Directed by Matthew Vaughn.
I really like Matthew Vaughn. “Layer Cake” showed that he could direct a british gangster film just as well as he could produce them. (He used to produce Guy Ritchie’s films.) And “Stardust”? While no where near as good as “The Princess Bride” it’s still the closest anyone has ever come to capturing that kind of magic again. So Matthew Vaughn + Mark Millar? That must be a win, win right? For the most part, yes. And if the movie ever falters, I’m willing to put most of the blame on Mr. Millar’s shoulders.
There’s no way around this, Mark Millar is a fucking awesome comic book writer. He doesn’t have the most original ideas in the world, but the way he utilizes the ideas that he does have is like no one else. And his dialogue, while often quickly dated, is fast and furious and never a chore to read. Without a doubt, in a medium where only a handful of individuals are actually any good, Millar is well near the top, but he has weaknesses. For one thing, he always sort of comes across as a douchey ego maniac. Grant Morrison can get away with “talking down” to his audience because he’s, oh I don’t know, much smarter than most of us. Millar isn’t. He’s a smart and talented man, but not so much more than anyone else with a little drive and dedication. But I’m pretty sure that Millar is his own god. “Kick Ass” as a comic book is all high concept and very little character development. Like 0 character development. God damn near zilch.
Vaughn on the other hand, took this comic book (and more importantly the characters) and working with his co-writer Jane Goldman, put some history into them. He gave them something to fight for and something to die for. In the comic, Millar does a little bit of this, but in one of his high-concept twists, takes it all away in the second last issue. (Though I will say that the character of Kick Ass’ father is much better in the comic.) The only other time the comic trumps the movie is the ending fight sequence. There’s a couple of key changes and it’s pretty obvious why Vaughn thought he had to change what he did, but the ending fight in the comic is a tad more fulfilling than in the film.
But like I’ve said, the film isn’t perfect. And it’s more than just simply a flawed source novel. The one thing that has always seemed to trouble Vaughn is balance. “Layer Cake” was too slow and then too fast. “Stardust” was too kidsy at the beginning and occasionally too broad. “Kick Ass” is no different. Vaughn has a hard time finding the balance between comedy and gritty reality. Sometimes the violence comes across as hilarious and sometimes it comes across as so harsh that it’s hard to keep watching. I have no doubt that this is something Vaughn was going for, but regardless is makes for a slightly bi-polar film.
The casting of “McLovin” is also an issue. He was good in the film and he worked for what his character had to provide. The problem comes with the idea of the inevitable sequel. I don’t think Mintz-Plasse is going to be able to deliver, I just gotta say it. But we’ll see.
Otherwise, “Kick-Ass” breaks down into an entertaining, action packed, funny ride. Sure, Hit Girl is about 1000 times more interesting and fun a character than the titular one, but what the hell, at least you get both of them. And I also have to mention the music cause Vaughn did an amazing job of referencing other classic action films through the soundtrack. That was probably the best part of the movie, and by doing this Vaughn turned “Kick-Ass” into an allegory for the action film genre as much as “Kick-Ass” the comic book did for the comic book industry.
Trailer:
I appreciated Cage’s attempt to sell Big Daddy as an Adam West era Batman, by speaking slowly and intermittently while in costume… but he’s ruined himself with too many horrible movies recently, and every time I look at him I just feel bad for his career because all I can do is remember shit like Next and Knowing.
I didn’t think the movie was as offensive as Roger Ebert led me to believe, but I just didn’t think it was that great. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood.
The one part of the movie that really pissed me off was when Hit Girl goes into the building dressed as a schoolgirl and kills everyone. When the Ennio Morricone spaghetti western music started playing, all I could think was “No, sorry Matthew Vaughan, you are not Quentin Tarantino”.
All the people who are comparing every brutal movie that comes out to Tarantino just because it’s violent need to stop. Yes, Tarantino is known for his use of graphic violence in his movies. However, it is my belief that the majority of people who love Tarantino love him because he is one of the best screenwriters ever, and his use of classic and quirky music to unique and memorable scenes is unparalleled. At least those are the reasons I love his movies.
Anyways, I digress. I didn’t mind Kick-Ass, just didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I might.
I didn’t even connect Cage’s performance with West, but now that you mention it, it makes sense and I appreciate his performance a little bit more.
But I can’t really concur with Vaughn’s use of music. I mean, for sure, Vaughn never will be Tarantino, but I don’t necessarily think that he’s trying to be. No one uses music like Tarantino, but I think that’s sort of an ironic situation because I can almost guarantee you that when he started making movies (Reservoir Dogs) his soundtracks started off more as a way for him to reference other obscure films that he loved dearly. Then after the success of that film and Pulp Fiction he came to realize that the soundtracks of his films define his style almost as much as anything else.
I don’t think Vaughn was trying to be as stylistic as Tarantino is now with the soundtrack of Kick Ass. I think he was just trying to reference the action movies that came before him and create an allegory of Kick Ass and it’s identity as an action film. But that’s just the way I look at it.
And I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought it would either, but I’ve come to expect that now from Comic Book movies… I’m looking at you Iron Man 2.
Yeah, I know my comment about him trying to be Tarantino wasn’t entirely justified, it was just what popped into my head when it was happening. I think that for me, I’m so used to Tarantino’s musical inclinations, that when I’m watching an action film by anybody other than him, and I hear something like Ennio Morricone, I immediately think of QT.
This would be fine, but rarely is the movie that I’m watching, anywhere near as good as a QT film, and my inclination is to think “Damn, I’d rather be watching Kill Bill”, which, when you’re a director, isn’t something you want people to be thinking.
I do agree though that Tarantino’s use of music was likely influenced by other people, too (Hello, Sergio Leone)