"KICK ASS 2" (2013) Review

"KICK ASS 2" (2013) Review

The 2010 superhero action-comedy movie, "KICK ASS" barely profited at the box office, three years ago. Although it was well received by the critics, it barely made a dent into public opinion, until it was eventually released on DVD and became a cult favorite. 

Due to the increasing popularity of "KICK ASS" over the next two to three years, Universal Pictures decided to finance a sequel. The 2010 film was based upon the 2008-2010 comic book series created by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The pair created two sequels to their creation - "Kick Ass 2" and "Hit Girl", which this new movie sequel is based upon.

Following his retirement from being costume hero Kick Ass, Dave Lizewski discovers that life of a normal citizen does not suit him. He seeks Mindy Macready aka Hit Girl to train him in becoming a more proper hero. Because Mindy has promised her guardian Marcus Williams not to engage in vigilante activities, she secretly trains Dave in hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, the now fatherless Chris D'Amico accidentally kills his mother with a tanning bed, when they argue over her apathy towards his father's death. Now in control of his family's money, Chris decides to re-invent himself as a super villain known as "The Motherfucker", and swears to get revenge on Kick-Ass for the death of his mobster father, Frank D'Amico. Dave's training with Mindy ends when Marcus discovers that she has been leaving the house as Hit Girl and hanging around with Dave. With Mindy no longer at his side, Dave joins a band of costume vigilantes called "Justice Forever", led by a former Mob henchman named Sal Bertolinni aka Colonel Stars and Stripes. And Chris recruits his own band of followers, with the help of one of his father's former henchmen named Javier.

Writer-director Matthew Vaughn, who wrote and directed the 2010 film, did not return as one of the screenwriters and director for "KICK ASS 2". Instead, he, along with Brad Pitt, served as one of the movie's producers. Jeff Wadlow was chosen to write the screenplay and direct "KICK ASS 2". Mind you, I believe he did a pretty good job. But a part of me ended up longing that Vaughn had co-written and directed the film. Like many sequels, "KICK ASS 2" failed to be better or just as good as the original film. But it was not the disaster that some people claimed it was.

If I have to be brutally honest, Wadlow lacked Vaughn and screenwriter Jane Goldman's wicked and slightly off-kilter sense of humor. Even worse, Wadlow borrowed one of Vaughn and Goldman's jokes from the first movie- involving bullets and flak jackets - that simply came off as tired, instead of funny and fresh. But "KICK ASS 2" did include some funny moments. My favorites included Dave's first solo fight against a group of thugs, Javier's constant chiding of Chris' habit of giving some of his henchmen politically incorrect names, and Dave's first meetings with fellow costume vigilantes Doctor Gravity and Colonel Stars and Stripes and other members of "Justice Forever". I must admit that I found Mindy's attempt to be a "normal" girl in order to placate Marcus' anxieties rather amusing, but not exactly a highlight of the movie. But There is one particular scene I DID NOT find funny at all - namely Chris' attempted rape of Miranda Swedlow aka Night-Bitch. Perhaps I should be grateful that Wadlow did not repeat Millar and Romita's comic book sequence featuring the gang rape of Dave's old girlfriend, Katie Deauxma. But I did not appreciate the humor featured in Chris' failed rape attempt . . . or the fact that this scene segued into Miranda suffering a major beating by one of his minions.

Even before Chris and his followers appeared at Miranda's home, the movie had already taken a darker turn with the bad guys' brutal murder of Colonel Stars and Stripes. And during Miranda's beating, another one of Chris' minions, a muscular ex-KGB agent and convict named Mother Russia, murdered ten cops that appeared on the scene. This led to a crackdown on all costumed vigilantes by the police. And when Dave's father confessed to being Kick Ass, the movie became even darker. Ironically, I found this dark plot turn beneficial to the movie. I believe it improved the movie - story wise. In fact, Dave's reaction to his father's death proved to be more realistic and satisfying than his reaction to his mother's death in"KICK ASS".

Although "KICK ASS 2" featured some pretty damn good performances, there were a few that stood out for me. One of them came from Aaron Johnson-Taylor, whom I believe gave an excellent performance as Dave Lizewski. Mind you, I had not been impressed by his performance in "ANNA KARENNIA". I suspect that the critics' negative reaction to that performance had spilled over to his performance in this movie. And I do not believe he deserved such unfair criticism. Chloë Grace Moretz was marvelous, as always, as the butt-kicking Mindy Macready aka Hit Girl. Despite my lukewarm reaction to her "MEAN GIRLS" story arc, I thought she conveyed a good deal of complexity and vulnerability in her portrayal of Mindy's attempts to become popular and in the latter's complicated relationship with godfather Marcus Williams. 

Speaking of the latter, I really enjoyed Morris Chestnut's performance as Mindy's well-meaning godfather. Thanks to his portrayal, one could tell that Marcus meant well and had a great deal of concern toward his goddaughter. But at the same time, anyone could see that his feelings were ruled by fear. I suspect that many people had expected Jim Carrey's portrayal of Colonel Stars and Stripes to be a copycat of Nicholas Cage's performance as Mindy's late father, Damon Macready aka Big Daddy. Fortunately, Carrey's character proved to be a different kettle of fish, a charismatic leader who seemed to have better social skills and an intolerance for profanity. And the actor-comedian did a hell of a great job with the role. Christopher Mintz-Plasse's continuing portrayal of Chris D'Amico proved to be a great surprise in this movie. Mind you, I had been very impressed by his comic timing in "KICK ASS". I read somewhere that he had been uneasy over whether he could transform Chris into a darker character. Well, you know what? Not only did Mintz-Plasse managed to explore Chris' darker traits, his character proved to be just as scary as Frank D'Amico in the first film. More importantly, the actor maintained Chris' goofier persona at the same time.

"KICK ASS 2" also featured some supporting performances that I found impressive. Donald Faison struck me as exceptionally funny as the enthusiastic Doctor Gravity. John Leguizamo gave a warm and funny performance as Frank D'Amico's former henchman and Chris' present bodyguard, Javier. Ukrainian body-builder Olga Kurkulina proved to be surprisingly and effectively scary as Chris' top henchman, Mother Russia. Garrett M. Brown had some wonderful and poignant moments with Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the very concerned Mr. Lizewski. And Lindsay Booth proved to be equally poignant as Miranda Swedlow aka Night Bitch, a victim of Chris D'Amico's vengeance, who rallied at the end to support Dave and Mindy in the final showdown.

One would think I really loved "KICK ASS 2", considering the amount of positive things I had to say about it. I did not love it or embraced it as I did the first film. It had some flaws I could not swallow, especially the attempted rape scene. But I feel that it was good enough for me to enjoy, thanks to Jeff Wadlow's writing and direction, along with some fine performances from a cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.