KICK-ASS 2
By: John ’Doc’ Strange
Directed by: Jeff Wadlow (wrote screenplay based on the comic book written by Mark Millar and John S. Romita Jr.)
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Morris Chestnut, Claudia Lee, Amy Anzel, Clark Duke, Augustus Prew, Mary Kitchen, Donald Faison, Matt Steinberg, Steven Mackintosh, Monica Dolan, Garrett M. Brown, Lyndsy Fonseca, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Yancy Butler, John Leguizamo, Jim Carrey, Olga Kurkulina
MPAA Rating: R (for strong violence, pervasive language, crude and sexual content, and brief nudity)
Selig Rating: FULL PRICE
Runtime: 103 Min.
Kick-Ass 2 follows the life of Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the boy who started the super hero trend in 2010’s Kick-Ass. This sequel has Dave in his senior year in high school. Hit Girl aka Mindy Macready (Chloë Grace Moretz) is experiencing her freshman year at the same high school.
A good hero movie wouldn’t be anything without a cool villain. Here it is “The Motherfucker” aka Chris D'Amico. We met Chris in Kick-Ass during his attempt to be a hero. But that was before Kick-Ass (Dave) killed his father with a bazooka. (Side-note: Chris’ mother, Angie D’Amico, is played by one of my favorite character actresses, Yancy Butler in both films.)
As you can tell by Chris’ NON-PG villain name, this is a somewhat darker and bloodier film than you might be expecting. The good guys are not afraid of a bit of violence, but the bad guys LOVE violence and blood-letting. And if that doesn’t scare you, there are the senior girls who do Mindy dirty. Personally, what she does back to them is… cool.
This is a film that gives you a lot of action, some romance, and a little bit of sex. Mindy mentors Dave, assisting him to be a better hero. The studio that Mindy uses to train is as much a tribute to her father, Damon Macready aka Big Daddy (played by Nicolas Cage in the first film). Dave goes from 90 pound wanna-be to a, well, a guy on his way to being a tough guy.
But I digress from what you really want to know. There are a lot of dead bodies sent to the morgue and a lot of bad guys sent to jail. There are also a lot of police officers and innocent bystanders who lose their lives at the hands of the villains. Good guys are good, bad guys are really bad (especially Mother Russia, played by Olga Kurkulina as one BIG tough Russian killing machine). This is a fun movie that is worth your time and money.
One final note: I was warned by a friend and I’ll warn each of you. I don’t care how long the credits are (they ARE long) or how bad you need to go to the bathroom, stick around until the bitter end to see the final scene of the movie. Yep, third film setup warning!
Movie Site: http://kickass-themovie.com/
The Selig Rating Scale:
FULL PRICE – Excellent movie, well worth the price
MATINEE – Good movie
DOLLAR – OK movie
CABLE – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
FREEBIE – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
COMMERCIAL TV – Commercials and cutting to the allotted time will not hurt this one.
FORGET IT! – Bad. If you see this one, do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself.
GET YOUR TORCHES – BAD! – Burn the script, the writer, the director and maybe even the actors!
