Kick-Ass 2 – review

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Dave Lizewski in Kick-Ass 2. Photograph: Allstar/Universal Pictures/Sportsphoto

All the talk prior to the release of the sequel to 2010’s hit comic-book caper Kick-Ass was around Jim Carrey’s comments about his disapproval of the levels of violence in the film, in which he stars, and his subsequent disassociation from the promotional push.

There was plenty of violence in the first film, and what made it slightly shocking was that a lot of the aggression being dealt out was by the film’s potty-mouthed, pint-sized 11-year-old vigilante, Hit-Girl [Chloë Grace Moretz], along with her father, Big Daddy [Nicolas Cage] – which to a certain extent was what gave the film its unique appeal, as much as the geeky Dave Lizewski deciding to become the self-made “superhero” Kick-Ass [Aaron Taylor-Johnson]. So I am not quite sure what Carrey was expecting.

If Carrey just wanted people to start questioning the issue of violence in film, then I suppose this has got people talking and mixed responses have seen the film slightly under-perform in the US, but in the UK it has topped the box-office charts.

Having seen the film, I think he does have a point.

There is a slight uneasiness at times with some of the violence, not because it is particularly excessive, as there are plenty of films with far greater amounts of slicing, dicing and gore, but because it is such a funny film.

Violence and comedy can go together successfully, but usually when it is done in a slapstick way or in a spoof-type film – Shaun of the Dead provides a good example of this.

The problem arises when the film’s tone is essentially realism and that is what you have in Kick-Ass 2 – no-one has superpowers.

We have everyday people, including teens, getting masked (and tooled) up and fighting for good, bad, and ultimately revenge, and a fair amount of blood is spilled along the way.

The comedy comes in the form of the outlandish costumes, high school banter and the quips from the main characters.

The laughs are not often from the violence itself, as it is not done in a cartoon way, and the action is well choreographed and quite brutal, so at times you are not sure when to laugh and when to gasp.

However, leaving aside this debate, is the film any good and does it match up to the first film?

Yes and almost, would be my responses.

Plot-wise we have a simple but intriguing scenario that includes several interesting threads.

There is spoilt rich-kid Chris D’Amico AKA Red Mist [Christopher Mintz-Plasse] – and soon to become the self-proclaimed “The Motherf*cker” – hell bent on avenging his father’s death (which means Kick-Ass is firmly in his sights), Mindy Macready AKA Hit-Girl [Chloe Moretz] who is determined to continue kicking bad guys’ butts, but shackled by the promise she is meant to uphold for her late father, and subsequently her minder Detective Marcus Williams [Morris Chestnut], whilst dealing with trying to fit in with the popular girls at school.

Kick-Ass is struggling to continue with his solo crime-fighting and looks to team up and make a dynamic duo.

Using the powers of social media, he ends up with more than he bargained for, and soon becomes part of a vigilante crew, led by ex-Mafia-turned-born-again-Christian, Colonel Stars and Stripes [Jim Carrey].

What at first appears like a gang reminiscent of the motley crew that make up Average Joe’s Gym in Dodgeball, actually turn out to be an effective unit.

The problem is that the outrageously-dressed The Motherf*cker – think punk/goth kid meets latex gimp – is amassing his own crew, made up of hoodlums and crazies, and he has a lot of cash to recruit them with.

Tit-for-tat revenge begins, carnage ensues and we see if Kick-Ass can cope without help from highly-skilled and bittersweet-vicious Hit-Girl.

Now 15-years-old, Mindy must decide whether it’s time to make up for lost time and do what schoolgirls do (experiment with make-up, try out for the cheerleading team and obsess about boybands) or embrace being who her father brought her up to be.

Some of these quandaries have seen before, but the whole thing is thoroughly entertaining and there are plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments, mainly from the hilarious Mintz-Plasse (of Superbad’s McLovin fame). Also, as with the first Kick-Ass movie, there are a few surprise moments of poignancy.

Go see it, frown about the violence for a while, scoff at its questionable classification as a 15, then sit back and enjoy the ass-kicking!

Kick-Ass 2 (15)
Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jim Carrey, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Morris Chestnut, Augustus Prew, Clarke Duke, Monica Dolan, Steven Mackintosh, Donald Faison.
Running time: 103 minutes

Kick-Ass 2 is showing at the Hackney Picturehouse in August and September