The star of this delirious, chaotic, hilarious movie is Hit Girl (the utterly wonderful Chloe Grace Moretz), daughter of Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage, in a return to crazy-eyed form), and one of a new breed of superhero stalking the streets of New York. The trailers, and even the first 15 minutes of the movie might suggest that Kick-Ass himself (Aaron Johnson) is our hero, but he just provides the narration and the brief moments of self-reflection. The movie belongs to Hit Girl, from the slew of profanity that comes out of her eleven-year old mouth, to her proficiency with gun and knife, to her glorious impersonation of Chow Yun-Fat (Big Daddy raised her on John Woo movies). I could recount the plot, but that would be silly. Just go see it and have some fun.
apparently, Roger Ebert called it “morally reprehensible.” Why?
i’m guessing because it’s an 11 year old girl who swears like a sailor in it. it’s fine when boys do it.
It’s time for Roger Ebert to retire. In a world in which Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck get to live, nothing in Kick-Ass is even remotely “morally reprehensible”. She swears, she kicks, she kills. What’s not to like? In the words of the main villain: “I wish she was my son.”
Yeah, and his face is kinda scary! Cancer boy be damned. I definitely want to see this if only to get out of the house and back into a movie theatre. It’s been ages.
Hey, I’m surprised by Ebert’s review. But show some love for the man. He defended Do the Right Thing when all other critics (white, male) were calling Lee’s film an incitement to violence, when people like Joe Klein and David Denby were accusing Lee (Ã la Glenn Beck) of having a deep-seeded hatred for white people. And don’t forget Ebert’s passionate defense of The Wild Bunch. At a press conference during which Peckinpah was showered with jeers and self-righteous bullshit, Ebert stood up and said: “some of us in this room, like me, consider this film a masterpiece.”
If we all looked back on this blog, each of us would find more than a few instances where we simply got it wrong (such as Arnab’s claim that Magnolia has a deep-seeded hatred for white people).
And Ebert’s face has always been scary.
Siskel was right there with Ebert on DtRT, but your point is well-taken, John. Roger even backtracks at times–after an initial scolding dismissal of South Park, he returned to the film some time later and completely revised his opinion.
But I also take Chris’ point, and Ebert misses the boat here: media tempest, avoiding far more pernicious mass-cult offenses. I saw this and wish it was a little more Robocoppy, playing up the absurd excesses of its violence with even more grandiose silliness, but at its best–Hit Girl and the vocal stylings of N. Cage in particular–the film is a loopy carnival.
I did, however, walk out feeling in need of a dose of something smart. When’s Nicole Holofcener’s new flick ever going to get here….?
Speaking of smart movies, I saw a trailer yesterday for The Expendables with Stallone, Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Micky Rourke, and what appear to be cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. What a brilliant concept! I wish I’d been a fly on the wall when that was pitched: Let’s get every aging action hero out of retirement and have them blow shit up. And can we get Nicole Holofcener to direct? No? OK, let Stallone do it.
who the fuck is Nicole Holofcener? sometimes it’s like reading a goddamn copy of Film Comment in here. as for Ebert, he also missed the boat on Blue Velvet, though I give him kudos for the ridiculous screenplay Beyond the Valley of the Dolls . as for The Expendables I feel myself inexorably drawn to it and its potential for pop culture apotheosis, despite my resistance–I just hope they blow each other up and put an end to it once and for all. I have a deep-seated hatred for white people.
oh, I looked up Nicole Holofcenere. She’s smart, even if she directed episodes of that godawful sitcom Sex and the City ? But perhaps that’s part of my intense dislike for “women’s films” though those women aren’t like any I’ve ever met. I’d like to see Barbara Stanwyck clock ’em, stuff Carrie, Samantha, Nancy, Bopsy and Bitsy in a car trunk and push it off a cliff, a la The File on Thelma Jordan .
I can live with her making some dough off Sex and the City if it gives her room to keep doing stuff like this. I’ve loved all of her films — her, Noah Baumbach, Tamara Jenkins — intensely-dialogue-driven stuff. After K-A‘s butterfly knives and billowing spills of blood, I could use a little talk talk talk to leaven the bread.
That said, I’m also intensely amused by this.
gio makes one comment about women’s films and mike’s dragging nicole holofcener into discussions of kick ass. mike, your fear that you might be a misogynist is showing.
i have a deep-seated hatred of julianne moore.
Isn’t it deep-seeded? The classroom in which I teach is deep-seated. And I only hate white people from the South. My students excluded.
As for Barbara Stanwyck, no one tops her–though I find it hard to watch Roustabout.
ah, she was getting a bit long in the tooth but she was still a great old lady. as for “deep-seated” I just use whatever’s popularly used….seems like both work. but, thanks, Dr.Pedant. and tell the truth–you hate your students,too.
the correct use is “deep-seated”, not “deep-seeded”.
it says so on this ivy league website and therefore is correct: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001815.html
Arnab, hating you doesn’t make me a misogynist.
I am wrong. I hate to agree with Arnab and Glenn Beck, but I see the OED states that the correct use is “deep-seated.”
The Other Guys trailer is hilarious . . . but it could have used a bit more Jane Lynch!
Umm… Kick-Ass was mildly enjoyable. Not much more than that. I definitely wasn’t offended. But I’m not going to knock Ebert for anything. I’ve disagreed with enough of his reviews over the years, particularly the mainstream movies he gives decent reviews to, but which are utter crap.
When it comes to art films and trash though, he almost always gets it right by liking both a lot.
But here’s this: http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/08/traveler_to_the_undiscovered_c.html
A little consideration of Christopher Hitchens’ plight by a man that has gone through a fuck-load of cancer hell.
It also contains this fantastic nugget:
Interviewed during a CNN obituary of (Rev. Jerry) Falwell, Hitchens brought a sharp turn in the program’s tone: “The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing, that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called reverend. Who would, even at your network, have invited on such a little toad to tell us that the attacks of September the 11th were the result of our sinfulness and were God’s punishment — if they hadn’t got some kind of clerical qualification?”
speaking of toads, everyone needs to find and watch Dr. (!) Jack von Impe some time–and to look for his wife Rexella (!) who possesses an amazingly blank stare and a demeanor that speaks of a thousand nights of xanax and ambien–no doubt in preparation for the final days that Obama will bring to us.
And Hitchens always has a sharp eye for the bogus religiosos–it’s too bad he doesn’t apply it equally to his newfound rightwing foreign policy buddies.
i agree with mark: kick ass is mildly enjoyable. it would have been better if it had the nerve to commit to being morally reprehensible. but still, much better than magnolia.
Arnab, did you just watch this? I finished it moments ago myself! Tiffany? Tabitha? OMG!!!
Seriously, it is mildly enjoyable. Not nearly as good as Magnolia, though.