Kick-Ass (film)

Snyopsis
Kick-Ass is a 2010 British/American superhero film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn, produced by Vaughn and actor Brad Pitt, the script written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. The film premiered March 26, 2010 in the United Kingdom and is due to premiere April 16, 2010 in the United States.

The film tells the story of teenage Dave Lizewski who sets out to become a real life superhero only to get caught up in a bigger fight. He meets Big Daddy, a former cop who, in his quest to bring down an evil drug lord Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong), has trained his eleven-year-old daughter to be the ruthless vigilante Hit-Girl.

The film received a 15-certificate rating in the United Kingdom. It created some controversy for profanity and violence, particularly the character Hit-Girl. It received positive reviews.

Plot
SPOILER WARNING

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a typical teenage boy, wonders why no one has ever decided to become a real-life superhero like the heroes in the comic books. His friends at a comic book store told him that if anyone did become a superhero, they would get their ass kicked. Dave fails at his first attempt to fight crime, he is beaten, stabbed, and hit by a car. He convinces paramedics to say nothing of his costume and pretends he was brought in naked. In hospital for several weeks he is left with metal holding his bones together which he says makes him look like Wolverine. He has also suffered nerve damage which gives him an above average ability to take a beating. When he returns to school, his longtime crush, Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca), seems more interested in him. His friends explain she thinks he is gay and wants to take care of him. Lizewski goes along with this in an effort to spend time with her.

Dave remains undeterred by his earlier setback, and ends up intervening in a gang fight outside a diner. Dressed in costume and using two modified night-sticks, he fights off three men. As the fight ends, a man who has been recording the event on his phone, asks Dave who he is, and he replies: "I'm Kick-Ass". The video is posted on the internet and soon becomes an internet phenomenon, making Kick-Ass an overnight sensation.

As Kick-Ass, Dave sets up a MySpace account, so people can contact him for help and is overwhelmed with responses. While spending time with Katie, she admits she was being harassed by a lowlife drug dealer, and Lizewski convinces her to ask Kick-Ass for help. He investigates and ends up in an apartment full of violent lowlifes who try to kill him. He is rescued by a costumed, sword-wielding young girl named Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who kills all the attackers and then leaves to join her father, Damon Macready (Nicolas Cage), whose alias is Big Daddy. Hit-Girl (Mindy Macready) jumps across the rooftops and tells Kick-Ass to follow her, but he is afraid to jump, so they leave without him. Later Kick-Ass is visited at home by Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who have tracked him from his MySpace account. Hit-Girl and Big Daddy inform Kick-Ass that they can work together, and should he need help then he should set his MySpace status to "on vacation" and they will arrange a visit.

Meanwhile, local crime syndicate leader Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) hears of the deaths of many of his men, with many people believing that the new star, Kick-Ass, is responsible. In searching for Kick-Ass, D'Amico kills an impersonator who he believes is actually Kick-Ass. Running out of ideas, his son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) suggests that he set up a new superhero persona ('Red Mist'), enticing Kick-Ass into meeting him. At first, Red Mist attempts to lead Kick-Ass to a warehouse to be killed by D'Amico's men. They arrive to find it on fire, and the men are dead; Red Mist retrieves secret surveillance footage which shows Big Daddy is responsible for the attack. Red Mist asks Kick-Ass to call Hit-Girl and Big Daddy for help, and they arrange to meet at a safe house. As soon as they arrive, Hit-Girl is sitting on a window ledge and Red Mist shoots her, propelling her out of the window and on to the floor below. Kick-Ass and Big Daddy are captured by D'Amico's men and taken to a warehouse where the gangsters stage an internet broadcast, intending to unmask and execute the heroes. After they have been severely beaten and are about to be set on fire, the lights are shot out and Hit-Girl starts a gun battle, killing the villains, but a fire starts and Big Daddy is badly burnt. Before the battle concludes, he dies of his injuries. Kick-Ass tries to convince Hit-Girl to quit, but she is determined not to allow the death of her parents to be in vain and makes one last assault on the headquarters of Frank D'Amico.

Hit-Girl enters D'Amico's headquarters and disposes of several guards by posing as a lost schoolgirl. On the upper floor, she quickly disposes of the majority of the guards, but runs out of ammunition and is forced to take cover in the kitchen. Not willing to risk a direct confrontation with Hit-Girl, one of the henchmen grabs a bazooka stolen from Big Daddy's safe house earlier and prepares to fire, but is killed by Kick-Ass, who appears riding a jetpack fitted with two Gatling guns. After disposing of them, Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl move into D'Amico's office, and two separate fights ensue between Kick-Ass and Red Mist, and Hit-Girl and Frank D'Amico. While Kick-Ass and Red Mist fight until they knock each other out, Hit-Girl is overwhelmed by the older and stronger D'Amico. As D'Amico is about to shoot Hit-Girl, Kick-Ass appears with the bazooka and blasts D'Amico out the window, where he explodes in mid-air. Red Mist recovers and grabs his father's sword only to discover that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are already leaving. They tell each other their names and say goodbye.

Both Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass retire from crime fighting, with Mindy living a normal life and attending the same school as Dave. Another wave of superheroes have been inspired by his exploits. Red Mist is shown donning a new mask and swearing vengeance, saying "Wait 'til they get a load of me".

Cast
Series creator Millar, a native of Scotland, asked Scottish television children's-show host Glen Michael to make a cameo appearance although his role was ultimately cut from the film.
 * Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass
 * Nicolas Cage as Damon Macready/Big Daddy. Brad Pitt was considered for the role. Vaughn described Cage's performance as a little bit Elvis and a little bit Adam West. His costume greatly resembles Batman.
 * Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl. Vaughn commented on the maturity of Moretz, and she told him having four older brothers, there wasn't much in the script she had not heard before.
 * Mark Strong as Frank D'Amico
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico/Red Mist
 * Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie Deauxma
 * Yancy Butler as Angie D'Amico
 * Jason Flemyng as the building doorman
 * Elizabeth McGovern as Mrs. Lizewski
 * Garrett M. Brown as Mr. Lizewski
 * Dexter Fletcher as Cody
 * Clark Duke as Marty
 * Evan Peters as Todd
 * Xander Berkeley as Detective Gigante
 * Omari Hardwick as Sergeant Marcus Williams
 * Craig Ferguson as Himself

Wrestler Nelson Frazier, Jr. (also known as Big Daddy V) plays a bodyguard in the film.

Comic to Film
KICK-ASS In the comic book, Dave Lizewski is a nerdy teenager who becomes something more when he dons a special costume and heads out into the streets of New York to fight crime. The movie doesn't deviate from this formula in any significant way. And in terms of appearance, Kick-Ass is certainly one of the more faithful superhero transitions we've ever seen in a movie.

In the comic, Dave doesn't sew himself a suit like any self-respecting hero would. He takes the easy route and purchases a full-body wetsuit. This allows him to cover most of his body and conceal his identity. Paired with a couple of billy clubs and some heavy-duty combat boots, Kick-Ass is ready to head out and live up to his namesake.

For the most part, the suit appears on screen exactly as it does in the comic. The same green cloth offset by yellow lining is there just as we remember it. However, the argument could be made that the movie suit doesn't actually look much like a real, functional wetsuit so much as it does a costume designed to mimic the comic. The colors are brighter and some of the realistic, working-class quality of the suit has been lost. But on the whole, it's the spitting image of the comic version.

Beneath the suit, Aaron Johnson isn't quite a dead ringer for Dave, but he's reasonably close. Johnson certainly has that gangly, nerdy quality about him. However, Johnson's hair is darker, and he isn't quite as skinny as the comically thin Kick-Ass in the comics.

Red Mist Every up-and-coming superhero needs a partner. After settling into the business, Kick-Ass and Red Mist join forces to patrol the streets of New York. Unlike Kick-Ass, Red Mist has a sizable bank account from which to draw. That fact is evident enough in his own personal Batmobile – a tricked-out muscle car decorated in his signature red colors.

The car itself certainly seems to have leaped off the page and onto the movie screen. As for Red Mist himself, the changes are a bit more substantial. In the comic, Red Mist's costume is composed mainly of red cloth. He proudly displays his symbol on his chest and wears a cape and cowl that cover most of his head.

The movie version is more flamboyant. This Red Mist prefers a mixture of red and black in his attire. Instead of simple cloth or spandex, his suit is constructed of shiny leather. Probably not the most comfortable or functional way to go, but neither of these seem to be chief among Red Mist's concerns. The movie version also ditched the face mask for a smaller domino mask. This leaves his spiky, color-coordinated hair full room to breathe.

Red Mist is every bit as nerdy and frail underneath his costume as Kick-Ass, and in this regard Christopher Mintz-Plasse nails the part. Who would have ever picked McLovin to play a superhero?

Big Daddy Hit-Girl is too young to be in this business alone. Luckily, she's just one half of the family business. Big Daddy is her father and mentor, schooling her in the ways of ass-kickery as they fight a two-man war to wipe out crime.

Big Daddy is all about armor and protection. Of the Kick-Ass cast, this is the one hero who could take a bullet to the chest and still keep fighting. His chest and arms are wrapped in heavy-duty plates, with spikes for whenever criminals think it's a good idea to move in close. Even more so than his daughter, Big Daddy likes to keep his face concealed and his identity hidden.

Of all the character designs, Big Daddy's is probably the most altered for the movie. One look at this suit and it's not hard to see which popular superhero inspired Big Daddy's look. Big Daddy wears a suit that resembles a homespun version of Batman's armored suit in The Dark Knight. Unlike the comic version, the movie's Big Daddy is happy to wear a cape into battle. He also appears to be wearing heel springs on his legs to cushion the impact of long falls. One quality both versions of the character appear to share is a love of practical, deadly weapons like shotguns.

Hit-Girl With all of the superheroes running around the city, too few of them actually know how to handle themselves in a real fight. Hit-Girl could teach the boys a thing or two about costumed combat. This little girl could grow up to put The Punisher to shame with the way she leaves dead bodies and severed limbs in her wake. As Kick-Ass put it, "She was like John Rambo meets Polly Pocket."

Continuing the general trend in the film, the movie version of Hit Girl is a bit more flamboyant in appearance than her comic book counterpart. The comic version wears a subdued purple body suit with heavy boots and gloves. A giant mask covers most of her face, and her cape and ponytail add a slightly sleek, feminine quality to her appearance.

The movie Hit-Girl is louder and more in-your-face. She wears a faux-schoolgirl outfit that only heightens the surreal quality of seeing a young girl ruthlessly murder gangsters. Strapped to her uniform are various implements of destruction. Her real hair is disguised by a bright purple wig. And while the comic book Hit-Girl favors a twin set of katana blades, the movie version prefers to go Darth Maul-style with a double-ended blade.

Reception
The film has been met with primarily positive reviews. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 86% based on 42 reviews, with an average score of 7.7/10, awarding the film an overall 'Fresh' rating.

Metacritic has given the film a rating of 89 based on 4 reviews