I Want To Be Hit Girl When I Grow Up
So what if I am old enough to be her mother?
I saw Kick Ass yesterday and though I really liked it, the movie wasn’t quite what I expected.
Given all the talk about the body count, blood and grade school profanity, one would think I’d have clued in that it was dark.
Spoiler Alert: Proceed no further if you either haven’t seen the movie or plan to and fear being adversely affected by what you read or have absolutely no interest in this movie.
Of course I saw the previews online and glanced at a few reviews but I tried to stay away as much as possible because I did not want my expectations to be so high that I would be disappointed.
If you had to distill the movie down to a few talking points referencing other movies, it was kind of a cross between Superbad (Mclovin’s appearance aside), Kill Bill- Hit Girl disguising herself as a lost school girl reminded me of Gogo Yubari, the chain mace wielding, short skirt and knee sock wearing assasin (heavy Tarantino influence- I wonder if current Tarantino fav Brad Pitt, as a producer on the film, had anything to do with it?), Charles Bronson vigilante movies (pick any) with a dash of Guy Ritchie (more mafia and less Swept Away). Of course the obvious reference to comic book culture and movies adapted from comic books embodies the movie’s love of such and the sending up of the stereotypes therein.
Essentially, this movie is about what happens when super heroes without super powers throw on a costume take matters into their own hands.
The movie was cheeky but I expected more sass- I left thinking I really need to see it again because I know I missed some bits. We were either laughing too hard or my friend’s friend was laughing or talking at inappropriate moments.
Much has been made about the violence but it is cartoonish- violent in the way Looney Tunes (the hilarious original ones) are as opposed to what you can see on Cops (the U.S. version), Cheaters, YouTube (Fight Club wannabes) or the evening news on Fox.
And the language used by Hit Girl- you really don’t get that much more than what is shown in the trailers. It is a bit shocking but it works in the context of the movie and the character- anything else would not have rung true. Because it is used judiciously we don’t become immune to the effect when she does let one fly.
Roger Ebert made mention of a scene where Hit Girl gets thrashed. I was a little apprehensive when I read this and I know one person who hasn’t gone to see it because of this. I was expecting something much worse. It was brutal but the bad guy gets what he deserves and justice is served.
Only a couple things took me out of the movie. Early on they show some of the characters going in and out a movie theatre and the thought that a friend was at that theatre at that very moment watching Kick Ass jumped into my head- I had forgotten that a good portion of the movie was shot in Toronto.
You also see the main character Dave Lizewski fantasizing about his buxom English teacher (in the teen coming of age portion of the movie) and I couldn’t help but think about Aaron Johnson’s (Lizewski/Kick Ass) engagement to a 43-year old artist/director who is expecting their first child this year. That I even know this means I’m a nerd but that is me and it was enough to pull me out of the movie.
Very quickly, before this becomes a tome, they did a great job with the cast. Aaron Johnson is definitely someone to watch but the real revelation for me was Chloe Moretz. She is not new to the industry but this will be her breakthrough role- much like what The Professional did for Natalie Portman. She is only thirteen but hopefully she will be able to sidestep the Lindsay Lohan trap and follow in the footsteps of Portman, Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci and Anna Paquin.
And did I mention there is some pretty good music on the soundtrack?
The bottom line is you should see this movie- there are many more layers than what the title or even the trailers would indicate.
AngryEgg 