Kick-Ass (Kick Ass) (2010)

Kick-Ass gives us a clever, irreverent, twisted take on the comic-book super-hero genre: What if a normal person adopted a super-hero costume and secret identity to fight crime -- to do something about evil in the real world -- to make a difference? The result, in this case, is a wickedly original, character-driven spin on the super-hero vibe that is basically Batman meets Kill Bill. (For those who complain that this movie isn't for children -- what part of its R rating don't you understand? The script is peppered with f-this and s-that plus two mild references to masturbation and two to back-alley sex but if you can't take that, you certainly can't take the over-the-top violence.) As our story begins, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) hangs out with two other comic-book dweebs and is invisible to girls at his high school -- but he has had it with being picked on and bad guys victimizing whoever they want with impunity. Costumed as Kick-Ass, he is willing to pay the price physically and not back down. His newfound Internet fame attracts the attention of two highly skilled vigilantes, Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz, who steals the show as a purple-wigged butterfly-knife-wielding assassin) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage, archly channeling Adam West in a Batman costume with an arsenal of firepower), who offer to join forces. Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is a cuckoo's egg who should fulfill my great hope for a soon-to-follow sequel. The fight scenes are so intense and over-the-top with comical levels of splattergore, they almost out-Tarantino Tarantino. Alternately perky and lethal, Hit Girl has been raised and trained (like Terminator's John Connor) with a singular (salvific if vengeful) purpose -- so yes, she can field-dress any firearm and curse like a streetwalker. Her playful lethality (and body count) is what makes this movie! In the end, she tells Kick-Ass, it's about ending the scourge of evildoers and continuing what you set out to do. I'd love to own this movie and I can't wait for Kick-Ass 2! 5 stars.