KickAss 2
POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Friday, April 11, 2014 06:18
VIEWED: 10719
PAGE 1 of 3
Where do I begin. Well, for starters, it's not as good as the first Kick Ass. There, I said it. I so wanted to like this movie, so much so, that when I heard they were making the sequel, I put it on must-see list.
I'm actually torn because parts of KA2 were brilliant, invoking memories of the original. But when you hear a half-assed attempt of the Banana Splits theme song during a brawl between our heroes and a den full of low-lifes, well I couldn't help but think that the writers and producers got lazy and tried to cash in on the original's popularity. Wait a minute, that's what they're supposed to do. But it was a cheap and tawdry trick, my intelligence, or lack thereof, was insulted.
Which brings me to the script. Like my writing here, it was uneven and had fits and starts, and I kept waiting for the movie to get rolling. Then a funny line or moment would suddenly appear and I thought - Finally! - but it would be followed by questionable edits and melodramatic moments. It seemed as though they couldn't make up their mind whether they wanted a teen comedy or a satiric statement on the ills of vigilante justice.
It felt as though the writers were splitting off into two different directions. Maybe that's why the movie felt somewhat schizophrenic. In the first one, the theme was taking individual responsibility as a parent and as a teen in our You Tube society, but all the while having fun with over-the-top action and performances. Jim Carrey, as Colonel Stars and Stripes (rolls off the tongue, doesn't it) was actually quite good, would most likely appear on Fox and Friends and be bosom buddies with Bill O'Reilly, was in the wrong movie. The Colonel should have been a character in 1970's Joe (about a right-wing factory worker starring Peter Boyle as Joe). Carrey's character, for all intents and purposes seemed oddly out of place or, should I say, out of character both for Carrey and the movie's half-baked satirical leanings. It just wasn't funny.
In other words, it took itself too serious. The main message (I could feel the writers hammering away) was the difference between the real world and the comic book world. Are they kidding me? I came to laugh, have a good time and be entertained, not to be preached to. Oh, I get that movies can be used to send such messages, but it's supposed to be FUN. There also seemed to be a message to teens regarding individuality and living one's life and not that of their stuffy old parental units. Sorry, but they already got the memo guys, it's called YOLO. I actually was lectured by my grandniece, who's 16, about that.
There were some flashes of comic brilliance sprinkled throughout, mostly involving sex, bathroom humor and 50 Shades of Grey (you'll see), but not enough for me to recommend going to the movieplex and shelling out big bucks. By the way, if you do go, don't bring anyone under 13. This one's strictly for the teens and above; there's salty language and some bloody violent scenes.
There is one saving grace, Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. As in the first movie, she steals this one as well, but the script wasn't at all kind to her. Still she manages to pull off the heist as her energy and guile almost saves this movie. Notice I said - almost.
Damn, I really thought this would top Kick Ass, but without Nick Cage and Mark Strong, it just didn't quite do the trick for me. Love you Hit Girl, call me!
SGG
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I too want to like this move. Sadly, Jim Carrey's character sounds like a parody of the exact thing he's been mouthing off against while OFF screen, so no matter how good an effort he makes, it's bound to come off as pure sarcasm, at best.
I think I'll wait for it on Netflix.
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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Quote:Hit Girl is Awesomeness! She is what River can't be because River is not designed for ridiculing comic book violence.
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Damn, I really thought this would top Kick Ass, but without Nick Cage and Mark Strong, it just didn't quite do the trick for me. Love you Hit Girl, call me!
". . . Possibly only Nic Cage could seem to shoot a small girl point-blank and make it, well, funny. Say what you will about her character, but Chloe Grace Moretz has presence and appeal. Then the movie moved into dark, dark territory, and I grew sad."
"Many children that age would be, I dunno, affected somehow, don't you think, after killing eight or 12 men who were trying to kill her? I know, I know. This is a satire. As I often read on the Internet: Hahahahaha."
"Will I seem hopelessly square if I find “Kick-Ass” morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point?" - Roger Ebert on Kick-Ass (2010) If Ebert were alive, he would have given Kick-Ass 2 (2013) fewer stars than the first movie.
"The must-read book for all psychopaths!" is on the Kick Ass 2 comic book cover. The second movie stays closer to that spirit than the first, which is not smart for a director transferring violence on paper to film. Film can be just too real, with the wrong director, for the joke to be fun in the new form.
Writing for Nick Cage and Mark Strong possibly calmed the first movie's screenplay, hard as that is to believe. Once the two father figures are dead, scriptwriter/director Jeff Wadlow just pushed the throttle to the firewall. The only speed limit was avoiding an X rating. Who thinks writing for crazed Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes was going to slow down Kick-Ass 2?
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
(you'll see)...
Oh, no I won't. Hated the first one, have no interest in the sequel.
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In July 2013 comic, Hit Girl was in jail. With source material like that, a Kick Ass 3 movie might not be made. 
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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The problem I saw with Carrey's character was that he played it straight, as though a camera crew was following the "Colonel" while on patrol in his neighborhood during a taping of the new hit reality show Street Justice Forever.
It just felt out of place, but that's how the whole movie felt - like something was missing, out of place. It took itself too serious. There was very little in the way of fun, and it made me feel I was being preached to.
It was gross and way over the top at times, like in the first Kick Ass, but gone was the humor (except for a few brief instances). I could have done without the gangster-type influence and mob-like action, again it was the wrong movie for that (that was better done in Sister Act with the great Harvey Keitel).
Strong was perfect as the elder D'Amico, his take on the character was pitch perfect - you could almost see him having fun with it.
And Cage was fantastic as Big Daddy, you could definitely see him having fun with it. Kick Ass kicks Kick Ass 2 in the ass (try saying that 5 times fast).
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
I too want to like this move. Sadly, Jim Carrey's character sounds like a parody of the exact thing he's been mouthing off against while OFF screen, so no matter how good an effort he makes, it's bound to come off as pure sarcasm, at best.
I think I'll wait for it on Netflix.
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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Brace yourself, the movie ended in such a way as to suggest a 3rd installment. Heaven help us!
But, as Big Daddy said, it's more like ass kicked, if the box office doesn't pull off a major coup over other movies in the next few weeks.
The theatre was half empty on opening night - not a good sign.
I suggest Hollywood find a way to make a movie with just Hit Girl, oh and by the way, ditch those screenwriters - horrible.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by two:
In July 2013 comic, Hit Girl was in jail. With source material like that, a Kick Ass 3 movie might not be made.
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two
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I expected no less.......I thought you would "not like" this one....
a handful of the "jokes" were funny, but then the rest of the movie happened.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
(you'll see)...
Oh, no I won't. Hated the first one, have no interest in the sequel.
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Ebert would have hated this movie, I have no doubt about that.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by two:Quote:Hit Girl is Awesomeness! She is what River can't be because River is not designed for ridiculing comic book violence.
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Damn, I really thought this would top Kick Ass, but without Nick Cage and Mark Strong, it just didn't quite do the trick for me. Love you Hit Girl, call me!
". . . Possibly only Nic Cage could seem to shoot a small girl point-blank and make it, well, funny. Say what you will about her character, but Chloe Grace Moretz has presence and appeal. Then the movie moved into dark, dark territory, and I grew sad."
"Many children that age would be, I dunno, affected somehow, don't you think, after killing eight or 12 men who were trying to kill her? I know, I know. This is a satire. As I often read on the Internet: Hahahahaha."
"Will I seem hopelessly square if I find “Kick-Ass” morally reprehensible and will I appear to have missed the point?" - Roger Ebert on Kick-Ass (2010) If Ebert were alive, he would have given Kick-Ass 2 (2013) fewer stars than the first movie.
"The must-read book for all psychopaths!" is on the Kick Ass 2 comic book cover. The second movie stays closer to that spirit than the first, which is not smart for a director transferring violence on paper to film. Film can be just too real, with the wrong director, for the joke to be fun in the new form.
Writing for Nick Cage and Mark Strong possibly calmed the first movie's screenplay, hard as that is to believe. Once the two father figures are dead, scriptwriter/director Jeff Wadlow just pushed the throttle to the firewall. The only speed limit was avoiding an X rating. Who thinks writing for crazed Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes was going to slow down Kick-Ass 2?
The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
Brace yourself, the movie ended in such a way as to suggest a 3rd installment. Heaven help us!
IMDb is reporting it made only 13.6 million, and has it in fourth place following The Butler, We're The Millers and Elysium. That 3rd installment is looking less likely right now.
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