7 Reasons why Kick-Ass is Awesome

**Kick Ass , and so it does**

 Let me begin with - Kick Ass is awesome. It is as awesome as the first time you saw Kill Bill’s Bride slashing the Crazy 88 with her Hattori Hanzo. Yes, Kick Ass is one awesome ass-kicking movie which would make Tarantino feel so proud. But it is not just about gratuitous violence, heads exploding and foul language. Kick Ass has a strong social commentary attached with it, although it does not indulge in it too much to become a movie with a message. Of course, after all, this is about having fun, no holds barred. And it excels in every aspect of giving us that fun. Here’s 7 reasons why you should watch Kick-Ass

*Wink Wink* references:
Dave Lizewski is a nerd living a miserable and unnoticed high school life. The narrative starts with ‘Who am I?’ and he keeps wondering why “everybody wants to be Paris Hilton, but not Spiderman”. On his first attempt to be a superhero, he gets his ass kicked, and hence, gets metal bones – clearly a nod to Wolverine. And well, who can deny the fact that Big Daddy is a take on Bruce Wayne/Batman. Of course, the movie even has a minute reference to the not so mention-worthy Spirit [ Dave and his mates get out of that movie theatre which is supposedly screening Spirit 3 ]. C’mon need I mention any more references?

McLovin’s in it.
McLovin (Superbad) is the man. He’s Red Mist here. Ok right, so he was very unfunny in Year One, but then Year One was unfunny even with Jack Black, Michael Cera and Hank Azaria. But McLovin [Christopher Mintz-Plasse] delivers in this one. He is the son of a ganglord and wants to help his dad in running his business by putting on a red suit and Twisted-Sister hair And that car with the iPhone, smokin’. Ok, it is no Batmobile but it is still very red and very awesome. Further, Red Mist acknowledges Kick-Ass as a friend and does not mean harm, until what happens in the climax. So we could possibly look forward to a sequel Kick-Ass vs. Red Mist showdown. Wooohooo!!!

Big Daddy vs. Frank D’Amico:
In the red corner, Nic Cage as Big Daddy is at least not Ghost Rider or Joe of Bangkok Dangerous. He serves the vigilante role well, coz he doesn’t push it too hard to steal the focus. And btw, his action sequence scene in the warehouse is very Batman-esque. And who wouldn’t love that? And this might just be Nic Cage’s best performance in years. He’s just having fun in an almost bat-suit and training his kick-ass daughter. Very awesome indeed.

And in the blue corner, Mark Strong as Frank D’Amico is one bad-ass, sinister gangster. I think he’s now a bit too stereotyped in the gangster role. But it still fits him well. I loved him as Archy in RocknRolla, and D’Amico does not dissapoint either. He can get really physical when he wants to. All in all, he is one strong super-villain for Kick Ass. And every awesome comic book needs that.

Social Commentary:
Although wrapped in layers of fun elements, Kick Ass did make me think over certain subtle messages it leaves behind. Things such as “Why everybody wants to be Paris Hilton and not Spiderman”. When Kick Ass stands against three attackers, he transforms into someone extra-ordinary who selflessly stands up for what is not right. It is about public goodwill against the odds and saying “No More”. In contrast, the world would rather watch at someone like that as a freak/geek and attach words like ‘Vigilante’ to it and rather watch uploaded YouTube videos. A pretty strong message, don’t you think?

Kick-Ass Dave:
Yes, the movie is titled Kick Ass and the story follows him. And yes, dir. Vaughn does want us to do that. And so he invests his precious reel time over Dave’s story and throws in interesting storylines like the girl he’s after thinks he’s gay and so he plays along. Of course, he initially fails, and then becomes an internet sensation and then implodes into a comic-book store merchandise. But the big moment is the climax when the hero of the movie has his deserved centrestage moment as he fires the rounds in the OTT finale. It is quite a standing ovation moment and I know exactly what it reminded me of – The Matrix.

Mr.Vaughn – take a bow.
He’s the man who’s given us awesome movies – Layer Cake and Stardust. And having decided to go independent with this, he couldn’t have done it more right. So, there are no compromises done whatsoever to tone down it a bit to make it fit for a PG-13 rating. Neither is there any in-your-face brand placements, or any montage of the lead character shaking his bon-bon to some Jazz. Vaughn steers clear of all of this and gives an awesome series of world-class action scenes. I mean we now live in a world where we have seen the envelope pushed further and further. Bullet time is more than a decade old and Bourne has a trilogy. But Mr.Vaughn manages to nail a standout strobe-light shootout sequence. It is picture perfect.

Hit-Girl:
I know it is a more interesting narrative to tell a story from a high-school loser becomes hero perspective. But if it was left to me, I would name this film – Hit-Girl. 12 year old Chloe Moretz owns this movie.. COMPLETELY. She is a brilliant discovery. Right from the straight faced delivery of the C-word to the brutal annihiliation of a dozen or so bad guys to the tune of the “Banana Splits” theme, she is plain and simple awesome. And the action explosion is priceless. She reminds me of so many legendary action characters – most of which are not female. Yes, the instant comparison to Uma Thurman’s Bride is inevitable. But little Mindy aka Hit-Girl not only excels in spears, swords and knives, she also can smoke the barrels of her huge collection of guns. If you need just one reason why you should watch this movie, I think Hit-Girl should be it. It is indeed a Hit-Girl show all the way

Final words:
It is ridiculously entertaining, unapologetically violent and gave me an instant cinematic rush. It is the film to beat this year. Give it all the stars. It is a masterpiece and certainly lives up to its name.

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