Sunday, April 18, 2010

Helly's Film Take - Kick Ass

First of all let's address the supposed 'controversy' with this movie. Yes, it features an eleven year old girl swearing and being extremely violent, but does it break cinematic ground and more importantly is it funny? Hells yeah! Now I am not the biggest fan of the censorship world but in this case all you really have to do is look at the MA rating and know that it isn't suitable for children, so I have zero sympathy for all those dumb arse, ignorant parents who are saying that this movie is inappropriate. Even David Stratton from ABC's At The Movies has said that this movie disturbed him, to which Margaret replied 'Oh David what's wrong with you?! You're turning into this conservative person. Yes it's confronting, but I like being confronted in the cinema and I'm not moralistic about it' Side note- I want to be Margaret Pomeranz when I grow up!

I absolutely loved this movie, so much so that me and Lee applauded at the end of it and I left the cinema attempting to do round house kicks and quoting 'show's over mother fucker!' This film is definitely an enjoyable thrill ride but is not a simple case of style over substance. The writing is refreshing and sharp and all of the performances are outstanding. Aaron Johnson definitely has quite a career ahead of him. I had absolutely no idea that he was British until Lee looked it up on IMDB. I am now really looking forward to watching him portray a young John Lennon in the film Nowhere Boy (what an incredible range this guy has!)

I really liked the fact that the protagonist Dave, isn't a total social outcast he claims to be a kid who just 'gets by' in high school which I think is the case for most people. Most movie characters are usually at one of the extreme ends of the social scene (ie. really popular or unpopular), whereas realistically, most people fall somewhere in the middle.

This movie was also more successful  than last year's Watchmen  in creating a world in which everyday people can be superheroes. I know a lot of you were big fans of Watchmen and maybe you have to be familiar with the source material to appreciate it but I am strictly speaking about the film on its own.  Dave doesn't just decide to become a super hero and then starts busting out matrix style moves (a la watchmen) he has to really road test it and sometimes fail spectacularly. Although Hit Girl's moves are more stylised and polished, this is explained in the back story she has with Big Daddy. She wasn't born with these skills, she learnt them with the same rigor and discipline that most girls her age would be applying to their school work.

To summarise- this movie truly KICKS ASS and I really hope there is a sequel!

-Helly

4 comments:

  1. of course i agree 100% with all the kick ass stuff. It's an awesome movie. I also agree that Watchmen made a mistake by having them fight in superhuman ways, but Watchmen is about so much more, and i guess the comic helps. Great review. I love you.

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  2. Nice review Helly. Can't wait to see it.
    I saw that bit on At The Movies too... love Margaret (and David).

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  3. You've made me really want to see this movie now. Great review. I love you.

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  4. Nice review Helly. This movie is awesome to me because aside from the comedy and the action it actually has heartfelt moments.

    Bad-guy #1:"The fuck is wrong with you man? You'd rather die for some piece of shit, that you don't even fucking know?
    Kick-Ass: Three assholes laying into one guy while everybody else watches? And you wanna know whats wrong with me? Yeah, I'd rather die.

    I disagree with the Watchmen comment. How is it any different to Nic Cage's character? All he had was a comic book drawing of him pumping weights in prison and he is justifiably badass. The Watchmen was a world where superheroes are already well established, inspired by the heroes of the previous generation, but if I keep talking about it I will crossover into discussing the book.

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