identity to his girlfriend. Part of the movie is constant swearing and some strong references to Dave craving sex from all the ladies he fancies!

'Kick-Ass' is just so fun to watch, the violence builds up and then it becomes entertaining, I love that! It shows how violent it can get and when it reaches a high degree, it becomes absolutely hilarious! A bit horrible, very unpleasant but kick-ass!

The only thing I would say about 'Kick-Ass' was that the 15 certificate is laughable! There's too much violence and sexuality and the BBFC are very generous to give it a 15 certificate. Honestly, from a 15, I don't expect something this violent! Not even 'Saving Private Ryan' is as violent as this and that shows horrible depictions of war! This movie is just offensive comedy violence! If I had been Hit-Girl fighting those villains, I would've felt like a grown-up, as if it would get an 18 upon a biographical release (or something like that)

I'm pretty sure that "confusing" is not the word you were expecting to read in a review about a comic movie but it is the best way to describe this.

The movie starts innocently with a guy thinking about becoming a super hero, the beginning of the movie was funny and perfectly well executed when you take a look at the guy's everyday's life but then a few scenes later and you get the feeling that this movie is kinda violent, but that's ok right? movies are violent.

But after a while, you're like, waw, this is a little girl killing men and playing with knifes and saying fucked up things, i mean don't get me wrong, it was funny at first, hearing that shit from a 12 year old girl but not for so long.

And then Christopher Mintz-Plasse happen, which is the worst thing about this movie, he's absolutely terrible and at some points during the movie you realize that it's kinda naive to see those people who have normal life just like us can do these things and kill people and that what pissed me off, this movie take a naive approach to murder, it's like killing someone violently but in a comic way.

And some fight scenes were incredibly stupid, specially at the end when Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the guy with a low self-esteem and a normal life, wears a fly-jacket (i don't know what it's called) and a machine gun and start killing people, same thing goes to Christopher Mintz-Plasse when he shot that little girl directly in the chest, i mean these people shouldn't be able to do these things, and the fact that they are doing crimes and killing people is very stupid.

The movie score was beautiful and the movie have high production value and looks awesome and perfectly well executed but these naive things make's it confusing.

The aim of most superhero adaptations is to fulfill the excitement and expectations of comic book nerds in the breath-taking visual experience of cinema. Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass takes a uniquely creative detour as its story is told from the perspective of teenage characters inspired by comic books. However, due to this the film provides a brutal, violent, more realistic and thematically darker tone that opens a new style within the superhero genre. Mark Miller’s Kick-Ass comic book is different in general compared to, for example, MARVEL and DC Comics but amazingly, the Kick-Ass film adaptation becomes both a straightforward, exciting superhero film and a parody.


In many ways, Kick-Ass has parody and spoof all over it. Indeed, it is about ordinary, super-powerless people becoming superheroes but it often pokes fun at the whole superhero genre. It does this through its humour within key moments that jeopardize the invincibility of a superhero. For example, Spider-Man takes giant leaps across buildings but Kick-Ass, inspired by Spider-Man, almost attempts this but suddenly retaliates and gets terrified. While Kick-Ass still parodies from other superhero comics and films, it does get serious in its own unique way. It does not contain any dramatic concepts seeing as the humour and violence dominate, but the development and execution of the characters and plot initiate ‘ridiculous drama’. In addition, Kick-Ass get serious in terms of the violence and vulgar dialogue it bestows, particularly through the Hit-Girl character. It is nothing bad but the film prevails in being afraid or forced to take it to that extreme level. In fact, the mood Kick-Ass has makes all the extreme and arguably controversial incidents humorous. The characters have no powers and to have no violence would seal it as a spoof but the extreme violence redeems the superpowers that these character do not possess.


While Mark Millar's original comic-book and this Kick-Ass film adaptation is dark, the visual style is somewhat unique. Director Matthew Vaughn’s choice to give the film an ordinary colourful tone blends with the general aim - to transform ordinary people into superheroes within the real world. It works but at the same time, it is daft because its fictional, science-fiction style opposes the traditional visual representation of comic books. However, the film becomes focused on ordinary citizens but when we are introduced to all of them as their alter-ego, it becomes more comical while still using the same cinematography. In fact, Kick-Ass follows identical action, comical trends of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, particularly filming style, editing and visual effects.


While we saw a re-invention of comic book adaptations in Kick-Ass, we also witnessed the uprising of new young stars. First, Aaron Taylor-Johnson delivers his breakthrough performance in the role of Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass. Dave is an ordinary comic-book nerd who becomes influenced by superheroes to become one. Like most superheroes, we see Taylor-Johnson playing practically two characters and he shines as both a teenage geek and as a superhero fighting crime. Furthermore, Chloe Moretz’s role as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl is a total show-stealer. At 12 years of age, she went to the extreme through explicit language which highlights her early stardom status. Meanwhile, Christopher Mintz-Plasse is hilarious as Chris D’Amico/Red Mist, the geeky son of mob leader Frank D’Amico. On a similar note, Mark Strong is badass as Frank, a Guy Ritchie-like villain with a sinister but darkly funny nature and Nicolas Cage surprisingly shines and stars in his best role in years as Damon Macready/Big Daddy.


Initial expectations for Kick-Ass were mixed but its originality, character development and humour made it a surprisingly impressive success. The plot and characters serve as homage to superheroes through specific references yet the humour creatively parodies that. Kick-Ass is non-stop entertainment and exemplifies that it is often the simple, original films that become the greatest. It’s high supply of entertainment values worked at the highest level alongside its impressive visual and technical style, which occasionally signified it as a film of art. Nevertheless, Kick-Ass delivers the exact ambition of its title and leading character – to kick ass.

Dave Liznewski dreams of being a superhero, much like the comic book heroes he adores with a passion. Dave unlike many kids his age has the guts to try, and finds out the hard way that being a superhero isn’t easy. With the help of Hit Girl and Big Daddy, Dave’s Alter ego known as Kick Ass finds himself mixed in with crime lords.

A sleek, stylish and dark superhero drama, Kick-Ass combines the elements of Nerdy Superheroism with the dark atmosphere of a more sophisticated comic book hero. Kick-Ass proves to be successful in creating with Dave, a very R-Rated Peter Parker type character, taking us into the life of Dave for comedic purposes in order for the movie to add a secondary element of humour.

Kick-Ass does a very good job with most of the main cast, with Aaron Johnson providing a very solid performance, allowing subtle growths for his character through-out the film. Chloe Grace Moretz plays the 12 year old assassin superhero Hit Girl with very few issues, creating a very intentionally over the top superhero, who has Kick-Ass (no pun intended) fighting abilities. Mark Strong does a bit of overacting as the villain, but it never reaches the level of being so overdramatic that it is cheesy. Very few of the cast choices seemed out of place, even as far as to say the smaller castings, such as Clark Duke as the best friend and Lyndsy Fonseca as his Dave/Kick-Ass’s love interest.

With superhero antics comes the ability to create a visually alluring film as well. At first it took the look and feel of a cheesy hero flick, but through-out it became a very artistic and well-planned action movie, set with rapid paced, well-edited action scenes. Kick-Ass allows for shy awkward nerdy types to get their fill of witty comedy, and it also allows for the action connoisseurs to get their fare share of violent and diverse and action scenes.

The only real complaint is that at times, it is a slow moving and plot devices are given too early, such as a major plot device that revolved Hit Girl that comes back into play later on in the film. Even still, it is easily forgiven because Origin stories are about the changes one goes through in order to embrace their new identity. Most of the time when the film started to feel stagnant, a funny or plot developing scene was used to help keep the interest at a steady level.

One of the coolest things about the film was the continuous references to comic book culture, and how it played a major factor in Dave’s personal development as well as his alter ego’s development.It referenced such cult faves as Sin City and The Spirit.

A B-Superhero movie, with intentionally flashy action scenes, it is topped by the ability to have it all feel somewhat natural. Despite some of the CG looking a little too fake, most of the gun fights were realistic and featured the right amount of gun fire that would co-inside with actual number of rounds fired by that particular gun. There were only a few times that the action felt or even looked a bit cheesy, but Kick-Ass for the most part featured some of the best jump cuts, and well timed action scenes in a long time. Director Matthew Vaughn was able to keep the inventive and ballsy feel of the graphic novel, adding just the right amount of typical comic book predictability to make a very refined, and engaging superhero flick.

Kick-Ass is a fun movie, there is no doubt about that, grab it for the laughs or the downright intense action adventure it is, but I guarantee one or more elements of the film will impress you. If you enjoy comedy, check it out, if you enjoy action, and then undoubtedly check it out.

Hugely entertaining, thanks mainly to the ass-kicking character 'Hit Girl', played by Chloe Moretz. This is Quentin Tarantino meets the superhero genre and is funny, gory and action-packed! Controversial? Definitely. One of the best film of 2010? I believe so.

Absolutely incredible.The story was well written and the actors who portrays the super heroes were awesome. And the most memorable character in this film goes to hit girl. Wow i just love how she fought all the bad guys flawlessly. I recommended this movie to all fans the of an action films. I can definitely say that it's one hell of a kick ass movie.

Without reading a single review or viewing a trailer, I decided to download Kick-Ass on the basis that it had Chloe Moretz who was 11 years old at the time. I thought this might be a children-oriented movie like Kicking & Screaming or Little Miss Sunshine but I was proven wrong, seriously wrong, just after 5 minutes into the movie. I mean, what the f***!!! I seriously thought this was a kiddie movie but instead gave something else. It was like as if I was expecting a slap but instead got a falcon kick to the gut.

Anyway, on to the movie: Aaron Johnson is probably the latest member in the Geek Pack, a group of actors who gained fame in the 2000's playing high-school characters in a geeky or nerdy manner or somewhere in-between. He gave a really great performance and is definitely one of the recent actors to keep an eye out for and as for Chloe Moretz, she really won me over with her performance as Hit-Girl, probably the most foul-mouthed child character ever to hit the silver screen. Her pairing with Nicolas Cage was amazing, almost too realistic. The violence is, well, shocking, even for a action flick but you see, none of the others have an 11 year old kid doing most of it. Nor do any other have a 40 year old beating an 11 year old to death. That's just too much!

Even though I gave a higher rating, I don't fully agree with what was shown and what was being said onscreen, especially regarding Chloe Moretz's character. Many have voted against her for using words like "cunts" & "motherfuckers" and I agree with them. I'm also against on the scene(s) where she kills people, not one-two but ten by the dozen. That's a rather poor showcase for young kids out there and I would recommend not viewing this unless & until you're of age. Other than that, the film is great and is funny at the right level but for squeamish people, this might not be the film to they want to jump on the sofa with popcorns.

On a further note, I liked the fact that they etched a 'hidden' message on why kids should not try to be superheroes in real life because it can have dangerous consequences but as seeing the ending, I think it might have the opposite effect!

8.7/10

I can't stand Nicolas Cage but this movie is pretty awesome :) The soundtrack is awesome too, I was really surprised about this movie. Before I saw this film I had no expectations, and thought it might be pretty bad but I was wrong. Great movie.