Kick-Ass 2 picks up right after the events of the first film. More and more regular people are donning masks and fighting crime for justice, and Kick-Ass is looking for a team where he can belong. He finds Colonel Stars and Stripes and his team of superheroes known as “Justice Forever”. Meanwhile, Hit-Girl’s choice to “retire” and try to have a normal life as a schoolgirl isn’t going as planned. Everything backfires when Red Mist is reborn into the first supervillain, creating an army of supervillains to exact revenge on Kick-Ass for his father’s death. Thus, the superheroes must also join forces to defeat the supervillain army.
Now I’ll be honest here, I disliked Kick-Ass part one immensely. It just didn’t work for me. I have nothing against it, and if you liked it, right on! Not saying you’re wrong or right, but sometimes you just don’t like a movie. It happens. So going into Kick-Ass 2, I was lukewarm to say the least. But oh man, this was a fun flick! Kick-Ass 2 worked for me! It was so over the top, chalked-full of violence and hilarity. It more than made up for the thoughts I had about part one.
The movie is broken down into three separate narratives within one big story. We find Dave a.k.a. Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) still trying to help the city, Mindy a.k.a. Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) trying to leave the vigilante lifestyle behind and just be a regular girl, and Chris a.k.a. The Red Mist who becomes The Motherfucker, the world’s first supervillain, who wants nothing more than to kill Kick-Ass.
The three stories are all interesting and soon become one. I found the Kick-Ass story, however, to be the least interesting. He’s looking for his team of heroes, and when he finds them, only then does his story perk up. It almost feels like without someone to bounce off his character, he just stands there looking stupid. And just like in the last flick, he gets his ass kicked many times. He really is the worst fake superhero.
But he keeps trying, that makes him a character people want to see. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, other than transforming his body into a superhero shape, is the same character we saw last movie. He does grow a little throughout the film due to situations, but overall he stays the same, which only adds to his dullness. But what can he do when it’s really all about Hit-Girl, who’s clearly the best character.
Hit-Girl gets caught by her guardian and makes a deal to leave the superhero lifestyle behind. She suddenly finds herself wrapped up in a Mean Girls parody where she’s learning how to deal with the girls of high school, boys, dating, etc. Some might find this to be boring and out of place for the character. I disagree. It shows our hero isn’t forcing herself to face-up that she is Hit-Girl. Watching her go up against a Regina George rip-off was fun. Chloe Grace Moretz is such a damn fine actress, it really doesn’t matter what she’s doing.
There’s been some controversy about Jim Carrey’s comments about how violent the film is. Now I have no idea if cuts where made to the film after his rants or if the filmmakers where just like, whatever, bad publicity is still publicity. Yes, the movie is violent, but not any different from other flicks. It’s way over the top and funny and never once felt “real”. Carrey has a right to his opinion and if he feels he doesn’t want to support the movie, that’s fine. But I’m sure he didn’t give back his paycheck. And he’s hardly in the movie! I mean, he’s there and has two really good scenes, but when he’s not on screen, I forgot he was even in it.
One of the best parts of the flick is The Motherfucker supervillain army. Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays such an insane character that it’s hard not to like him. He does a great job and his army is nothing but pure comic book stereotype pleasure. It’s was like 1980s comic book villains from all action flicks were put into a blender and poured out onto the screen.
My favorite was the character of Mother Russia, played by actress Olga Kurkulina. She is a huge, and I mean huge, presence in the film as she embodies every James Bond villain’s henchman in once person. She is mean, bloodthirsty, and just plain badass. Every scene she’s in, she steals! And all you want is to see her go up against Hit-Girl, and when she does, it’s worth the wait.
The action scenes are done well and the fight choreography is just how you would imagine it to be: balls to the walls insane. At times it’s hard to see what’s going on because there are so many people on screen, but the filmmakers manage to use the camera to make sure your eye never misses the good stuff or lose our heroes in the crowd. There were a few slow motion shots here and there, but nothing too jarring to pull you out. At one point Hit-Girl has to save Dave from a van going top speed on the highway. It’s shot great, the action flows well, and even though you’re never on the edge of your seat, you still get a good rush.
This was an over-the-top fun action ride altogether. I never once felt like I was wasting my time. The movie doesn’t take itself seriously, and neither should you. It’s about fake superheroes doing things real people cannot do, and getting massively beat up. I would hate to be that guy in the room that makes a stupid pun about how kick ass Kick-Ass 2 is… but it really is.