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Opinions and Commentary on the World, On Screen and Off.

Kick-Ass: Non-Stop Costumed Insanity

Say hello to my little friends, Laverne and Shirley.

Rating: 7 out of 10

It was only a matter of time until we reached this inevitable moment where the comic book stories started to move away from the radiation-powered heroes and villains  to the non-mutant kids that actually read them. Every kid who turned those colorful paneled pages had those moments where they gazed out the window and dreamed of a world where they could fly, burn holes through walls using only their eyes and actually help the good people in the world (or maybe just rob banks, depending on the kid). In the end it was all about wanting to be more than they were – something extraordinary. For some, gaining that elusive feeling meant putting their heads down and burying themselves in study, research and grunt work until they were recognized as experts in their chosen field. Others put on flashy tights. Tomato, tomahto.

Kick-Ass is a comic-book adaptation about a young boy who decides to make the transition from normal teenage wallflower into costumed vigilante justice. Ignoring the lack of any real powers or drive for vengeance, he plows forward only to find himself embroiled in a real-life crime ring, landing himself in the crosshairs of real criminals with real guns who really kill people. There is help though, from a costumed father/daughter pair who mentors him in what it really means to be a superhero.

[A quick disclaimer: I didn't read the original comic series, so this is a commentary on only the movie itself and not how well or not well the adaptation was made. If it was a wonderfully truthful adaptation, that's great, but that only really helps those people in the audience who have actually read it.]

While it starts out with a very Kevin Smith-style conversation, this movie quickly ascends into a level of ridiculousness that separates it solidly from the pack. It’s grows into something more akin to Unbreakable remade by high school kids, but I mean that in a positive way. The viewpoint throughout the film is not looking down or lording over these characters, but it looks from within, through the childlike eyes of what it would really feel like to try and become a superhero and transform yourself into the savior instead of the saved. It’s an old archetypal story — with a lot more spandex and pleather.

The lead character, Dave ‘aka Kick-Ass’ (played by Aaron Johnson), is the moral center of the story and he’s the audience’s window into this world. While his role is integral to the story, as a character he suffers a bit from being the launching pad for the more extreme and entertaining people. Quickly enough we are introduced to ‘Hit Girl’, played with unwavering intensity by Chloe Moretz, and her comically imbalanced dad, otherwise known as ‘Big Daddy’, played beautifully by the constantly working icon, Nicolas Cage. This dynamic duo are the comic book within the comic book, the fantasy within the reality of Dave’s world. Due to the level of violence and brutality these two characters generate throughout their screen time, it was fundamentally necessary to pick people who could play the ridiculous nature of their actions without allowing the characters themselves to seem or feel ridiculous. Cage was a godsend in this respect and there are few people better than him at accomplishing this kind of task. Cage may have become a joke to some, but I think they underplay this man’s range. Go back and watch Leaving Las Vegas, then immediately pop in Raising Arizona. He is supremely talented on both ends of the spectrum. While he might not be getting those prime roles lately, I think that has more to do with the fact he is working non-stop and those roles don’t come along as often versus proof of his decline in skill. Moretz, on the other hand, may be a relative newcomer by some standards, but in her six years of stealing scenes she’s already racked up a ton of voice-over credits and now seems quite poised to take over as the resident precocious, overly-intelligent little sister/neighbor/friend/what-have-you.

As for the man with the plan, Matthew Vaughn only has three directorial credits under his belt so far (Layer Cake, Stardust and this new addition), but all have been incredibly successful in their own right. He continues to do a beautiful job of creating the world of the story, both in front of the camera and behind it (he co-wrote the screenplays for Kick-Ass and Stardust). Yet, so far I think his best overall effort has been Layer Cake, the one script he didn’t touch (it was written for the screen by J.J. Connolly, the author of the original book). The only thing I believe this proves is the original author can be better with the cutting knife on their own story than someone else.

The End of the Page Recommendation: Kick-Ass doesn’t disappoint in the ass kicking department, but it borders on repetition by the closing credits. For comic book fans, it’s required viewing, just to relive the fantasies you know you had at that age. Oh, on a personal side note, National Treasure is popcorn genius! Viva la Cage!

Posted 1 year, 9 months ago at 9:01 am.

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Using the Best, Bringing Out the Worst

Freedom of speech is one of the most widely appreciated and critically lauded rights in our country, yet it is also one of the least understood. Under the protection of this original amendment to the Constitution of the United States, each person has the inherent right to express themselves through the use of words. This is one of the core elements to our democracy, if not the very heart of it. Yet once again we are beginning to see how that right can be mistreated, misunderstood and misdirected against the very ideals it was created for.

On March 23, 2010 President Barack Obama signed into law a comprehensive package of health care reforms under the title of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is being held as the most widely sweeping package of reforms to the health care system since the enactment of Medicare. As with any major change to our country, there was disagreement and dissent in how these changes should be applied, if at all. That’s a good thing–dissent and disagreement should be protected and even encouraged because that is how checks and balances work and it is our protection against any one party or idea running roughshod over the entire country. A multi-party and multi-idea system is inherently necessary for Democracy to work at all.

Unfortunately, as with any system requiring human beings to take part, there will always be people who will abuse that system. While hiding under the guise of protected argument in opposition to the passage of health care reforms, Senators, Congress people and ordinary citizens have escalated their rhetoric beyond reasonable limits. Referring to health care reform as “global Armageddon”, claiming we should vote out  those in favor in November, “if we have elections” or even calling for the assassination of politicians’ children if they voted yes on the bill; those are only a few of the responses from the opposition. While they might indeed reside technically under the protection of the first amendment, these types of exaggerations and exhortations are against the core ideal of free speech.

Our right to free speech was meant to protect our ability to state our opinion and express ourselves in face of totalitarian oppression and intimidation, yet in these cases it is being used directly for the intimidation and oppression of those with differing views. Worse, the politicians, pundits and performers who choose to wallow in this level of discourse ignore the effect it has on those people listening to their vitriol. They scoff at those who warn them and they deny that the mass population would ever take things too far, but they consciously and knowingly neglect the knowledge that terrible acts aren’t only orchestrated by a large group of people:

-       The recent flight of a small plane into an IRS office building was achieved and orchestrated by one man.

-       The Oklahoma City bombing was achieved and orchestrated by two men.

-       The mail bombing campaign issued from 1978 – 1995 was achieved and orchestrated by one man.

The very night the Senate version of health care was passed an operation of window smashing was enacted against various Democratic county offices and those offices of politicians who voted for the bill. Credit has been taken by a far-right conservative blogger who revels in each and every report of vandalism and damage, whether or not it was specifically in his name. While a few hundred dollars in damage per affected office is not a huge thing, I do wonder exactly why this particular act was chosen to express their disappointment. I suppose letters to their representatives seemed too light or too ineffective, or maybe it just wasn’t flashy enough, or maybe they were trying to draw a subliminal connection to the ‘Night of Broken Glass’ where the Nazis and anti-Jewish coalition smashed all the windows of Jewish shop owners, signaling only the beginning of the oncoming Holocaust. Whether or not this was in their heads while they scurried through the dark tossing bricks through windows, the message is clear. Words are no longer an option for them, action and violence is now their chosen recourse.

The opposition to the new health care package needs to quickly decry and despise the violence inherent in the rally cries and speeches from their very own supporters. If they do not, they will find the uncomfortable color of innocent blood on their hands and a saddened nation of people wondering how and why they let it get that far.

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 9:05 am.

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