Not sure about whether or not you should see the sequel to the surprise hit, Kick-Ass? Well TL;DR = it kicked ass. But why stop there? Don't you want to know why this movie excels instead of falling into the trap that so many sequels do, wherein its nothing like the original and it just flat out sucks? It's time for another REVIEWPOINT as we break down the film's hits and misses.
NOTE: SPOILERS BELOW. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW DETAILS, SKIP THIS AND COME BACK LATER
As always, let's start with the bad news first.
*Also take note that I have not yet read the comics that this was based on, so if my knowledge of something from that is skewed, please let me know in the comments below!
THE MISSES
1. KATIE DEAUXMA
Dave's girlfriend from the first film, which was a pretty big plot point, is written off with roughly three lines of dialogue in the whole film. As fellow Fanboy Sam and I were discussing after the film concluded, it seemed as though they just wanted her out of the way. It just felt like a bit of a quick "yeah yeah and now you don't have to worry about her anymore" thing.
[Quite honestly, I'm at a loss at the moment to think of a second bad thing about the movie.]
THE HITS
1. NEW DIRECTOR, SAME FEEL
One of the biggest worries I had going into this movie was that it would fall victim to the curse where a new director tries to put his own spin on something and in turn, goes against what everyone loved in the first place. Sometimes, people think they can rewrite entire elements of plot (like the idiots that thought it would be a good idea to kill off John Connor in a Terminator film) or they try too hard with style choices that derail the commonplace groundwork and look like they had no idea what film they were directing (cough*Quantum of Solace*cough). This film ABSOLUTELY stays true to the first one. Jeff Wadlow deserves a ton of credit for being able to make it seem as though it was directed by Matthew Vaughn. If you didn't know it wasn't the same director, you wouldn't have any idea.
2. THE MUSIC
Keeping in line with that theme of having the same feel, the music was right on target. Not only did we see reprisals of themes from the first film return at the right times, but they also kept the lighthearted outsourced music tone with their choices of songs in particular scenes.
3. NO OVERKILL - PUN NOT INTENDED
Sometimes, movies like this take an idea that worked the first time around and give the audience so much of it that it becomes nauseating. Hit-Girl being a young girl that cursed resonated with fans before, so they ran the risk of making every scene consist of her simply spitting out curse words 24/7. Thankfully, they didn't. They kept it just at the right level that they should have. The same goes for the action. Is there a lot of blood and ridiculous deaths like before? Yes. But there's no more than there was in the first film. In this world, this is how things operate, and the continuity was not broken one way or the other.
4. THE ROMANCE
I thought at first that the idea of a Hit-Girl + Kick-Ass combination would be weird and skeevy, but does anyone else agree with me that it felt really natural here? Well done, guys. Well done.
5. LIGHTHEARTED BUT WITH CONSEQUENCES
This is a FUN movie, first and foremost, but as the first did (how many times can I repeat that?), it illustrated that it could have serious points as well. Despite all the humor, the drama completely works. Good guys do in fact die. Bad guys get their comeuppance. People laugh when people are killed, but the punches to our heroes feel real.
6. THE NEW CAST, FOR THE MOST PART
Colonel Stars and Stripes was a great replacement for Big Daddy, filling the same kind of role but in a different way. Who didn't laugh with the "fear Dr. Gravity!!!!" scene? Although none of the other characters are as high on the list as those two, Mother Russia and Night Bitch certainly added something to the film that would have been missing.
END NOTES
Kick-Ass 2 is just as good if not better than the first one, which is very rare for a sequel. Would they be putting it in the same leagues as The Godfather Part 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2, and The Dark Knight? I sure hope so, because to me, this was DEFINITELY one of the best sequels I've ever seen. In fact, I think people should really take a long, hard look at this film and study it in the future. It's a perfect example of just how you take a film and redo what everyone loves without repeating yourself, do something different but not just for the sake of it, and how a new director can come on board and NOT have to mess everything up by "putting his own spin on things".
Would I recommend it? 100%, without a doubt. If you like the first movie, you'll like this one. If you hated the first film, then you might as well skip it, because it's the same thing.
If you want to check out some more recent Reviewpoint articles: White House Down | The Lone Ranger | Man of Steel | Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox | The Wolverine | Turbo
What were your thoughts on the movie? What should the next Reviewpoint be?
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