Film Friday: Kick Ass (2010)

Kick Ass is a comic book movie about a teenage superhero wannabe (Kick Ass). Through a series of misunderstandings, he makes himself a target of a drug kingpin, who is being hunted by a foul-mouthed eleven year old girl (Hit Girl) and her father (Big Daddy). The critics called this film “ultra-violent,” “an explosion in a bad taste factory,” “quasi-porn. . . except there’s absolutely no ‘quasi’ about it,” and Roger Ebert called the film “morally reprehensible.” But they’re wrong. What’s more, I enjoyed it. Surprised?

** spoiler alert **

1. The Criticisms Are Disingenuous

The critics level two general complaints, though both complaints are unfairly made. The first complaint is about the level of violence. To hear the critics tell it, this is one of the most violent films ever made. Yet, that's false. People do die, but not more than average for an action film. And more importantly, they don’t die graphically. In this film, people tend to die from single bullets or knife wounds and they drop to the ground. Their bodies don’t explode, their limbs aren’t ripped off, and no one gets hacked to pieces or decapitated. At no point does the director try to exploit gruesome deaths. Thus, while the film has a typically-high body count, it never feels particularly violent.

So why the complaints of ultra-violence? Knee-jerk liberalism. Let’s let Roger Ebert explain it: “when kids in the age range of this movie’s home video audience are shooting one another every day in America, that kind of stops being funny.” Wahhh. Grow up Roger. First, it’s a myth that “kids are shooting each other in the streets.” Secondly, this is fantasy. No eleven year old is running around fighting gangsters with knives, and no one uses a bazooka to kill anyone. To equate this with reality is truly stupid. Moreover, if truth be told, it’s not even the violence that upsets the critics, it’s the “failure” of the film to attack America for its violent ways. Indeed, many of the critics fault the film for failing to make a “social commentary” about America (which presumably would have made the violence cool again in their eyes). That’s what’s driving the violence complaints: pure politics.

The second complaint is that Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) is sexualized -- the word “porno” gets tossed around a lot. Now, I personally have mentioned this problem before with comic books: comic books have become highly sexualized and perverted. Comic book heroines run around in ultra-tight leather catsuits, bondage gear and hooker heels, with their super-enhanced breasts pouring out of their plunging tops. This is hardly an outfit conducive to crime fighting, but it sure excites the nerds’ domination fantasies. And that's the problem. I’m sure these critics ran to the theater with all kinds of dirty thoughts about what they would see, especially when they heard that the heroine was an eleven year old girl who uses both the f-word and the c-word. But the film didn’t match their expectations because the film sexualizes nothing. Hit Girl runs around in a lumpy costume that covers her entire body like a potato sack. She never tries to seduce anyone. No one tries to seduce her and there is no sexual relationship between her and anyone else. Indeed, the only sexual moment in the whole film is between Kick Ass (Aaron Johnson) and a girl who thinks he’s gay, and that was pretty funny. The only way to see this as a porno, would be to come to the film looking to see it that way, because nothing in the film suggests it. Hence, the critics’ outrage is nothing more than a hypocritical outburst aimed at projecting their own shame onto the film. . . “she made me want her officer.”

2. What Made This An Entertaining Film

Putting the critics aside, the question remains: is this a good movie? It’s not a great film, but it’s enjoyable. Why? For one thing, it’s fun. The characters are cleverly written as lovable losers. The story is fast paced and doesn’t beat you over the head with a message. And while the film isn’t as funny as it could have been, it still repeatedly pays off with great little moments. For example, as these are not “real” superheroes, their survival instincts kick in at the funniest moments when they suddenly realize “hey, I could get hurt.” And you get unexpected moments like when Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) jumps off a dumpster and says “ouch, my knees!”, which give the whole film a lighthearted and playful undertone, despite the surface seriousness with which the film is presented.

Secondly, despite having a very predictable plot with key plot-points that you know must be coming, what happens in between these plot points is surprisingly unpredictable. Indeed, individual scenes diverge quickly from what you expect, and that makes the film fresh and unpredictable. The film also avoids all of the clichés one would normally expect, which is refreshing.

Further, this film does something unheard of in comic book movies: it presents a realistic and believable world. Now, I don’t mean it’s believable that an eleven year old girl could kill 5-6 grown men with little difficulty. But the fighting is done with realistic physics, i.e. there are no wirefights, and the heroes get beat up when they take on too many bad guys. There are no moments where a bazillion bullets fly past the heroes without hitting them, unless the heroes have ducked for cover. And there’s nothing inexplicable. That gives the film a genuineness that makes the film feel real despite the fantastic plot.

Finally, the film has a genuine heart. The actors are earnest about their roles, i.e. they aren’t jaded. The characters they play are motivated to help those they love or the world at large, i.e. they aren’t cynical. And it’s the kind of film where you know from the beginning that good will triumph no matter how idiotic the good guys get.

Is this a great film? No. But it's a fun ride that's worth taking.