We all remember 2010’s black sheep to the superhero movie fraternity – Kick-Ass. In a cinema populated with PG-13 Marvel adaptations, Matthew Vaughn gave us the comic book adaptation we all wanted; extreme ultra-violence punctuated with dialogue that would make a sailor blush.
Fast forward three years and the new edition is out, helmed this time by Jeff Wadlow. Following on from the events of Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2 sees a world populated by homegrown heroes inspired by the title character (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) whilst he and Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) are fighting the lethal battles of American High School. In the style of its predecessor, for no real reason Kick-Ass decides to get back in the game and fight crime, whilst Hit Girl completely checks out in the hope of becoming one of the Plastics from Mean Girls.
This time, however, Kick Ass teams up with an after school club of crime fighters led by Jim Carey’s Colonel Stars and Stripes that he found on Facebook. Meanwhile, Red Mist, rebooted as nightmare to all print journalism, The Motherfucker (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is bent on absolute vengeance for the death of his father at the hands of bazooka-wielding Kick Ass in the previous film.
What follows is a movie that is not sequel to the original, but carbon copy; just with the action sequences scaled up by a metric-fuck-ton. Whilst we’re teased by the potential of a great character arc in Hit Girl trying to make it in the real world, the dissolving of Kick-Ass’s family and friends around him as he fights for good, and The Motherfucker’s descent into potential crime lord apprenticeship scheme, it doesn’t deliver on its promises.
Instead, we’re treated to much the same run as before. Sadly, it seems that Wadlow has taken notes from the Hangover team and just upped the jokes and scenes of the original right up to the line of the acceptable, and then took a leap past it that Greg Rutherford would have been proud of. Despite the free-worded nature of this article, they are areas that I won’t even dare to cement in text.
Overall? If you were a fan of the first Kick-Ass it’s worth a watch for the action and occasional jokes and nods to pop culture and comic book lore. A fun romp in the spirit of the original, but don’t have too high expectations.
Kick-Ass 2 is in cinemas August 14th 2013.
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