Hit Girl owns Kick Ass 2

Just left Kick Ass 2, and I’m feeling really good about using my AMC free pass on this film. It’s been little over three years since director Matthew Vaughn (X-Men:Days of Future Past), spit out the surprisingly bloody debut “Kick Ass” into theaters. That film, based on the Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. comic book, ushered in a generation of superhero films that begged the question “what if superhero’s were ordinary people?” Although there have been a lot of films trying to put a middle-class coat on this multi-million dollar business, no one has done it as well as Kick Ass.

So it was with high expectations that I went into Kick Ass 2, having loved the first film and I’m pleased to say…it delivered! I know…I know…there’s a ton of mixed reviews already out there about the films ability to “do it again”, but fuck that! It’s a boy hood superhero flick with just the right amount of everything as to not spoil the pot.

SYNOPSIS:
After Kick-Ass’ insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes, our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist — reborn as The Mother F%&*^r — only the blade-wielding Hit Girl can prevent their annihilation. When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl and young vigilante Kick-Ass, they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do, Dave decides to start the world’s first superhero team with Mindy. Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit Girl, she’s forced to retire-leaving her to navigate the terrifying world of high-school mean girls on her own. With no one left to turn to, Dave joins forces with Justice Forever, run by a born-again ex-mobster named Colonel Stars and Stripes. Just as they start to make a real difference on the streets, the world’s first super villain, The Mother F%&*^r, assembles his crew of evil doers.

The story essentially picks up where the last one left off. Everyone going about their respective lives, trying desperately to ignore the chaos from the last film and they do so…almost to a fault. If I was going to hate this film, it would’ve been in the first twenty minutes. It takes a little for the pace of the film to pick up, but when it does, it does so methodically. Never taking any cheesy chances to turn it into what it’s not, you can feel the same writing/pace, from the first film permeating this script. The current timeline is deeply rooted in character driven synopsis. Hit Girl played by Chloe Moretz , is struggling with life in high school, Kick Ass played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, tries to come to terms with what he’s started and Morris Chestnut, who plays Hit Girls surrogate parent, works diligently, trying to tame the demons lingering inside his adopted daughter Hit Girl.

Red Mist played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, on the other hand is still tormented by the death of his father and acts out, accidentally killing his mother early on in the film while she’s in a tanning bed (the only really cheesy part in the film). Red Mist or Chris D’ Amico is shepherded by one of his fathers loyal associates played by John Leguizamo. The two never get that moment, but what we do get is believable.

You couldn’t casts this film any better, everyone was so believable in their roles, lending weight to a story that gets much more serious than the first…real quick. My MVP award must go to Chloe who showed us a authentic self conscious side of Hit Girl. One that was vulnerable, something we never really got to see from the first film. There are several scenes in this film that will have you looking up, that means trying hard to get those tears to roll back inside your macho-ass eyeballs. She’s a titan in this film and the real reason people will stay and watch this film over and over.

On the other hand, there were times that it got a bit “Clueless” not the script, but the 1995 movie and I’m okay with that. The film pokes fun at what kids have become, which after watching the trailer for the One Direction movie just before Kick Ass, I personally got a real thrill from. It’s important to understand that within the confines of this film and the world it’s created, what more could one expect? It’s often times hard to put a finger on why you loved something to begin with, but I think fellow geeks and the like, will agree this is solid.

How do I know this, cause everyone that needed to die in this film did…bear with me. How often do you see scripts hang on to character’s just because the studios want people to come and see their stars..a lot right? Well, what Kick Ass 2 did was made the big stars pivotal, made them great and most importantly, made you care about them and then wham! Gone… but what it did was help motivate both the Kick Ass and The Red…excuse me…The Mother F@#ker, to take this war to Olympus, which happens at the very end. I’ve heard some people say there wasn’t enough Kick Ass in the film, well I say good…we got a ton of him in the first film and yes there was as a matter of fact. The whole movies about the guy, well him and his friends, who are a cute and highly lovable bunch…to say the least.

Jim Carrey’s Colonel Stars and Stripes, Night Bitch (Lindy Booth), Dr. Gravity (Scrubs’ Donald Faison) and his buddy Marty, now dubbed Battle Guy ( Clark Duke), make up the core of this dollar store version of The Justice League known as Justice Forever. They do a tremendous job of playing weekend warriors who are sometimes in way over their heads. I loved those guys.

I’ll admit missing some of the little things that made Kick Ass great, mainly watching a lone vigilante work it out, but this is a sequel and needed to go a little deeper. Just like The Dark Knight, people had to die and now there’s some real weight to the matter. Weight that, given the ending, we hope will be resolved with Kick Ass and Hit Girl teaming up again to crack a few skulls.

And so I will leave you with this quote and wherever you see a masculine reference, put a feminine one in and after you see the movie tell me I wasn’t spot on.

“So, we’ll hunt her, because she can take it. Because she’s not our hero. She’s a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Bad Ass!! (Okay I added that last part)