In case you haven't heard, there is sort of a divide about whether Kick-Ass is fun or exploitative, since it has incredibly graphic, downright disturbing scenes featuring an 11-year-old girl killing and maiming scores of bad guys. IMDB users have given the movie an 8.5 rating as of Sunday night, while it shockingly got one star from Ebert, who is usually a good barometer for what I'll personally enjoy.
My own feelings on the flick are... conflicted. First, I think the trailers and advertising for the movie are REALLY misleading, which you should know going in. Realize that this movie is rated R, and it earns its R-rating and then some, in terms of language and graphic violence. The trailers make the movie seem like a silly lark, with costumed superheroes and McLovin'. Well yeah, he's in the movie, but as more of a secondary or supporting character, and before you get to his portions, you have plenty of graphic deaths and maiming.
One of my girlfriend's friends told her the movie was kind of like Superbad, which is completely false, unless you consider any movie with McLovin' automatically like Superbad. Kick-Ass has a lot more in common with the ultra-violent Kill Bill than any sort of Judd Apatow production.
I loved Kick-Ass because I realized pretty quickly what it was - A gritty superhero movie. This isn't Spiderman or Mystery Man, with super powers and jokes and slick production to bail the heroes out. The fighting is shockingly raw in Kick-Ass; Dave, a.k.a. Kick-Ass, is getting his ass beat more than rescuing and avenging. The movie is actually concerned with answering the question, "What would happen if some teenager tried to fight back in a crime-filled city?"
To be sure, there still are plenty of non-realistic aspects included, and they mostly have to do with the relationship between Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage in a good performance) and Hit Girl, the 11-year-old killer. She has been trained since birth to be a superhero and killer, but even with this in mind, her skills are frankly unbelievable and unrealistic.Addressing Ebert's point - Yeah, there is something a bit unsettling about seeing an 11-year-old get shot and beat up. The shooting happens very early in the movie, but the coldness of the scene was... eerie.
The reaction of the audience also made me cringe. I was watching mostly with college and high school aged-kids, and several of them laughed as she got shot... without having any idea about whether she was actually hurt or not. It did remind me of the reaction of crowds to both portions of Kill Bill, and Inglorious Basterds, but both of those movies play in more of a "fantasy" universe than Kick-Ass to me.
However, I do think Hit Girl's scenes were realistic in the context of the film. Most other movies would have sugarcoated her role, and had Kick-Ass magically develop much better fighting skills to fill her role instead, or to never put Hit Girl in serious danger. Kick-Ass is uncompromising in this regard, and establishes early that it is not going to cop-out when it comes to the violence.
Anyway, I don't want to keep going on with potential spoilers. If you're a fan of Tarantino films or Sin City, then you will probably find Kick-Ass surprisingly enjoying, for the reasons I cited. However, if you hated those movies, and are expecting a silly sort of superhero movie, then avoid Kick-Ass at all costs!
The awesome poster of Kick-Ass, which I now kind of want, I found here. The picture of Hit Girl punching is from Ebert's review, linked again for you here. The "normal" picture of Hit Girl is from this site.
