Kick-Ass 2 (**)
Directed
by: Jeff Wadlow
Starring:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey,
Clark Duke, John Leguizamo, Donald Faison, Morris Chestnut, Lyndsy Fonseca
Seen:
September 8th 2013
** Out of ****
Sequels
are rarely as good as the first, and in this case Kick-Ass 2 had a lot going
against it. Kick-Ass came with an element of blunt surprise, and by the time
Kick-Ass 2 rolled by that surprise had been blunted, nothing could recapture
that initial shock and awe of the first movie. That’s not all however, in
trying to Out-Kick-Ass Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2 (yes, that’s three Kick-Asses in a
row…) falls relatively close to flat on its face in a juvenile and flat attempt
at shock through language and violence where the first movie did it to
perfection. That’s not to say that Kick-Ass 2 does not have its moments, but
the overgrown majority of the movie definitely has an overwhelming sense of
being written by a juvenile trying to out-swear and out-violence his delinquent
friends, instead of trying to focus on the plot and characters. Why else would
Red Mist’s reinvent himself as ‘The Mother-F***er’?
After
the events of Kick-Ass, Dave Lizewski (Taylor-Johnson) has retired as Kick-Ass.
He is however bored out of his mind and approaches Mindy Macready/Hit Girl
(Moretz) for training so that he can become more than the extremely lucky superhero
wannabe he was in the first movie. Chris D’Amico, or Red Mist on the other hand
has issues regarding the death of his father and manages to, in a fit of rage,
accidentally kill his mother too. This puts him in control of his family’s
wealth, and he does away with Red Mist as his alter-ego, opting to go for
something more in-your-face, The Mother-F***er, to start his quest for revenge
on Kick-Ass. He starts putting together a team of villains to go after
Kick-Ass, and he manages to find some pretty intimidating new friends.
Hit
Girl is still active though, even though her guardian Marcus (Chestnut) is
against it. He manages to make her promise to leave the life though, and Mindy
attempts to adapt at school, with some disastrous consequences. Kick-Ass joins
a ragtag group of superheroes, Justice Forever, under the leadership of Colonel
Stars and Stripes (Carrey). Other members of the group include Battle Guy
(Duke) - Dave’s friend Marty, Doctor Gravity (Faison), Insect Man, and
Night-Bitch. The group try to convince Hit-Girl to join them but to no avail.
Things escalate quickly when The Mother-F***er and his group happen upon the
group though, and murder and mayhem ensues in a jumbled climactic act.
Even
though it’s still entertaining, Kick-Ass 2 is shallow and juvenile at best. The
script is not as engaging as that of the first movie, and there are no breath-taking
sequences, something that made Kick-Ass excellent (remember the assault on Frank
D’Amico’s warehouse or the death of Big Daddy? Those scenes, among others, had
incredible impact). Kick-Ass 2 is nothing more than a limp imitation of Kick-Ass,
and it offers little that Kick-Ass did not do in infinitely superior ways. If
you really enjoyed Kick-Ass, you may still find some enjoyment here, but
beware, the experience is dulled.
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