Kick Ass 2 (2013)

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nTitle: Kick Ass 2 (2013)

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nDirector: Jeff Wadlow

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nCast: Aaron Taylor Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, ChristophernMintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey, Donald Faison, Clark Duke,  Morris Chestnut

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nThe thing I enjoyed about Kick Ass (2010) is that it presented usnwith characters who don’t have super powers, they aren’t mutants, they aren’tnaliens from another planet. These masked vigilantes are essentially pissed offncitizen’s that dress up in costumes to do what the police doesn’t do, they takenpreventive action towards crime, they don’t sit around eating donuts in a coffeenshop waiting for their walky talkies to tell them some disaster has just gonendown, they don’t arrive at a scene to pick up the pieces, or fill out papernwork, nope these vigilantes are patrolling the streets trying to nip crime innthe butt, before the bad guys do their thing! They are colorful versions of CharlesnBronson in Death Wish (1974) only difference is that Bronson simply walkednaround in a trench coat, while the heroes in Kick Ass dress up in sillyncostumes and hide their faces behind masks. Oh, and Bronson never walked aroundnwith a Samurai sword in his trench coat!

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nThe premise for this sequel is that Kick Ass has kind ofnforgotten how to be a super hero, so he wants Hit Girl to train him, to helpnhim get back into the ass kicking business, after all, Kick Ass is credited innthe media with having started the whole masked vigilante movement, he can’tnjust walk out of this thing he started. Hit Girl helps him and she’s thankfullynstill very much in the ass kicking business, the only problem is that her newnstep dad wants her to lead a normal life. So in order to please him (and herndads dying wishes) she attempts to leave her vigilante days behind and takes anstab at being a regular teenage girl, which means joining the cheerleadingnteam, going out on dates, attending sleep over’s and dressing more girly. Butnis that what she’s really all about? Is Mindy Macready Hit Girl or not?nMeanwhile, the former hero known as “Red Mist” decides he wants to get revengenfor his father’s death, so he has only one thing in his mind: killing Kick Ass.nIn order to do so, he leaves his hero name behind and now calls himself ‘ThenMotherfucker’ and calls upon anyone who is willing to join his vengeful crusade.nWill Kick Ass be ready to go up against ‘The Motherfucker’ and his gang?

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nSome controversy was stirred concerning Jim Carrey and hisncharacter ‘Coronel Stars and Stripes’. You see, at one point Jim Carrey was allngung-ho and happy to be in Kick Ass 2. But then, the tragic events that happenednin Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton Connecticut made him change his mind.nIn case you’ve forgotten, the Sandy Hook Massacre was all about this 20 yearnold man who one day killed his own mother, then, went to Sandy Hook Elementary School,nshot twenty kids and six staff members, then to put the icing on the cake, shotnhimself. According to Carrey, after these events took place he had a change ofnheart and suddenly didn’t want to promote Kick Ass 2 because of its levels ofnviolence? Truth be told, Kick Ass 2 is not more violent than the first Kick Assnfilm, in fact I found that the levels of graphic violence were considerablynbrought down for this sequel. Yeah there’s blood and decapitations…but it’s stillnless graphic then anything that happened in the first film.

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nBut that’s not even the point; the point is that Kick Ass 2nisn’t going to augment the levels of violence in the world. Jim Carrey notnpromoting the film isn’t going to stop more mass murders. True, the events thatnoccurred in Sandy Hook were tragic, but they are not related to movies, they arenrelated to way bigger problems in society, in reality, films though violent andnprofane always try to bring out the best in all of us. Even a violent film likenKick Ass has in the end a positive message to it. I just hate it when peoplenblame movies for the crazy things that happen in the real world? Chole Moretznput it nicely in an interview when she said that if we we’re allnthat gullible we’d all dress up like princesses after seeing a Disney movie. It’snnot like I would pick up a chainsaw and chop off my own hand after seeing EvilnDead II (1987) you know what I mean? And I don’t want to say that the cinematicnmedium isn’t a powerful one, because it is. Movies are powerful medium, quitenpossibly the fastest way to transmit ideas and concepts to the masses, still,nthis doesn’t mean we can’t see a violent movie and see what it’s trying tonconvey without getting violent. I mean, I can see a graphic and violent filmnlike A Clockwork Orange (1971) and understand it’s really a film about learningnto give something back to society as opposed to abusing our power. We all knownmovies are fake, most of us know how to differentiate between fiction andnreality, we know how to grasp a concept that a film is trying to convey evennthough it’s a violent film. If you don’t then my friends it’s something to worknon okay! So don’t give me that bull. My big question for Carrey is, dude, didn’tnyou read the script? Now on the other hand if Carrey’s comments were just anpublicity prank to grab some headlines and give the movie some media coverage,nthat I understand; that I can get!

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nSo; on to the movie itself. How was it? Well, I’d say thatnthough it isn’t the same director (Matthew Vaughn stepped out for whatever thenreason) the film managed to retain the same feel of the original. We still gotnthe goofy situations with the vigilantes trying to be all that they can be evennthough they are all just regular people. Loved all the inside jokes atnsuperheroes and comic books; comic book fans will giggle on a constant basis. Inwill make an observation though; the film is named Kick Ass, not Hit Girl, sonwhy does the film feel that it’s more about Hit Girl then Kick Ass himself? Asnit is, Hit-Girl has the more interesting story arc here, Kick Ass, as ancharacter, is always playing catch up. I get it, Hit Girl was such a hit withnthe fan boys across the world that they gave her more screen time. If they evernmake a third one, and I hope they do, well, I hope they focus a bit more on KicknAss himself and his journey towards becoming a hero, because as it is, on thisnsequel Kick Ass feels like the sidekick, which has always been the case fromnthe very first film. The assortment of villains was pretty nifty. ‘ThenMotherfucker’ gathers a group of villains to achieve his goals, and so we endnup with this crazy group of villains. My favorite was this crazy Russian ladyncalled ‘Mother Russia’, wow, crazy character! She’s the one responsible for mostnof the graphic violence in the film.

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nBy far the best thing about the movie is how the vigilantesnall decide to form a group called ‘Justice Forever’ which feels like the lownbudget version of ‘The Avengers’ or ‘The Justice League’. I loved those scenesnwhere they get together to patrol the streets and kick ass together. There’snthis really cool scene where they fight some villains, and everyone does theirnpart to kick some ass. I love the mantra they shout before going out into thenstreets. The comic book related jokes fly when these guys get together, funnynstuff. So, in the end I think this movie is getting a bad rap unnecessarily,neverything is so freaking ‘politically correct’ that if a film has even an inklingnof graphic violence or profanity (which Kick Ass 2 has a lot of) the medianboycotts it and the masses tune out. I guess it’s all part of the dumbing down ofnthe masses, can’t have them getting violent or emotional, we can’t have thenmasses, god forbid, exposed to the idea of taking matters into their own handsnand trying to make a difference on their own like the vigilantes on this filmnnow do we? But whatever my peoples, I’m always for the waking up of the consciousness,nthe not playing it so freaking safe, the idea of living your life more or lessnon the edge, without so much predictability. I’m always pro-action, pro go outnthere and do stuff. Not necessarily putting on a mask and kicking ass out onnthe streets, but maybe fighting our own personal motherfuckers and takingncontrol of our destinies, becoming who we really are or should be; as this film,neven through its violence, implies. Let’s read between the lines people!  

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nRating: 4 out of 5 

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