Comic fans have not always had it easy on the big screen. For every fantastic comic to movie adaptation there are at least a dozen embarrassing failures. The odds are even worse when it's a movie about people who read comic books.
Right off the bat Kick Ass has two very good things going for it: First, it's directed by Matthew Vaughn who proved himself with the fantastic Stardust and Layer Cake. Second, this film begins by asking the question: "Why has no one actually put on a costume and tried to do good? What would happen if someone actually did just that?"
However even with those great starting points, what we have here is an almost unwatchable waste of time.
The problem stems from the film trying to be too many things to too many people.
On one hand, it's a social commentary - no one dresses up like a hero because they would be brutally beaten, stabbed, and hospitalized. That's why most people generally avoid conflict, allowing others to do bad things.
On other hands it's a high school geek comedy, a gangster movie, a foul mouth comedy and well it's just annoying.
The brief entertainment/shock value comes from the uncomfortably mesmerizing "Hit Girl," a 13-year-old potty mouth who was raised and trained to kill by her dad (Nicholas Cage = awesome) and she does so very, very brutally.
Comic fans will be wise to pass this one up and save your pennies for Iron Man 2, which looks promising.
