[Review: IN THEATRES] Kick-Ass 2 (4/10)

There is just something wrong with the whole idea of Kick-Ass: what kid hasn’t dreamed of becoming a superhero? For Mindy, aka Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) it’s a disturbing reality – far too violent for a nice young girl. Agent Cody Banks, this is certainly not!

Written and directed by Jeff Wadlow, the talented young filmmaker behind Cry_Wolf and Never Back Down (the later a study of heterosexual violence in a high school fight club), Kick-Ass 2 is less skillful and more disturbing than fun. Perhaps kids will enjoy it, at that age who knows better – but for anyone over the age of 18 this is strange stuff.

The basic plot is interesting: like the first one (and another odd movie Super) it’s about common people who become super heros. Strangely the film is set in New York City but filmed in Toronto, it’s so lazy that in the suburbs it accidently captures one of those signs telling you that the speed limit is 40 Kilometers. Dave Lizewski aka Kick Ass (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) decides to come out of retirement while Hit Girl remains on the fence. She’s been adopted by police sergeant Marcus Williams (Morris Chestnut) who tries to give her a normal childhood – at least someone realizes the first movie was a form of child abuse.

Kick Ass joins a group of underground heros including his buddy Marty (Clark Duke) and his future girlfriend Night Bitch (Wadlow alum Lindy Booth). The group is lead by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carey) and his dog who bites off the balls of predators. In general I like the idea of ordinary people doing neighborhood watches – as long as they don’t invite George Zimmerman to tag along. A good hero movie can be made grounded in reality (and perhaps one that actually takes place in Toronto).

Things grow sinister when rich kids a new super villain arrives – a rich kid seeking revenge he dons his mom’s bondage gear and brands himself “The Mother Fucker” (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). He’s able to outsource his villainy, hiring the world’s top badasses which include some very elaborate sequences (one is outright dazzling).

As a whole Kick-Ass 2 is a little too out there to be fun: it wants to have it both ways. Spiderman, it is not. 

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Transit, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Walden Galleria, Regal Elmwood, AMC Maple Ridge, Transit Drive In.