A Kick-Ass Night at the Movies

I was lucky enough to get to attend the New York premiere of Kick-Ass over a month before the film's release on April 16th. As a reference point, I read the entire eight-part series of comic books before attending the screening. After the screening I was luck enough to get to meet the co-creators of the comic, Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. and I got them to sign some of my Kick-Ass comics. The curtain pulled back that was in front of the screen and what was then presented was one of the best comic book film adaptations I have ever seen. There is an energy that is running through every second of this film that is inexplicable yet evident in every shot. The language is profane and the violence is graphic, yet the films is shot like a Spider-Man or Superman film. The screenplay is fabulous, there are many changes from the comic, especially towards the end. There was one change I didn't like at first, but the more I think about it the more I don't really mind. The performances were actually okay, towards the beginning I didn't really get the accent Aaron Johnson was using as Dave/Kick-Ass, but I warmed up to it by the end. It was only after getting home after the movie that I realized that Aaron Johnson is British, and it is actually amazing how well he pulled off a New York accent. I also really loved Nicholas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Big Daddy and Red Mist. But the stand out performance in my opinion was from Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. She was recently in (500) Days of Summer but she shines here as the trash-talking ass-kicking 11-year-old warrior-girl who blasts right off the screen into oblivion as pretty much the most awesome little girl in any movie... pretty much ever. If they make a sequel I think it should be focused on her because frankly, she is a more interesting character than Kick-Ass. The action sequences are beyond awesome, they feature moments so intense I was nearly falling off the edge of my seat from the suspense... AND I HAD ALREADY READ THE COMIC!!!! I even knew exactly how it was going to turn out in the end and I was still so far on the edge of my seat towards the end of the film. After the film was over I found myself exhausted from the intensity of the proceeding 15 minutes. Considering the amazing writing, acting, and great direction from Matthew Vaughn, Kick-Ass is easily my second favorite superhero movie of all time, I enjoyed it even more than The Dark Knight which I felt was approaching perfect but because of some clunky storytelling towards the end fell a few feet short. I would say Kick-Ass is a few inches short of perfect. I really hope this film does amazing at the box-office because I'm already extremely excited for a sequel.
Kick-Ass - 4 out of 4
-Zach