Director: Matthew Vaughn
Writers: Jane Goldman (screenplay),  Matthew Vaughn (screenplay)
Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson,  Nicolas Cage,  Chloë Grace Moretz

I remember when “Kick-Ass” was first announced as a live-action movie. If my memory serves me correctly, it was around the same time that “Watchmen” was released, a year earlier.

I’ve never claimed to be a comic book fanatic; I’m more of a mainstream fan who grew up with Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, and The Incredible Hulk, mostly through their live-action television series. That was as far as it went for me.

When looking at the artwork for both “Kick-Ass” and “Watchmen,” I must admit I was more drawn to the stories of Laurie and Sally Jupiter, Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, Edward “The Comedian” Blake, and Dan Dreiberg, and the darker world of superheroes that Zack Snyder created for the cinematic experience. This was based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, and I found it more compelling than Dave Lizewski’s journey as the scrawny teenage superhero, Kick-Ass.

If I could go back seven years, I’d kick myself for my ignorance and realize that this movie, like its comic book creator Mark Millar, was a force to be reckoned with.

The first Matthew Vaughn film I watched was the 2004 crime drama “Layer Cake,” starring future James Bond, Daniel Craig. Although I enjoyed it at the time, the name “Matthew Vaughn” didn’t stick with me. However, after experiencing his subsequent films, especially “Kick-Ass,” it’s clear why his movies are so memorable—they have a distinctive style. When you combine that with Mark Millar’s graphic novel, you get a recipe for something unique, special, and unexpected.

My first viewing of “Kick-Ass” in 2010 has stayed with me ever since. Going into the film without high expectations, I was blown away by the story, the acting, the characters, and the visuals.

“Kick-Ass” tells the story of Dave Lizewski, an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training, or meaningful reason—other than being fed up with being bullied and feeling like a nobody.

Dave’s journey to becoming a superhero parallels Peter Parker’s in many ways. Like Peter, Dave longs for a life of meaning and struggles with teenage angst. Up to this point, neither truly understands what they want from life. However, this is where their paths diverge—Dave lives in the real world, while Peter remains in the comic book universe.

Dave even asks his two close friends, Todd and Marty, “Why doesn’t someone become a superhero in real life?” To which Marty replies, “Because they wouldn’t last 10 minutes in the real world.”

This is what I love about the world of “Kick-Ass.” Even though, in our reality, Kick-Ass is a comic book hero, within his universe, everything feels as real as it gets.

Determined to make a difference, Dave’s first outing as the green-suited hero doesn’t go as planned. Confronting two thieves trying to steal a car, Kick-Ass ends up stabbed, and if that’s not enough, he is then run over by a car. At this point, you realize just how graphic the film is going to be and its mature tone for a comic book adaptation. This scene also marks the distinctive style of the movie Vaughn is crafting, and from this moment, I was hooked. It’s rare to see a “superhero” who is vulnerable, struggles with courage, is scared, and doubts his decisions once committed to a confrontation.

Fortunately, Dave survives—barely—and spends months recuperating from multiple surgeries in which metal plates are implanted in his body, and he loses much sensation due to nerve damage. This injury ironically gives him a superhero-like status; even Todd and Marty joke about his numbness, saying, “You’re practically a superhero!”

Now back in action, Dave sets up a website where victims can reach out to him for help, adopting an “any job, not too small” approach. Although this isn’t initially successful, he soon assists a victim being chased by five men and manages to fend them off. This act is caught on mobile phones by onlookers and uploaded to YouTube, where Kick-Ass becomes an overnight internet sensation.

At this point, I have to admit that while I was enjoying the story, I thought it might have peaked too soon. But then Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) enter the scene. Noticing the internet sensation, they decide to check him out to see if he is the real deal. One of the most amusing lines comes from Cage after watching the YouTube video: “Maybe he should think about calling himself ‘Ass-Kicked.’” Cage delivers this line in a classic Adam West as Bruce Wayne style, complete with a smug smile, as if amused by his own quip.

Cage and Grace Moretz are perfect together as a father-daughter crime-fighting duo, and I was both shocked and impressed by Grace Moretz’s portrayal of the pint-sized vigilante. Her lines are delivered perfectly, and there is a natural chemistry between her and Cage, who plays her on-screen dad. It’s strange to say, but you could swear Nick Cage was her real father, considering how well they fit together.

Also taking note of the Kick-Ass video is Dave’s classmate Chris D’Amico, played brilliantly by Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse. Chris is the son of the powerful gangster Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and points out the emerging threat in his city to his father, who decides to end Kick-Ass’s rise to fame before it does any significant damage to the D’Amico Empire.

Mintz-Plasse and Strong have great chemistry on screen, though their characters have little in common. Chris appears to be a disappointment to his father, seemingly taking after his mother rather than his gangster dad. Desperate for his father’s approval, Chris convinces him to invest in a superhero costume and persona to lure Kick-Ass into a trap. This sets up a brilliant climactic battle between the superheroes and the gangsters, culminating in one of my favourite on-screen moments, featuring a jet pack and Elvis Presley’s “An American Trilogy” playing in the background. It’s a fantastic scene that will give you goosebumps.

Overall, “Kick-Ass” is a stunning piece of work, with excellent pacing throughout, visually impressive scenes, particularly the fight sequences, and outstanding acting and casting. It feels like capturing lightning in a bottle. Coupled with a great storyline and a catchy soundtrack, I found myself watching this movie repeatedly. If you haven’t seen “Kick-Ass” yet, where have you been? I highly recommend it.

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