Kick-Ass is 'morally reprehensible' and a 'twisted, cynical crime against cinema' that 'sells a perniciously sexualised view of children'. At least that's what Christopher Tookey and Rogert Ebert, two of the most important film critics in Britain and the United States, respectively, think.
One thing that can be said without doubt is that Kick-Ass is a mosaic, a sheer conglomeration of film references. Some of these homages are quite obvious and concern plot points or quotes from The Matrix, Leon, Scarface, Taxi Driver andKill Bill. Others are more subtle and draw on 28 Days Later, Silence of the Lambs and Kill Bill. Not to mention the similarities to today's archetypical superhero films, most notably Sam Raimi's Spiderman, Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
Does drawing on - not to say plagiarizing - so many other films mean that the films is unoriginal by default? Not one bit. In fact Kick-Ass is one of the most original films the genre has recently produced. Although the term genre should be used with caution here as Kick-Ass is impossible to place in just one. Whenever a new superhero film comes out - which frankly is not too rare an occasion - I ask myself what does this picture (or usually remake) have to offer that has not been done before? Let's be honest, aren't all superheroes to a certain degree the same? Sure, some of them turn green when you take their parking spot, others are constantly in pursuit of Mary Jane (whose name cannot be accidental) and some don't have any superpowers at all but just inherited their folks' arms corporation and took ninja training. But at the end of the day, all of them are holier-than-though, chivalrous and righteous bores, who are by default ten times more competent and stronger than their nemesis. Kick-Ass finally does away with some of the myths that surround our heroes.
1) Superheros are (always) virtuous.
Peter Parker kicks his habit and gives up Mary Jane for her own good. 'I love you but you are not safe when you are with me, the Spiderman', or something like that. Aaron Johnson AKA Kick-Ass on the other hand pretends that he's gay just to be around the girl he fancies and shamelessly indulges in the privileges that being someones BBFbring: Applying tanning creme to her naked body, sleepovers, the works. A fellow vigilante, Red Mist, convinces Kick-Ass to give away the hiding place of Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl, other (you guessed it) vigilantes.
2) Superheroes are strong.
Perhaps Kick-Ass didn't get the memo on this one. Invisibility to girls being his only superpower, he thoroughly gets his butt kicked (not to overuse the word ass) and is in danger of getting a second beating, only to be saved by Hit-Girl and Big Daddy whom he, ungratefully, rats out as mentioned above. Kick-Ass frankly has no clue where he is supposed to come across these crimes he is fighting. He just sneaks around aimlessly at night and, while trying to secure a cat from a tree, by chance saves a man from three gangsters which is filmed and posted on YouTube, bringing him instant fame.
3) Superheros don't joke.
Batman's stern look when he cruises through Gotham in the Batmobile, Spiderman's solemn pledge that 'with great power comes great responsibility'. The assertion that these guys never kick back and just have a good time is as unrealistic as a spider's bite enabling you to shoot wads of web from the wrist. The only time I have seen Batman have a blast was when, in drunk stupor, he ordered an orange juice and did the twist, including the Thurman/Travolta dance in the 1960s series. Kick-Ass on the other hand is silly most of the time and. Let's face it, running around in a diving suite at night to teach baddies a lesson is intrinsically a pretty darn thing to do. So why not have a laugh while you're at it? When cruising around in Red Mist's Mustang, the duo spontaneously starts rocking it to Gnarles Barkley, including a lame attempt at choreography.
The reason why I have always had trouble proclaiming a superhero film as 'great' (yes, even The Dark Knight) is that, at the end of the day, it's a guy running around in a costume for heaven's sake. Does the superhero ever pause to note he is wearing underpants over tights? Kick-Ass for one acknowledges this epiphany and indulges in it. Calling the film morally reprehensible Roger Ebert fails to understand that it never raises the claim of teaching you a moral lesson. If only this could be said of more films, which fling their so-called morals in your face and rather alienate you than change you.
One thing that can be said without doubt is that Kick-Ass is a mosaic, a sheer conglomeration of film references. Some of these homages are quite obvious and concern plot points or quotes from The Matrix, Leon, Scarface, Taxi Driver andKill Bill. Others are more subtle and draw on 28 Days Later, Silence of the Lambs and Kill Bill. Not to mention the similarities to today's archetypical superhero films, most notably Sam Raimi's Spiderman, Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
Does drawing on - not to say plagiarizing - so many other films mean that the films is unoriginal by default? Not one bit. In fact Kick-Ass is one of the most original films the genre has recently produced. Although the term genre should be used with caution here as Kick-Ass is impossible to place in just one. Whenever a new superhero film comes out - which frankly is not too rare an occasion - I ask myself what does this picture (or usually remake) have to offer that has not been done before? Let's be honest, aren't all superheroes to a certain degree the same? Sure, some of them turn green when you take their parking spot, others are constantly in pursuit of Mary Jane (whose name cannot be accidental) and some don't have any superpowers at all but just inherited their folks' arms corporation and took ninja training. But at the end of the day, all of them are holier-than-though, chivalrous and righteous bores, who are by default ten times more competent and stronger than their nemesis. Kick-Ass finally does away with some of the myths that surround our heroes.
1) Superheros are (always) virtuous.
Peter Parker kicks his habit and gives up Mary Jane for her own good. 'I love you but you are not safe when you are with me, the Spiderman', or something like that. Aaron Johnson AKA Kick-Ass on the other hand pretends that he's gay just to be around the girl he fancies and shamelessly indulges in the privileges that being someones BBFbring: Applying tanning creme to her naked body, sleepovers, the works. A fellow vigilante, Red Mist, convinces Kick-Ass to give away the hiding place of Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl, other (you guessed it) vigilantes.
2) Superheroes are strong.
Perhaps Kick-Ass didn't get the memo on this one. Invisibility to girls being his only superpower, he thoroughly gets his butt kicked (not to overuse the word ass) and is in danger of getting a second beating, only to be saved by Hit-Girl and Big Daddy whom he, ungratefully, rats out as mentioned above. Kick-Ass frankly has no clue where he is supposed to come across these crimes he is fighting. He just sneaks around aimlessly at night and, while trying to secure a cat from a tree, by chance saves a man from three gangsters which is filmed and posted on YouTube, bringing him instant fame.
3) Superheros don't joke.
Batman's stern look when he cruises through Gotham in the Batmobile, Spiderman's solemn pledge that 'with great power comes great responsibility'. The assertion that these guys never kick back and just have a good time is as unrealistic as a spider's bite enabling you to shoot wads of web from the wrist. The only time I have seen Batman have a blast was when, in drunk stupor, he ordered an orange juice and did the twist, including the Thurman/Travolta dance in the 1960s series. Kick-Ass on the other hand is silly most of the time and. Let's face it, running around in a diving suite at night to teach baddies a lesson is intrinsically a pretty darn thing to do. So why not have a laugh while you're at it? When cruising around in Red Mist's Mustang, the duo spontaneously starts rocking it to Gnarles Barkley, including a lame attempt at choreography.
The reason why I have always had trouble proclaiming a superhero film as 'great' (yes, even The Dark Knight) is that, at the end of the day, it's a guy running around in a costume for heaven's sake. Does the superhero ever pause to note he is wearing underpants over tights? Kick-Ass for one acknowledges this epiphany and indulges in it. Calling the film morally reprehensible Roger Ebert fails to understand that it never raises the claim of teaching you a moral lesson. If only this could be said of more films, which fling their so-called morals in your face and rather alienate you than change you.
Kick-Ass is about instant fame and the wish to be something more than just a an 'average nobody', to use Henry Hill's term in Goodfellas. It's not telling people to become vigilantes and those who draw that lesson from the film might want to watch something more and-here's-the lesson, perhaps Avatar. Kick-Ass' take on the instant-fame era that Andy Warhol prophesied about when he coined the term '15 minutes of fame' is as unpretentious as it is accurate. Then again film critic Ebert is the guy who gave Brazil a two-star rating and thought Godfather III was better than Godfather II. Christopher Tookey from the Daily Mail meanwhile accuses the film of depicting childish violence as sexually arousing. As I was not once even remotely sexually aroused, I beg you to speak for yourself, Mr Tookey.
Kick-Ass is one of the few films where I am actually looking forward to a sequel and, for the first time in 2010, give the maximum rating: Five stars for this ass-kicker!
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